Ripples Nigeria story sets off safety review at Dangote factory

Sources within the Dangote Cement Factory in Obajana, Kogi State have said that the company’s management, in an internal memo, has carried out a safety review.

This is coming a few weeks after Ripples Nigeria published a story titled; A trail of broken promises: The story of Dangote Cement and the people of Obajana, a two part series detailing the overlooked plights of Obajana residents and the cement factory workers caused by the production of cement.

The report highlighted the plight of workers in the company, as well as citizens around the town where it is cited. While the workers are exposed to some dangers in the factory, and the risk of inhaling cement dust on a daily basis, the facility provided to cater for their medical needs, is nothing to write home about.

In the report, Pius Jelili (not real name), a mid-level engineer at the factory is concerned about the health of workers. “We inhale cement dust every day, and we are always exposed to other hazards that come with cement production. “And, sadly, what the company pays us as hazards allowance is less than N2, 000.”

He added that, “you will be surprised to know that as big as Dangote Cement is, staff are not under health insurance scheme with any Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), and you will see smaller companies even with less or no hazardous working conditions making provisions for this.”

In the report, it was noted that as recent as 2015, a team of scientists did a study on the effects of cement dust on the hematological parameters in Obajana (Dangote) Cement Factory workers.

Read also: A trail of broken promises: The story of Dangote Cement and the people of Obajana (1)

The study conducted by Emmanuel, T.F., Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Kogi state University, Anyigba, Nigeria, and others revealed that the values of white blood cell (WBC), lymphocytes (LYM), monocytes (MID), haematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular heamoglobin concentration (MCHC) and platelets (PLT) were significantly increased in exposed workers but red blood cell (RBC) and Haemoglobin (HGB) were significantly lower ( p < 0.05).

“The investigation of haematological parameters were performed on 60 workers in different units/sections exposed to cement dust and controls (unexposed to cement dust),” the study read.

Ripples Nigeria gathered that after its story was published, assessments on working conditions and safety standards were carried out by the management. “There was a check on the stack emission,” a source revealed, adding that, “the emergency exit availability was also examined.”

According to him, in the coming weeks, results and recommendations are expected to be out. “We are watching out for the results with keen interest,” one of the factory workers said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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