Workplace Safety Must Come First, NSITF Tells Conference

By Chinedu Echianu

Managing Director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Barrister Oluwaseun Faleye, has declared that preventing workplace accidents—not compensating for them—remains the Fund’s highest priority, warning that every claim represents “a story of pain” that no payment can ever truly erase.

Faleye, represented by the General Manager of the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Department, Tesh Kibikiwa, delivered the message at the 15th International Safety Conference and Awards 2025, held Wednesday at the Federal Ministry of Works, Abuja. The conference had as its theme “From Tragedy to Transformation: Learning from the Cost of Violating Safety Rules.”

The NSITF boss said the Fund is strengthening safety-compliance systems across workplaces nationwide, investing in digital platforms for faster claims processing, boosting industry-wide capacity, and deepening partnerships aimed at sustaining global best practices. These efforts, he noted, are driven by the understanding that prevention saves lives, protects families, and secures the nation’s economy.

Faleye warned that ignoring safety rules carries “three painful dimensions of burden”—human, organizational, and national.
According to him, the human cost is the most devastating, as workers lose limbs, livelihoods, or even their lives, leaving families traumatised and children pulled out of school when income disappears.

The organizational cost, he added, ranges from reputational damage and litigation to production downtime and equipment loss—expenses many businesses only fully realise after tragedy strikes.
At the national level, the economic cost includes lost GDP, reduced manpower, higher healthcare bills, and a weakened labour force.

Aligning with the conference theme, Faleye stressed that workplace safety affects every sector of national development and is central to Nigeria’s economic stability. He urged regulators, employers, safety professionals, training institutions, unions, and compensation bodies to strengthen collaboration and ensure safety becomes a non-negotiable daily practice in all workplaces.

The event also featured contributions from key stakeholders, including the Minister of State for Works, Bello Muhammed Goronyo; President of the OSH Association UK–Nigeria Region, Olusegun Aderemi; and the representative of the Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh.

They collectively reaffirmed the need for a stronger national safety culture—one that prioritises prevention over reaction, and one capable of transforming tragedies into long-term reforms.