The Chief Executive Officer of Hybrid Group Limited, a health and safety outfit, Dapo Omolade, has commended the establishment of a health and safety ministry by the Lagos State Government as a commendable move that will create more employment opportunities for its citizens.
Omolade, who stressed that other state governments should emulate the initiative, noted that it is capable of improving governance and reduce the rate of accidents in the country.
According to him, the bill signed by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu will create an occupational safety officers cadre in the civil service structure from level 8 to grade level 17, providing opportunities for employment, training, and elevation of civil servants within the system.
He said: “It is a smart move by Governor Sanwo-Olu and his team to establish occupational safety officers cadre from level 8 to grade level 17 within the Lagos state civil service structure.
“What it means is that the government has created more employment opportunities in the state to give chances to elevate some civil servants within the system.
“Sometime last year, the Federal Government and the National Council of Establishment decided in Abuja that the health and safety cadre and sub-cadre should be established in public service. This means that the Nigerian system can now have health and safety functions and roles at the federal ministry down to state ministries.
“For instance, just like we have research officers, inspections, inspectors, and scientific officers, we will now have safety officers, and they can progress from maybe safety officer one, depending on how they want to coin it.
“The Lagos State governor has approved the Federal Government initiative into the state governance, and as a safety expert, I’m thrilled about this development.
“The approval by the Federal Government allows safety professionals to move up to level 17, which is the director position, within the public service structure.
“This is great news as it signifies that the federal ministries and parastatals have started the implementation process, thus ensuring that safety personnel can now reach the highest level in their career.”
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Omolade said the initiative would also help to minimise the number of avoidable accidents in the country.
“Many people are not aware that they can prevent certain accidents, and this has unfortunately resulted in financial losses for individuals due to damage to their property and other valuable possessions,” he said.
The health and safety expert also said the initiative would remove the initial problem of overloading safety commissions with burdens.
“As the initiative moves from the federal level to the states, it is now possible to visit workplaces and ask to meet with the chief operational security officer for this ministry.
“This eliminates the initial issue of having everything done by the safety commission. Currently, the Safety Commission only needs to collaborate with the safety system of each ministry as a regulator,” Omolade said.
He however, said to effectively implement the initiative, the government needs to invest in training and competence development.
He said: “If there is a shortage of qualified individuals within the system, the government should advertise and employ safety professionals who are already trained and experienced.
“They can be employed in different grades based on their experience and qualifications, and eventually become professional safety personnel as civil servants.
“The idea of bringing in experienced safety professionals into the civil service is a beautiful thing,.
“Health and safety is a profession that requires proper training and experience. It is not something that can be learned on the fly or just assigned to someone without the appropriate qualifications.
“If the government wants to create a team of health and safety officers, then it is important to invest in a proper training programme that can provide them with the necessary skills and knowledge.
“This will not only benefit the employees but also generate income for the state.
“Alternatively, if the government does not have the resources to train them, they should advertise for qualified safety professionals to apply for the positions.
“There are many professionals out there who are looking for opportunities and would be happy to move to new positions if given the chance.”