MEET THE STAFF SERIES

What We Are Doing To Reduce Accidents At Workplace

Mr. J. C. Adamu Team Lead, Health, Safety and Environment.

CCD: Mr. J. C. Adamu, you are the Team Lead, Health, Safety and Environment. How would you describe the safety consciousness of staff of Kaduna Electric, at all levels, in every department?

JC: We have a vision as a Unit; this vision encompasses all that we want to achieve which is to record minimal or zero accidents in work place. And that is why we have been sensitizing and training staff on the need to be safety conscious.

Mostly, we organize training for staff in Engineering and Technical Services Department because they are more prone to hazards. If you look at the accident statistics, it shows that they have the highest number, which is why we pay more attention to them. 

In most of the training sessions we emphasize that the engineers do a job hazard analysis and risk assessment before the commencement of any job. This is to ensure their safety and be mindful of the hazards that might be present. 

CCD: How many electrical accidents have you recorded in our franchise area from 2016 to date?

JC: Last year alone, we had 14 fatalities; two were our staff, 12 were non-staff. There were four injuries recorded. The reason for this disparity in the figures is because we have control over our staff. The high fatality recorded among the general public could be attributed to lack of adequate safety awareness. 

Part of our KPI however is to reduce that number, and we are making progress in that regard to some reasonable extent.  As at today we have only four deaths compared to eight recorded by this time last year. We are optimistic that with the cooperation and enforcement of safety standard, we will be able to achieve zero mortality rates among staff. 

CCD: Can we say that your Unit has made positive impact when compared to the previous year?

JC: Yes. We have made positive impact compared to the previous year because the awareness has increased thereby making our staff more conscious of the hazards inherent in their jobs and this has invariably reduced the number of deaths.

CCD: There is obviously a higher death toll among non-staff members, and you have attributed this to lack of safety awareness. What specifically are you doing to address this?

JC:  One of our strategies is to use the Marketers to sensitize our customers, since they work closely with them. During the regular Customer Consultative Forum there is always a segment to sensitize the public to be safety conscious. We also sensitize the public through their local Chiefs where we tell them that in case they observe any unusual thing, they should report to the nearest Kaduna Electric office where a prompt action will be taken.

CCD: Apart from staff training on safety, what things do you do to?

JC: Yes, aside from Behavioral Safety, the company has also provided Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and First Aid. We ensure that we get feedback on other hazardous scenarios not captured in our training manual and we investigate near miss cases. 

CCD:  What would you consider the difficult part of being a Safety Officer?

JC: Safety is an investment, a kind of investment where you don't get to see the profit immediately; so it is now an issue that is left for management to consider.  We have a draft HSE policy but it is not yet in form of a document.  The Safety Policy shows the direction of the company that will serve as a guide. We also face the challenge of not having operational vehicles, standard working tools and adequate funding in carrying out our responsibilities. 

CCD: Are there sanctions for staff who deliberately fail to comply with the safety code?

JC:  That is where enforcement comes in, as we cannot achieve an accident free workplace without compliance to safety rules. 

We have HSE manuals that stipulate the sanctions for non-compliance, which includes imprisonment in some cases. The company's license can also be withdrawn should it fail to comply.

For staff, we have what we call the Kaduna Electric Safety Rules that is binding on staff; for instance we have two staff who are currently on a 3-month 50% salary cut because different cases of violation.  That is to tell you how serious we are on the issue of safety violation. For minor violations, we write to Admin/ Finance to carry out the instruction on salary deduction where a pay cut is the penalty.