The Lagos State Government has stepped up its efforts to ensure residents imbibe safety culture in their homes and places of work. In the circumstances, therefore, the government will embark on massive awareness campaigns to residents of the grassroots in a bid to sensitise them on safety regulations of the state, which are aimed at securing lives and properties.
The Director-General of the Lagos State Safety Board, Mrs Dominga Odebunmi, said event centres, entertainment outfits and night clubs that do not comply with safety measures of the state would be shut down. All corporate offices and event centres operating in Lagos, she said, have been notified to have multiple entry and exit doors in their facilities to ensure safety of their workers and customers.
Odebunmi said the board would come down hard on any business outfit that flouts the safety measures, stressing that the enforcement of the Lagos Safety Law was not to stifle commercial activities but to prevent needless loss of lives as a result of human negligence.
The D-G spoke during the monthly Lagos Safety Walk organised by Safety Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation (SAEF), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), with the theme: Keep Fit, Live Healthy.
Odebunmi said: “The recent government clampdown on a few hotels, night clubs and event centres is making owners of many business outfits to know that there are no more excuses. They are aware that, henceforth, Lagos State government will not tolerate any firm or outfit that brings the public to their own vicinity without ensuring their safety.
“This starts by making sure that there is no single entry-and-exit door to a place. There must be, at least, two to four entries and exits, depending on the size of the outfit.”
The D-G said there was need to always carry out safety risk assessment at every organisation that could host large number of people at the same time, noting that such a task would keep the business and the people safe.
She also cautioned people on the wrong use of safety colours, which she said could lead to confusion when there is an emergency. She advised managements of public and private organisations to ensure that use of safety colours conformed to international standards.
While praising the Lagos State government for supporting the activation of the board since its inception, Odebunmi called on the Federal Government to sign into law the National Safety Bill passed by the 7th National Assembly.
She said: “We are proud that the Federal Government pushed the National Assembly to pass the National Safety Bill before the last general elections. But, we are pleading with President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the bill into law. Given that the President is a man that puts his pen where his word is, we are optimistic that, before the end of the year, he would sign the bill into law.”
The SAEF Executive Director, Mr Jamiu Badmos, said the monthly road exercise was informed by the need to make people live longer. He said the work-out was to check the growing cases of death from diabetes and high blood pressure among workers, noting that the NGO has the belief that periodic aerobics could prevent needless loss of lives.
“A lot of people have various health challenges, including diabetes, excess fat and high blood pressure. We believe that exercise plays a key role in correcting all these diseases common among the people. This is why we introduced the safety walk in Nigeria, starting from Lagos to other parts of the country. At the end of the day, we can live longer like our forefathers,” he said. The Principal Consultant, Zub Chord Technical Venture, Mr Shamsideen Kadiri, said the event also had the objective to increase safety awareness at the grassroots, observing that the NGO would not relent in educating every citizen about isolating hazards in their communities.
He said the NGO would continue to partner with the board, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other emergency response bodies to ensure the country is rid of preventable accidents in homes and at work places.
Former Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Manager at Exxon Mobil, Mr Kofi Sego, said the NGO would ensure that people imbibe safety culture, adding that the signing of National Safety Bill into law would increase enforcement and prevent loss of lives and property to needless accidents.
Some workers, who participated in the nine-kilometre walk included staff of various public and private organisations.
