AfriSAFE bemoans challenges confronting safety industry
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Africa Safety Award For Excellence (AfriSAFE), Femi Da-Silva, has bemoaned the challenges confronting the safety industry in Africa, explaining how tackling them will help the industry gain more mileage.
Da-Silva, who stated this at the 2022 edition of AfriSAFE in Lagos, said that one of the challenges in the safety industry was lack of synergy among safety professionals. He added that except for some African nations, the energy to enact laws and set guidelines does not match the energy to implement and enforce them.
The AfriSAFE CEO, who stressed that many government officials and head of agencies that should enforce the rules do not do so because they are more driven by monetary gain than what is right for the industry, urged safety professionals to be united to hold government regulators accountable.
Meanwhile, AfriSAFE, in collaboration with Health & Safety (HSE) nations, has given awards to professionals in the safety industry, including Chairman, Ikeja Electric and Managing Director, Sahara Group, Dr. Kola Adesina, who was awarded the AfriSAFE Legend of the Year, among others.
He said that safety is not necessarily about fire alarms or telling people where the exits are, but about love, seeing things in a very positive way and constituting an open heart.
He commended the organisers, noting the award is impressive and an encouragement for organisations to do better, pay attention to the people, environment and processes, as well as ensure things are done positively to enhance human survival. He, therefore, urged Nigerians to be safety conscious in their dealings.
Also, Director-General (DG), Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Shuaibu, who was awarded the AfriSAFE Icon of the Year, commended the organisers for recognising the collaborative effort of the industry. He noted that the aviation industry is in a very tough and difficult situation but with collaborative efforts, the crisis can be contained.
