The Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) Lagos Chapter, has decried the outright neglect of the rules and regulations of building by professionals in the industry which has resulted in avoidable errors.
The Institute said it will ensure that operators in the industry strictly adhere to construction site safety measures as poor adherence to rules and regulations has caused the body image damage in the past.
Chairman of the Institute, Mr Adelaja Adekanmbi, at a press conference heralding the 27th Conference and Annual General Meeting of the institute in Lagos, said that many professionals and artisans in the built environment have neglected, abandoned and violated safety rules and regulations.
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According to him, this is unethical, as many casualties and loss of lives have been recorded due to non-compliance with construction site safety rules. He blamed incessant building collapse on negligence and reckless omissions by professionals and artisans.
Adekanmbi said negligence by operators, particularly artisans, should be addressed if the issue of casualties at sites could be curtailed. “The artisans are the most vulnerable when issue of accidents at construction site is concerned, yet many of them still find it difficult to comply with safety rules.
“Rarely do professionals like architects, surveyors, builders or engineers die on site, but artisans are the most vulnerable to site accidents. Many of the artisans pay deaf ears to safety tips like wearing helmets, boots, safety jackets, sunglasses, among others, in the course delivering their services.
“The programme, which will hold for two days from Wednesday, October 24, 2018 to Thursday 25, will educate operators in the industry on how to identify safety hazards and ways to mitigate them. They will also be educated on the implication and rights of the employees and employers for not using the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as well as not providing it for our operatives on site,” he said.