CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
Development of occupational health & safety (OHS) dates back in history when industrialization was in crude form, un-mechanized system of farming was the major occupation, slave labour was in high demand (Iden, 2010; Assogwa, 2007). Due to the harsh and poor working environment in this era, the accident and death rate was on the increase. Georgious Agricola and Berndino Ramazzine were the early medical pioneers of OHS who initiated the idea of making the work environment safe and healthy in order to reduce the rate of accidents and ill health (Omokhodion, 2009). However, health and safety law in the UK came as a result of agitation (industrial revolution) from the public over the health and safety standard in workplaces.
In Nigeria, almost all existing occupational health and safety regulations are imports from abroad. For example, the existing Factory Act of 1990 is an adaptation of the UK Factory Act of 1961. Also, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 was originally an American regulation. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations of 1988, the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations of 1992, and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations of 1999 are all British regulations and are also in force in European countries. The Manual Handling Operations Regulations of 1992 and the Construction Design and Management (CDM) Regulations of 2007 are also UK regulations. Apart from the Factory Act of 1994, which was enacted by the legislative arm of the Nigerian government, no other OHS regulations that exist in European and other foreign countries have yet been domesticated in Nigeria (Idoro, 2011; Asogwa, 2007).
Like other laws, the Occupational Health and Safety Act and regulations is yet to gain wide acceptability among the citizenry in Nigeria (Adeniyi, 2001). The lack of health and safety professionals may be a contributory factor. Although, in the private sector, most of the multinational companies tend to have robust health and safety guidelines, but the implementation, compliance level and effectiveness is widely unknown due to lack of research in the area. The present study therefore focuses on bridging this research gap in answering research problems raised in the aim and objective section.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Globally, it is estimated that 2.34 million people die each year from work-related accidents and diseases. There is also an estimated 160 million cases of non-fatal work-related diseases occur yearly (ILO, 2013 & ILO, 2011). Not less than 200 cases of industrial accidents occur in the workplace in Nigeria daily with an equal rate of fatalities (Adeleke, 2001).
Nigerian workers across all sectors of the economy are endangered and prone to accident ranging from minor to fatal. Some have lost their lives right in line of duty and some lost vital organs which has rendered them permanently incapacitated. This high rate of workplace accidents affects productivity as reasonable hours are lost (ILO, 2011). This in turn affects the country‟s economy as the international labour organization (ILO) estimated that occupational accidents, injuries and diseases amount to 4% of loss in global gross domestic product (GDP) or 2.02 trillion US dollars, in direct and indirect cost of occupational injuries and diseases (Lia , 2013).
In recent times, several safety disasters in the workplace have been a recurrent incidence in Nigeria. For example, the Boiler explosion in a Distillery company in Otta, south west Nigeria where two workers lost their lives and many others injured. Ikorodu fire incident that badly injured some workers and the electric shock that killed a staff of Dura pack a Chinese owned company in Lagos and several other related incidents that call for a thorough investigation of work place safety consciousness among the different sectors in Nigeria. All these safety disasters can be attributed to the lack of safety standards at workplaces, low awareness of health and safety practices and a lack of compliance to safety rules (Ezenwa, 2010).
It is against this background that the study will set out to evaluate the health and safety policy in the public service using Ondo State civil service as a case study.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main aim of this study is to evaluate health and safety policy in Ondo State civil service. The specific objectives include to:
i. Determine current barriers to effective health and safety policies uptake in Ondo State civil service.
ii. Ascertain the level of awareness of applicable health and safety standards in the workplace;
iii. Recommend the approach in tackling the barriers to effective health and safety among Ondo State civil service workers.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION
The following research questions will guide this study.
i. What are the current barriers to effective health and safety policies uptake in Ondo State civil service?
ii. What is the level of awareness of applicable health and safety standards in the workplace Ondo State civil service?
iii. What are the ways through which barriers to effective health and safety among Ondo State civil service workers can be tackled?
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study shall proffer a structural study on health and safety policy in the public service
It shall elucidates on the significance and determine the challenges
It shall also serve as a veritable source of information to managers and institutions
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study focuses on the evaluation of health and safety policy in the public service. The study will be limited to health workers in Ondo state civil service where two government hospitals in Ondo (University of Medical Science Teaching Hospital, Ondo and State Specialist Hospital Ondo) will be focused on.
1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Occupational Health as defined by the joint committee of the ILO/WHO (1950) is the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupation. It is further explained as the sum total of all activities and programs that are engaged upon, aiming to attain and maintain the highest level of health and safety for all people who are engaged in any type of work whatever. It involves the protection of workers’ health from any hazard to which they may be exposed to in the work environment. It is a preventive and proactive approach which involves risk assessment, hazard identification, hazard mitigation, hazard elimination and treatment of work-related injuries.
HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY
health and safety policy is a written statement by an employer stating the company’s commitment for the protection of the health and safety of employees and to the public. It is an endorsed commitment by management to its employees regarding their health and safety.