Lagos expresses fears over safety of health care workers

Worried by hazards in the workplace, the Lagos State government has expressed concerns over safety in the state’s health care system.

Speaking at a two-day workplace safety summit on Tuesday, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Primary Health care Board, Dr. Lateef Tayo Lawal, said the state would continue to sensitize health personnel as well as patients to ensure safety measures were fully complied with.

The programme which was organized by the Lagos State Safety Commission (LSC) was attended by stakeholders including the Director-General of the Commission, Hon. Hakeem Dickson; the Lagos State Chapter Chairman of Nigeria Institute of Civil Engineer, Dr. Lola Adetona; Head, Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Engr. Fredrick Ugo.

Represented by Dr Eniola Erinoso , the Director, medical science and disease control, Lagos state primary healthcare board, Lateef said health workers must avoid preventable harms during the course of treating in-patient.

“This includes physical harms and the environment of the hospitals, including safe water, appropriate drugs to ensure patients do not pick up other diseases by reducing harms relating to treatment,” he said.

He added that patient should be exposed to treatment benefit analysis which proposes the best treatment for any disease condition.

“For most conditions, we have treatment that requires surgery. Same condition you can use drugs. You have to weigh the options and compare with the health of the patient. Whichever treatment you embark on, be sure you minimize its effect on the patient.”

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He explained that health workers were also susceptible to harms and danger in the course of discharge of their duties while adding that they must ensure maximum safety when handling highly infectious diseases.

He submitted that the state would continue to improve on its compliance to the safety measures

While giving his goodwill message, the DG of LSC, Hon. Hakeem, said the summit was organized to enable safety practitioners discuss the culture of safety.

He said, “Safety is like a school. It is cultural. The more we come to see ourselves who are practitioners then the more it becomes a culture that lives in us. It is about accident, it is about doing the right thing at the right time to save life.”

He mentioned that despite the growing population of the state, the commission had achieved 60% safety awareness while the compliance level stands at 54%.

By Babatunde Alao…

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