OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH COMPLIANCE: THE FINAL APPROACH

Back to Page Authors: Emmanuel Abayowa

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Keywords: Compliance, Environmental hazards, vision zero, Climate Change

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Abstract: While ensuring OSH Compliance through laws, regulations and enforcement has helped to mitigate the level of exposure to hazards to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP), inorder to ensure the safety and Health of the worker, the current Global approach of vision zero hazard has deemed it more essential for OSH practice in the Workplace to expand her scope beyond just the tailored practice of Safe work on Job tasks. In recent times, it’s been discovered that several factors have contributed to accidents in the workplace which is most likely to be on the increase as a result of environmental factors such as Climate Change, Earthquakes, Floods, Hurricanes, Tsunamis’ and even the increase of Kidnaps/insurgencies at from Militants and Terrorists. Recent studies from the American Meteorological Society show that workplace accidents and deaths have been traced to impact of storms, hurricanes and Tsnamis. The 2010 Copiapo Chilean mining accident, the 2018 Thai soccer boys stuck in a cave, the kidnap of construction expatriates and foreign aid workers by Boko -Haram Islamic terrorists and Militant Killing of Oil workers in Nigeria are all pointers that other external factors need to be considered as potential hazards to the Safety and Health of both the Employer and the Employee in the Workplace. An effective recommended approach would include the consideration, articulation and integration of these other external factors as potential hazards of Safe work practices by Safety consultants, professionals, scientists to ensure an achievable vision zero.

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