NSITF underscores vital engagement role of ILC in workplace safety, welfare

The Managing Director, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Barrister Oluwaseun Faleye, has described the International Labour Conference (ILC) as a veritable platform for engagement on workplace health and safety, worker’s welfare, and social security.

Faleye, who spoke at the ongoing 113 session of the ILC holding in Geneva, Switzerland used the platform to explain the efforts of the Nigerian Government and NSITF at improving social security, as well as workplace health and safety and overall welfare of Nigerian workers.

The NSITF Managing Director said NSITF is currently embarking on Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) audits at workplaces in a bid to ensure safety of workers in line with the International Labour Organization (ILO) convention.

He said: “This sort of platform is great for advocating a lot of things that relate to place of work. One, the safety of workers in different forms. Second is the enhancement of workers’ welfare to further build the resilience in workplace that we strive for.

“It has been a great platform for us to share ideas, to deepen our capacity, and of course, to enhance further collaboration with the ILO itself, and sister organizations that are all interested in enhancing workplace safety. So far, for me and my colleagues, really, it has been a veritable platform for engagement.”

He said the NSITF has been making efforts to ensure that the workplace is conducive and workers who suffer injury at work can also get a reprieve on time.

He pointed out that decent work is within the mandate of NSITF, and relates to its responsibilities under the Health and Safety Environment (HSE).

Barrister Faleye said: “This is why we collaborate with employers to make workplaces safe and further deepen all of the issues regarding health and safety in the workplace. That’s why we’re at the forefront of undertaking OSH audits in organizations and creating the awareness and of course, the way it works for us here when we come to a platform like this is to further broaden our knowledge and our capacity in bringing cutting-edge standards relating to HSE so that we can take it back home and further engage within that ecosystem.

“So for us, promoting decent work is really doing more within that core mandate of HSE and that takes us to the other issue of employees’ compensation itself when there are injuries.

“The synergy between a decent and safe working environment also impacts on employee injury and the threshold about that. So, when we improve HSE components within workplaces, you see that injuries and all of that come relatively down.

“We’re also very open and responsible to our mandate regarding prompt payment of compensation, and we’ll continue to do that.”

He pointed out that NSITF is in the forefront of engaging with the Federal Government to activate and operationalize the Employees’ Compensation Scheme within the system.

He stated: “Federal Government has always been ready. The law is a federal law, so that readiness is there. I think it’s implementation that has been the issue, and we’ve engaged with them. The Office of the Head of Service of the Federation is engaging with us to ensure that that operationality is sustained, and we’ll push that going forward.

“In terms of OSH audit, as an employer, if you are subscribed to the scheme, it’s our responsibility to then come in at intervals to audit your workplace, and to also give you tips and create awareness within your organization as to what a safe working environment should be. We are responsible and open to that responsibility. We’ll continue to really drive that initiative within the employers’ ecosystem in Nigeria.,”

He assured that the informal sector is being integrated under the scheme, as there are enormous opportunities there.

According to him, the responses from the informal sector have been great, adding that “once people hear the benefits and the advantages of the Employees’ Compensation Scheme, we tend to get very robust and positive response and I’m glad about that.

“We will continue to engage. Part of our key work is really advocacy and I’m happy with the responses we’ve gotten so far.”