Reps issue 7-day ultimatum to 20 firms for submission of safety documents

The House of Representatives at the weekend issued a seven-day ultimatum to 20 companies involved in manufacturing, construction, oil and gas as well as tank farms and logistic operations to submit relevant documents and policies on health, safety and environment (HSE) for legislative scrutiny.

Chairman, House Committee on Safety Standards and Regulations, Hon. Ibrahim Hamza, issued the ultimatum at the end of 4-day advocacy and on-the-spot assessment of some companies’ facilities in Port Harcourt, River State.

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Some of the companies visited are Intels, Brawal Shipping Nigeria Ltd, Notore Chemicals Industries Plc, Oando Plc, West African Container Terminal, Tonimas, M-I Nigeria Ltd, Julius Berger, Total Energies, Indorama Petrochemical Ltd; Sahara Energy; Schlumberger Nigeria Ltd and Aos Orwell Ltd operating at Onne and Port Harcourt, River State.

Hon. Hamza and other members of the committee who frowned at the recurring spate of the inferno at oil and gas facilities in some parts of the country stressed the need for all employers of labour in the public and private institutions to adhere strictly to the extant health, safety and environmental regulations with a view to securing lives of Nigerian workers and expatriates as well as investments.

He said: “What we are actually doing is to do an on-the-spot assessment and on-the-spot analysis of what is actually happening in the industry as regards to health and safety issues and we saw a lot and when we get back to our destination, we are going to have a desktop review of what we have seen and to analyse it and see how we can come up with laws or make amendments of existing laws to make sure that there is efficiency in the provision of health and safety in our working environment.”

He said the visit provided an avenue for the committee to ascertain what was actually happening in the various sectors of the economy in terms of health and safety compliance by the different players in the public and private sectors with a view to identifying many gaps that require further legislative reviews and interventions.