Occupational Health and Safety in the Nigerian Public Sector

Abstract

The focus of this paper is to explore the issue of occupational health and safety in the Nigerian public sector in Edo state. Available research and literature has shown that millions of workers all over the world have suffered from one form of occupational hazard or the other. In Nigeria, there is need for more empirical evidence on health and safety in the public sector. In view of the importance attached to occupational hazards, this paper seeks to examine major causes of occupational hazards in the public sector and Managements’ commitment in handling them in the dynamic work environment. Collected data were subjected to analysis with the use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 16.0). The study showed that about 26.2% of the respondents have had one form of occupational hazards or the other and only about 14.3% of those that have had occupational hazards were compensated. This implies that the management of these organizations are yet to consider health and safety as a work place issue. Some of those who have had occupational hazards did not report to the management for fear of negative effect that may result from it. Also, the study showed that very little has been done about occupational health and safety in the public sector. Thus, there is a great need for the government as an employer of labour to devote more attention to the issue of health and safety in the work place. More comprehensive studies are required to develop our ideas and construct models to aid the management of health and safety in its total ramification in Nigeria.