The need to promote, integrate and ensure compliance to safety in the workplace environment is the bedrock of stimulating high level profitability and increased growth among business and organizations.
This was the fulcrum of discourse as the engineering safety world witnessed the launching of a brilliant work, on the 29th of May, 2021, at the University of Lagos, Akoka.
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The book titled, “Safety Engineering in the Workplace Environment” according to the author, stood as a pillar of knowledge aimed at providing tenets that were cardinal to ensuring that compliance to safety rules and protocols are not compromised by both employees and employers.
Stirred up by his passion in the field of engineering and a responsibility towards the maintenance of professional discipline and ethics, the author, Samuel Shokunbi, with more than three decades of experience in the field of engineering, noted that it was pertinent to document key safety standards that would be of benefit to the employee, the employer as well as the regulator.
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“All I can say from the experience that I have gathered, that led me to actually produce the book is that there are three people that are involved in safety- the employee, the employer as well as the regulator. My advocacy about safety is all about promoting and integrating the practice of safety in the workplace environment,” the HSE Practitioner said.
Engr.S Samuel Shokunbi also said, “Safety is everyone business but as an engineer, everybody’s safety is our top priority and responsibility as it relates to engineering equipment competency and operational risk management because safety is the engine and the engineer is the key that starts it.”
ENGR. SAMUEL SHOKUNBI LAUNCHES BOOK ON WORKPLACE SAFETY“Again, safety is like a lock, an Engineer is the key to open it. Therefore, an engineer does things required to serve the needs of his environment by ensuring that the safety code of practice (safety at work ACT 1974, safe work practice OSHA 1910:147, control of work regulations 2005, Risk management OSHA1910: 119 etc) is not compromised.”
“Also, an engineer manages the framework of processes and procedures used by ensuring that all tasks required to achieve safety during practice are maintained and embraced safely to protect human life and property. Therefore, an engineer is the driver of safety right from project/ equipment design, installation, commissioning, operations and maintenance/repairs,” he said.
Speaking on a recent incident, Engr. Samuel Shokunbi acknowledged that lack of monitoring has caused a lot of problem in this country and led to loss of lives, “just like the incident that happened barely two weeks ago in Ejigbo where a teenager was engaged and the very first day he resumed work, he lost his life simply because the promoter of the business did not do the needful.”
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“The young boy was not trained. He does not have knowledge or training of the equipment to manage and there was no perfect communication between those at the power source and the boy that they left to operate the machine,” he said.
Tackling these issues, Engr. Samuel Shokunbi said, “is what my book is trying to promote to make sure that everybody plays their part. We follow the rules and the procedure in other to prevent destruction of human lives and property. We don’t want casualties to occur again if we follow these procedures. We will then be able to eliminate these casualties.”
