MEET THE STAFF SERIES

Safety Should not be an After Thought, but Our Culture - Abdulaziz S. Ahmad.

CCD: Can you briefly tell us about yourself?

ASA: My name is Abdulaziz Sanusi Ahmad, I am a graduate of Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Pure Chemistry. I have General HSE and HSE Competency Development Training (Level 3) Certificate, NNPC Kaduna Routing and Switching Cisco Networking Academy ABU Zaria. Presently I am the Safety Officer, Sokoto Area Office. I am happily married and blessed with one kid.

 CCD: When did you join the service of the Company?

ASA: I joined the service of Kaduna Electric in September 2015.

CCD: What are your primary responsibility as a Safety Officer?

ASA: My responsibilities includes among others, preparing work plan of HSE activities for the Area Office and corresponding budget/ cost implication, monitoring and advising on the implementations of the Corporate Policy on Occupational Health, Safety and Environment, liaising with the Technical department to design job procedures base on job safety and hazard analysis (JSA/JHA), carrying out monthly safety inspection of plants/equipment within the Area Office, carrying out HSE enlightenment within the Area Office, ensuring that no work is permitted or allowed until it has met up with safety standard, ensuring regular maintenance of safety and firefighting equipment within the Area Office, reporting accidents within 12 hours to Area Manager and Head office Safety Department and carrying out preliminary technical investigation and maintain record, render monthly accident returns to Head office,  as well as monitor compliance to HSE policy, and NERC Health and Safety Code.

CCD: What is the difficult part of being a safety officer?

ASA: One of the major challenges is inculcating safety culture in the workforce. There is this erroneous thought that safety provide no direct effect on the company financial gain. The only way we can contribute towards the Company profit is to lower liability.

Secondly, nobody likes the Safety Officer in response to his approach in field/ employee safety initiative compliance issues. 

CCD: Team work is one of the core values do you consider yourself a team player?

ASA: Yes of course, you see Teams succeed when members have commitment to common objective, when there is defined roles and responsibilities, effective decision system brings efficient work, procedures and skills such as communication skills, relationship skills and leadership skills I believe I am a team player with ability to work and influence a positive result in Sokoto Area Office.

CCD: Do you have any suggestion on how we can improve on safety measure?

ASA: Of course yes, one by creating a plan for improving Health and Safety: As an employer, you must identify hazards in your workplace and take steps to eliminate or minimize them, develop a safety plan, tell your employees what you will do to ensure their safety and what you expect from them. Proper training is necessary for all employees, especially if there is a risk for potential injury associated with a job. Meet regularly with your staff and discuss health and safety issues, encourage them to share their ideas and thoughts on how to improve safety in the workplace. Regularly check all equipment and tools to ensure that they are well maintained and safe to use. Investigate accidents and keep records of all first aid treatment, inspections, incident investigations, and training activities.

CCD: What advice would like to give to the Management?

ASA: Leading by example; the Management should ensure that  all safety policies are adhered to and encouraging employees to do the same. If Management commits to safety, employee will follow suit. Workers won’t buy-in to safety if they don’t see policies and procedures being followed by their superiors. Safety is more than talking the talk; it’s walking the walk.

We work daily to improve our human effectiveness and strive to achieve happiness in our homes with our families, in our business and work, to achieve that we most arrange this basic key part of business. Safety shouldn’t be an after – thought; it’s just as important to a successful business as customer service, inventory control, and financial planning. A commitment to Health and Safety makes good business sense because it’s the one way to protect your greatest resource – your people.