…Says employers not remitting 1% fund

By Providence Ayanfeoluwa

On this year’s World Day for Safety and Health at Work, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, has said has said that ensuring all Nigerian enjoy a safe and healthy environment in their work place was their priority.

The Fund also identified employers’ resistance in registering their organisation as a challenge.

Speaking on this year’s theme: “The Impact of Climate Change on Occupational Safety and Health” Branch Manager, NSITF Apapa, Omotayo Adebayo, said accident in the work place is inevitable, but can be limited.

He said: “That is why health and safety facilities are important to reduce accident.”

Recent report from the United Nation’s International Labour Organisation, UN ILO showed that 26.2 million workers are living with chronic kidney disease related to work place heat, 19, 000 workers are killed by excessive heat, 22.8 million suffer injury every year, whereas 2.4 billion workers globally are exposed to excessive heat yearly, a figure that increased by 35 percent in the last decade.

Adebayo pointed out that these are the effect of climate change on employees and the workers in the work place.

He said: “Since our mandate is on Employee Compensation Scheme, ECS our concern is to ensure workers all over Nigeria enjoy a safe and healthy environment in their work place. 

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“The effect of climate change is that it causes death, injury and disease for workers everywhere. Climate change is the cause of excessive heat, extreme weather, air pupation and major cause of alarming disease. When there is too much heat in the work place, it does a lot of damage to the health of the workers, it causes threatening diseases.

Speaking further, he identified resistance from employers, as a major challenge to the Fund.

 “They see NSITF as extra burden and cost, that they are going to be remitting one percent of their payroll to NSITF, forgetting that the one percent they are remitting to us, they would get it back when there is accident or death. Some employers give maximum cooperation and some do not.”

Also speaking, the Assistant General Manager, Compliance, Mrs Anthonia Eyoro, said that the day is very important to NSITF because it is an avenue to further promote the enforcement of occupational safety, health standard at work place. “Safety of workers in the work place is very important to us, which is why when a worker sustains a work related injury, we give compensation.”

The Senior Manager Claims and Compensation, Mr  Lekwa Dike, said claims and compensations is a gap bridger for employees who suffer work injury of eventual death, we have had over 200 death benefits paid to the dependent beneficiaries of death claims that we pay on monthly basis.”

On his part, Head of Health Safety and Commission, HSC, Ogosi Christopher, called for more planting of tree than felling o trees.

He said that the health and safety personnel are very crucial to any organisation because of their impact in terms of helping to reduce effect of accident within the organisation.

To reduce the impact of climate change, he said that a lot of trees should be planted, rather than felling of tree.