In order to ensure the safety and well being of personnel at construction sites, the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Ikeja branch on Friday held a seminar for construction workers in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 70 participants were invited from among artisans and craftsmen in Lagos, but 40 of the professionals attended the training session.
There are five cadres in the engineering field which consists of engineers, technologists, technicians, craftsmen and artisans.
The craftsmen have some training and know the theory of their operations, whereas the artisans are usually not educated but learn on-the-job.
The chairman of the branch, Mr Akin Akintola told NAN that the training, which was part of activities to mark the branch’s 2017 Engineering Week, was aimed at educating participants on the dangers of compromising human safety and building standards.
Akintola said that each cadre had a responsibility to contribute to the overall quality of construction projects, hence the need for the training.
“This year, we are focusing on safety because safety is paramount. A safe environment is the beginning of doing things rightly,’’ he said.
Earlier, while delivering a lecture, Mr Khalid Agboola, a health, safety and environment professional, stressed the need for construction workers to work in synergy.
Speaking on “Construction Safety, the Risks, the Facts and Repercussion,’’ with video illustrations, Agboola said that the negligence of one worker could cause accidents to several workers.
“As a safety person, accidents must not happen to your personnel but by the time you use a two-by-twelve as your ladder, you are calling for trouble.
“When you do not prepare the ground, you leave room for hazards,’’ he said.
Agboola said that costs, quality and personnel were important in a construction project, adding that the personnel were the most important who could give the client the value for his money by adherence to safety rules.
He urged each cadre to have the back of the next group by doing their work meticulously, in order not to frustrate the efforts of the next group.
“If you say you do not care and do the work as you like, if accidents happen on a site, the whole site is closed and all of us will be affected,’’ he said.
Agboola said that adherence to safety would reduce incidences of litigation, boost the image of a construction firms and the NSE, increase profit and avoid injuries or loss of lives on site.
Mr Olagoke Macaulay, who spoke on “Environment in Construction,’’ stressed the need for construction workers to hold pre-mobilisation meetings before accepting to work on a site.
Macaulay advised workers to look out for signages to know the direction for safety equipment and devises, in order to be able to tackle cases of disasters on time or take the exits when it becomes life-threatening.
One of the participants who is President of the Concrete Casters Association in Lagos, Alhaji Tajudeen Owonimess, told NAN that the programme was timely to arrest ugly incidences that cause severe injuries and deaths on site. (NAN)
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