Towards setting a sustainable manufacturing safety programme in Nigeria

Abstract

Purpose The manufacturing industry in Nigeria often perceives government safety standards as an attempt to increase production cost. This is due to lack of acceptable template for setting an attainable standards and safety programme to the manufacturing industry. It is the goal of this work to develop such a template for an effective and sustainable manufacturing safety programme. Design/methodology/approach A total of 30 manufacturing firms were examined and five experienced manufacturing, and three safety engineers interviewed for information on types of SP activities. Review and synthesis of literature was carried out. Findings Four types of accidents are identified as fatal, serious, minor and trivial wounds. Accidents causing factors are classified into human factor, deficient maintenance of facilities and environmental factors. The prevention activities were categorized into training, guarding, awareness, incentive, accident investigation and personal protective equipment (PPE). Practical implications This study provides baseline information for academics, industry and safety practioners to setting an attainable and effective manufacturing safety programme. Originality/value The paper suggests a mathematical approach for developing a manufacturing safety programme.