PPE Won’t Save You If This Is Missing: The Critical HSE Truth Nigerian Workers Need to Know

Walk into any construction site, factory, or manufacturing plant across Nigeria and you’ll see it—workers decked out in personal protective equipment. Safety helmets gleaming in the sun, reflective vests bright orange, gloves neatly fitted. On the surface, it looks like safety is being taken seriously.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: PPE alone won’t save you.

Every year, thousands of workers across Africa suffer injuries or worse, not because their PPE failed them, but because something fundamental was missing from their workplace safety culture. If you’re working in Nigeria’s bustling industrial sector, construction sites, or manufacturing plants, this is a conversation you need to have with your safety manager today.

The missing element? Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA).

What Is Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment?

Before you can protect yourself, you need to know what you’re protecting yourself against.

Hazard identification and risk assessment is the systematic process of identifying potential dangers in your work environment, evaluating the level of risk each hazard poses, determining appropriate control measures, and creating a control hierarchy to manage risks effectively.

Think of it like this: you wouldn’t wear a life jacket without knowing you’re going into water. Yet many Nigerian workplaces hand out PPE without workers even understanding what hazards they’re facing.

HIRA identifies hazards including:

• Chemical hazards (spills, vapors, exposure)
• Physical hazards (noise, vibration, temperature, radiation)
• Biological hazards (contamination, infections)
• Ergonomic hazards (repetitive strain, lifting, posture)
• Psychological hazards (stress, harassment, isolation)

The Hierarchy of Controls: Why PPE Isn’t Enough

The internationally recognized hierarchy of controls, used by the WHO, ILO, and adopted by Nigeria’s HSE frameworks, ranks safety measures from most to least effective.

1. Elimination – Remove the hazard entirely

2. Substitution – Replace it with something safer

3. Engineering Controls – Install barriers or devices (ventilation, machine guards, safe systems)

4. Administrative Controls – Change work procedures, training, scheduling

5. PPE – Personal protective equipment (the last resort)

Here’s the problem in many African workplaces: organizations skip straight to PPE and stop there.

A worker handling toxic chemicals gets a respirator but no information about the chemical’s properties, no engineering controls to reduce exposure, and no procedures to minimize contact. That’s not safety. That’s theater.

The Real Cost of Skipping HIRA in Nigeria and Africa

Lives Lost to Preventable Accidents

Nigeria records over 30,000 workplace deaths annually according to ILO estimates, many involving workers in PPE who never understood the hazards they faced. Construction sites in Lagos, mining operations in Plateau State, and manufacturing plants across the nation continue to report injuries that proper hazard identification could have prevented.

Economic Loss

Beyond the human tragedy, inadequate HIRA costs African economies billions annually through lost productivity from injuries, medical costs and compensation claims, equipment damage, regulatory fines (Nigeria’s Factory Act now enforces stricter penalties), and damaged reputation and lost contracts.

Legal Exposure

Nigeria’s Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act and the Factory Act explicitly require employers to carry out risk assessments, document findings, implement control measures, and keep records available for inspection.

Without documented HIRA, your organization isn’t just unsafe. It’s breaking the law.

Why HIRA Is Being Missed: Common Excuses

“We don’t have the budget.”

Proper HIRA doesn’t require expensive consultants. It starts with employees who understand their work, supervisors trained to spot hazards, and a simple documentation system. Many African organizations have found that small investment in HIRA saves millions in accident costs.

“We’ve been doing this for years without it.”

Survival bias. Just because accidents haven’t happened yet doesn’t mean they won’t. One serious incident will cost more than years of preventive HIRA.

“We give out PPE. That’s our safety program.”

That’s not a safety program. That’s damage control pretending to be prevention. Real safety looks upstream, not just at what workers are wearing.

“Our workers don’t have the education for HIRA.”

Neither did they when they learned to operate machinery. Training can be delivered in local languages, with visual aids, and in practical terms that connect to their daily work.

How to Implement HIRA in Your Workplace

Step 1: Assemble Your Team

Get a cross-section: safety personnel, supervisors, experienced workers, and if possible, a qualified HSE consultant familiar with African workplace contexts.

Step 2: Identify Hazards

Walk the workplace systematically. Look for chemical, physical, biological, ergonomic, psychological, and environmental hazards. Document everything. Take photos. Talk to workers—they often spot things management misses.

Step 3: Assess the Risk

For each hazard, ask: Who is at risk? How severe would an injury be? How likely is it to happen? Create a simple risk matrix (high/medium/low) for each hazard.

Step 4: Determine Controls

Use the hierarchy. For high-risk hazards, determine if you can eliminate it, substitute it, engineer it out, or change procedures. Only then consider what PPE is truly needed.

Step 5: Implement and Document

Create a written HIRA document that includes hazards identified, risks assessed, control measures chosen, responsibility assignments, timeline for implementation, and review schedule.

Step 6: Train Your Workers

Don’t just implement. Communicate. Help workers understand what hazards exist in their area, why these controls matter, how to use PPE correctly, and what to do if something feels unsafe.

Step 7: Review Regularly

HIRA isn’t one-time. Review when processes change, new equipment is introduced, incidents occur, or at minimum quarterly.

Real-World Example: Construction Site in Lagos

A construction company was handing out hard hats and high-visibility vests. Workers still fell from heights, suffered heat exhaustion, and were struck by falling objects.

Then they conducted proper HIRA and identified hazards including fall risk at heights above 2 meters, heat stress in the hot, humid Lagos climate, flying objects from angle grinders, and poor access routes creating trip hazards.

They implemented controls across all levels:

• Engineering: Safety netting, elevated work platforms, improved lighting
• Administrative: Mandatory breaks during peak heat, tool tethering, supervised work
• PPE: Harnesses, helmets, safety glasses, heat-reflective clothing

Result: 87 percent reduction in reportable incidents within 12 months.

What HIRA Looks Like in Different African Industries

Mining Operations

Hazards: Cave-in, toxic gas, dust inhalation, equipment injury

HIRA approach: Ventilation systems (engineering) combined with air quality monitoring (administrative) plus respirators (PPE)

Healthcare Settings

Hazards: Bloodborne pathogens, sharps injuries, chemical exposure

HIRA approach: Safe injection devices (substitution), needle disposal protocols (administrative), gloves and eye protection (PPE)

Manufacturing Plants

Hazards: Machinery entanglement, chemical exposure, noise

HIRA approach: Machine guards (engineering), lockout procedures (administrative), helmets and earplugs (PPE)

Agriculture and Farming

Hazards: Pesticide exposure, sun exposure, machinery injury

HIRA approach: Safer pesticides (substitution), restricted application windows (administrative), protective clothing (PPE)

Making HIRA Part of Your Organization’s Culture

HIRA works best when it’s not a compliance checkbox but part of how your organization thinks.

Empower your workers. Create a culture where anyone can raise a concern about hazards without fear of punishment. Many serious incidents could have been prevented if someone had spoken up early.

Reward safety thinking. Recognize and reward employees who identify hazards, suggest improvements, and follow safe procedures. Make safety a career advantage, not a burden.

Invest in training. HSE certification programs, toolbox talks, and on-the-job training all strengthen HIRA understanding. Organizations in Nigeria like NBTE (National Board for Technical Education) and various HSE institutes offer accessible training.

Lead from the top. If management doesn’t visibly commit to HIRA, workers won’t either. Safety starts with leadership that walks the talk.

Your PPE is important. Wear it. Maintain it. Replace it when damaged. But understand this: PPE is the end of the safety story, not the beginning.

The beginning is HIRA; systematically identifying what can go wrong, assessing how likely and severe it is, and then controlling it. When organizations skip HIRA and jump to PPE, they’re essentially telling workers: “We don’t really know what might hurt you, but wear this anyway.”

That’s not workplace safety. That’s negligence with a safety vest.

If you’re working in Nigeria or across Africa and your employer hasn’t conducted a proper hazard identification and risk assessment, that’s a red flag. Raise it with your safety department. If there isn’t one, that’s an even bigger red flag.

Your life is worth the time and investment that proper HIRA takes.