The Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment are intensifying efforts to deepen workplace safety across the private sector.

At a joint press conference in Abuja to kickstart the 2025 Safe Workplace Intervention Project (SWIP), stakeholders described the initiative as a strategic response to persistent gaps in Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) compliance, stressing that enforcement alone was no longer sufficient to guarantee safer workplaces.

Although branded as the 2025 edition, both the Managing Director of NSITF, Oluwaseun Faleye, and the Director General of NECA, Adewale Smatt-Oyerinde, explained that operational constraints delayed its execution, with January 2026 now marking the formal kick-off.

Faleye said the timing was deliberate, positioning safety and compliance as a priority agenda for the new year.

The programme builds on the Safe Workplace Intervention Project (SWIP) and the Strategic Risk Improvement Programme (SRIP), which NSITF and NECA say have become critical tools for driving compliance with the Employees’ Compensation Act (ECA) 2010, particularly within the private sector.

The NSITF chief said the Employee Compensation Act remains one of Nigeria’s most robust labour laws, providing structured protection for workers against workplace injuries, disabilities and fatalities.

However, he noted that the effectiveness of the law depends heavily on stakeholder engagement, awareness and voluntary compliance.

According to him, collaboration with NECA has helped reduce employer exposure to litigation, industrial disputes and uncertainty around employee compensation, while offering workers assurance that injuries will not automatically translate into lifelong economic hardship for them or their families.

From the government perspective, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment said the initiative aligns Nigeria more closely with international best practices on Occupational Safety and Health, particularly following the elevation of health and safety to a core International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention.

On his part, Oyeride said: “Health and safety is no longer optional, and it is no longer just a compliance issue. It is now a human rights obligation,” noting that ILO core conventions bind all member states regardless of ratification status.

He further stressed that labour ‘is not a commodity,’ but human lives, making workplace safety central to decent work, productivity and sustainable national development.

As part of the 2025 SWIP, over 200 workplaces were audited across the six geopolitical zones, with technical participation from the Ministry’s Occupational Safety and Health Department. The audits focused on hazard prevention, behavioural safety, accident investigation, leadership commitment and basic infrastructure such as fire safety equipment and emergency preparedness.

A major component of the programme includes recognition and award ceremonies aimed at encouraging voluntary compliance.

Events are scheduled to begin in Lagos on January 20, followed by regional engagements and a grand finale at the Eko Atlantic venue, where compliant organisations will be publicly recognised.

NSITF and NECA said the awards are not merely ceremonial but designed to promote peer learning, healthy competition and behavioural change among employers.

NECA also highlighted emerging challenges, including remote work, artificial intelligence and evolving definitions of the workplace, which current safety frameworks may not adequately address.

According to them, future iterations of the programme will begin to interrogate new risk dimensions.

Both NSITF and NECA appealed to the media to report objectively observed outcomes of the initiative, stressing that sustained public awareness remains critical to closing knowledge gaps that continue to undermine compliance.

Oyerinde added: “Awareness and knowledge are the biggest gaps we face,” adding that workplace risks, ranging from poor seating ergonomics to basic fire safety lapses, are often ignored until accidents occur.

Stakeholders warned that workplace injuries should not be normalised, mentioning that even so-called minor accidents can result in lifelong consequences.

They called on workers to speak up where safety standards are absent, insisting that silence amounts to complicity.

Reaffirming government support, the Ministry pledged continued collaboration with NSITF and NECA, describing SWIP as a model intervention that could be replicated across ministries, departments and agencies.

As Nigeria grapples with productivity pressures and evolving work patterns, the success of the Safe Workplace Intervention Project would ultimately be measured not by awards alone, but by fewer injuries, safer environments and a stronger culture of prevention across the economy.