An oil and gas service firm, Seplat Petroleum, and Ikeja Electric Plc. emerged winners in the corporate categories of the 2021 Africa Safety Award for Excellence (AfriSAFE) held in Lagos.
Seplat bagged the top prize in the Merit Category, while Ikeja Electric’s Chief Executive Officer, Folake Soetan, emerged winner in the CEO of the Year category to put their organisations in the fore.
The electricity distribution firm also won the Health Safety and Environment Team of the Year category for maintaining good HSE practices at the workplace.
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Speaking at the award night on November 12, the Chief Executive Officer of AfriSAFE, Mr Femi Da-Silva, said that the award was to advance safety in workplaces and check occupational hazards.
He said Seplat and Ikeja Electric won the awards for their unique initiatives in safety issues.
“The firms within the period under review prioritised the safety of their workforce and protection of their operating environments,’’ he said.
He decried exposure to harmful chemicals in factories and expressed the hope that the awards would spur other organisations to pay more attention to health and safety issues in their operations.
He called on government’s regulatory agencies and civil society organisations not to delay in sanctioning erring firms so as to save lives.
The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd. won the Corporate Social Responsibility of the Year award, while West African Ventures Ltd., got the Maritime Company of the Year award.
Three other companies were among those who got different awards in the corporate category.
Six individuals also got awards for their different roles in health and safety issues.
In his remarks, a member of the Award’s Advisory Board, Mr Wale Bakare, lauded the winners of the various categories for their individual and corporate roles in health and safety in Africa. (NAN)