Cummins Energy Solutions Nigeria (CESN), a leading gas engine service provider in Nigeria has reached a safety milestone of one (1) million manhours worked with zero lost time injuries.
The company’s board chairman, Deepak Khilnani and other safety industry leaders turned out to celebrate this feat at an event organized in Lagos on Wednesday.
Speaking with HSE Nations, the General Manager of Cummins, Graham Christie described the achievement as a product of the resilient efforts of all staff of the company in practicing safety.
“I celebrate this day because It did not take one day to achieve this. It took five long years to get to this stage with every staff doing the needful in HSE, following procedures, making sure that they get home safe. So, it is an achievement for all the staff and not just the company alone.”, Christie said.
The HSE Manager of Cummins, Julius Akpong, also described the feat as a product of five long years of intense training and adherence to safety procedures in the company.
In his words, “What we did basically is that we had an accident in 2015 that pained us so much. So, we took a strong stance that this will never happen again. We had to put some strategies on ground to enhance our safety culture. One of the strategies was that every new employee goes through a safety induction. Before they undertake any task, they must undertake risk assessment and method statements must be taken. We vet them and when the work is going on, we ensure that there is permit to work systems in place to ensure that any high risk job is critically examined before execution.”
“Although we had some challenges in that our sites are far apart and sometimes some people don’t understand what you are talking about. But Staff are constantly trained and spoken to from a remote location so that they all understand it. “, he added.
In his remarks, Harold Echendu, the Lagos State Chairman of the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria (ISPON) expressed his delight to be part of the event and commended Cummins for showing a good example of a safety conscious organization.
“What we saw today goes a long length to tell us that Cummins is committed to safety because it is a feat that you cannot achieve without commitment. The Safety Manager, Julius has also shown the world that he is capable.
“Despite all the exposure, the company didn’t record any loss time injury. It is a very good thing for every organization to follow. Most people that are invited today knows the meaning of what has happened. It is a lesson for many of us that are in the safety profession.”, he said.
Kingsley Ezimah, a staff of the company also said that although safety measures and procedures used in the company were strainious and tedious, he noted that they were worth it.
“I am happy to be part of this. At the same time, I believe that it is not just a main feat, it has been one million hours of strainous and tedious and conscious effort in ensuring that the workplace is safe. You can say safety is expensive. But working the other way is never the best way to work.”
Cummins Energy Solutions Nigeria (CESN) provides sales, installations, operations, maintenance and aftermarket services of Cummins gas generators in Nigeria.
