The Lagos State Government on Wednesday trained more than 60 workers from 13 companies in the iron and steel sector as part of efforts to curb building collapse in the state.
According to the Director General, Lagos Safety Commission, Lanre Mojol, the training was important to avert future occurrence of building collapse in the state.
Represented by the Director, Administration and Human Resources in the commission, Taiwo Fesomu, he said, “It is all about making the workers in the iron and steel sector imbibe safety in their workplace. The essence of this training is about professionals in the iron and steel sector not cutting corners during the production of iron and steel materials and appropriate iron and steel be used during building construction so as to avert the collapse of buildings.
“Safety in all ramifications is sacrosanct, that is why the Lagos State Government is committed to the training and retraining of officials in the iron and steel sector. This one-day programme on standard working procedures in the iron and steel industry in Lagos State was organised to reduce the occurrence of accidents that lead to injuries, disabilities, and loss of lives. It is also to train and retrain ourselves on best safety practices in the workplace. This will promote the well-being of workers and ensure that they return home safely to their families and loved ones.“
Also speaking, a safety expert, Adeyinka Adebiyi, advised companies in the iron and steel sector not to use substandard materials during the production of iron and steel materials.
He said, “Most of these building collapses are due to substandard material and lack of knowledge on the metal to use. For every structure, there is a type of rod to use and it must be sufficient, they must not cut corners, because cutting corners is one of the reasons we have collapses. The manufacturers must also use the standard material to manufacture their products.’’
“There are also a lot of accidents in the iron and steel sector which is why this training is very important, hence, the Lagos Safety Commission determined that those in that sector be trained.”
