Engineers seek workplace safety, pick schools for innovation challenge

To mitigate recurring workplace accidents in Nigeria, engineers have urged regulatory agencies to take bold actions against organisations that do not follow safety rules.

Making the call in Lagos, the President of American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), Thomas Cecich, said, this will help in stopping organisations from cutting corners and to save lives.

He also advocated a free enterprise solution to safety issues, which involves rewarding organisations that have good safety records with more jobs. The President, who was in Nigeria for the yearly ASSE professional development conference in Nigeria told The Guardian that free enterprise solution has been found to be effective in other parts of the world and will not be different in Nigeria.

Ceich said: “The over all beneficiary is the built environment because it will both reduce incidence of workplace incidences and building collapse since research has shown that safety is a surrogate for good organisation.”

He extolled the Nigeria chapter of the association for displaying high level of professionalism particularly in the built industry and expressed hope that the passion for safety will be inculcated to other professionals in the country.

Also the Senior manager, Global Growth and development in United States of America (USA), Yassie Dunn, called for the inculcation of the habit. President -elect of the association in Nigeria, Mr. Udezi Stephen, noted that a lot of work place accidents like building collapse is caused by unnecessary pressure on workers and developers, resulted to cutting corners.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers (NiMechE), Lagos State Chapter has given out the sum of 300 pounds to six higher engineering schools to develop technological devices useful for industrial challenges.

The beneficiaries of the fund from the Royal Academy of Engineering, United Kingdom and the International Business Leadership Forum (IBLF) Global, United Kingdom include; Lagos State University, Gateway Polytechnic, Lagos State Polytechnic, Yaba College of Technology, Olabisi Onabanjo University and the University of Lagos.

They are to develop a proto-type of their ideas and expected to be given more funds for fabrication of the machines. Accordingly, the schools will work on; design and construction of wind turbine system for power generation, Cassava grater machine, Cassava planter device, Spagro agricultural sprayer machine, a device for sieving garri and an Okele maker machine.

Speaking with The Guardian at a symposium tagged: “Innovation Challenge 2017” in Lagos, the State chairman of NimechE, Mrs. Funmi Akingbagbohun, said the programme involves 10 schools in Lagos and Ogun states and agriculture, automation, power supply and renewable energy.

According to her, the time is now for Nigerian engineers, especially the young ones, to wake up to the clarion call and come up with machines that are adaptable and commercialisable and for nation’s engineers to stand as the bedrock of the country’s development.

The Operations Manager, IBLF Global, UK, Jane Usifon noted that there was the need to advance and strengthen engineering in Nigeria. She emphasised that the goal could only be achieved if the ambition is rigorously pursued for development.