Keyamo to deliver keynote address at ISPON conference

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo SAN will deliver the keynote address at the forthcoming One-Day Inter-Agency Stakeholders Collaboration Conference of the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria (ISPON).

The conference with the theme, “Inter-Agency Synergy: A Veritable Tool For Effective Safety Management And Regulation In Nigeria,” holds in Mabushi, Abuja on March 10, 2022.

On the purpose of the conference, President of the institute, Ebi Kaizer said it is for “ISPON to collaborate with federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to regulate safety management in Nigeria in order to save lives and property and prevent accidents in the workplace.

According to him, the purpose of the conference is in line with Section 3 (3i) of the ISPON Act which makes it mandatory for ISPON to collaborate with agencies of government to regulate the practice of safety management in Nigeria.

A member of the planning committee, Mr Julius Akpong said that the conference was an attempt to apply the dictates of the ISPON Act.

Akpong added, “If you go to our ministries, departments and agencies, you see little or nothing being done about the health and safety of either the people working there, procedures being followed or even of the facilities.

“So, at the end of the day, we hope to have achieved that across all ministries, departments and agencies, and then a huge chunk of Nigeria’s population work in these places.

“So, we hope that by the time we’re able to enshrine this there and begin to discuss the philosophy of safety there, that will expand the understanding and then with time those of them that are supposed to assist us with passing the safety message across can help us achieve compliance in different areas.

“How else can we reach Labour if not through the ministry itself which is implementing the Factories Act 2004 (as amended).

“At the end of the day, we see it as a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with these agencies and to begin to, through their different mandates, to regulate safety in the various agencies, utilizing their structures, frameworks and templates”

He disclosed that a representative of the HSE Department of the former Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) would hold a presentation on “Regulating safety practice – The oil and gas experience in Nigeria”.

“We believe that by the time we’re done having these things, people would have gained huge understanding about how things have been done, where we currently are, where we need to be, and what then needs to be done to close the gap between where we currently are and where we then need to be.”