In line with its drive to ensure occupational and environmental health practices meet global standards, the Society of Occupational and Environmental Health Physicians of Nigeria (SOEHPON) has renewed its call for stronger regulatory backing for occupational and environmental health practices in the country.
The call came during the Society’s 2025 Annual International Conference, themed “Advancing Occupational and Environmental Health Practice in Nigeria, designed as a strategic capacity-building platform to help Nigeria benchmark its occupational and environmental health practices against global standards.
SOEHPON is the umbrella professional body for all Occupational Health Practitioners in Nigeria with membership from all sectors in Nigeria and the Diaspora.
The President of the Society, Dr. Musa Shaibu, said the goal was to raise standards across the entire value chain of occupational health services-from capacity building and membership expansion to continuous workplace hazard assessments and evidence-based recommendations to government.
“Going forward, we intend to do things better in line with global standards far beyond what we used to do. We intend to improve in all aspects of the value chain in terms of continually carrying out assessments to identify occupational and environmental health hazards and providing recommendations to the government.
“We are not an enforcement body, we are not an arm of government, we are a group of professionals, but when we put ourselves together and see things going wrong, then we can advise the government.
“Any preventable work-related harm or loss of life must be seen as a failure of leadership in prioritising the occupational and safety needs of its workforce.
“Our message to employers and employees is that the practice of occupational and environmental health in the workplace is a collective thing.
“Every stakeholder has a role to play in the workplace; the employer has the core responsibility of providing an environment that does not cause harm to the employee, and when policies are made and structures are put in place, employees have a responsibility to comply and exploit those facilities for safety.”
Also speaking, SOEHPON’s National Public Relations Officer, Dr. Charles Babajide Onigbogi said the conference theme was chosen deliberately to move Nigeria away from “lip service” and toward actionable steps for outcomes to enrich the bill progressing at the National Assembly and ensure occupational and environmental health in Nigeria rises to globally acceptable levels.
“There’s been a lot of lip service; gaps are there, but we are getting there, and this is why this conference theme has been carved out. It is time to act, taking topics away from PowerPoint into reality, and that is why we are here today.
“All the stakeholders are here, from the ministries, from IOCs. Stakeholders are all here to talk about the bill and of course, about advancing occupational environmental health practice in Nigeria. So these are our objectives for this conference.
Further, Shaibu stated: “Secondly, employees have a duty to seek the proper advice. Sometimes you go to any place, and you see a lot of hazards, and somebody tells you, Oh, they should give them money for it.
“This is like a tripartite thing, the government has a role to play in providing the regulatory environment with which people can practice like any other discipline, employers have a duty to play in making sure that they comply, they have a policy that prioritizes the health, safety, and welfare of workers.
An employee also has a duty to ensure that when those facilities are provided, when those policies are made, they comply. It is this compendium, within this compendium, that things work, and the health and safety of workers will be protected in all workplaces. Talking about, speaking about regulation.”
He said the Society has consistently advocated for regulation and intends to make further submissions during the upcoming public hearing to ensure the final law is comprehensive and fit for purpose.
“Once it becomes an Act of the National Assembly, it will drive the practice of occupational health and safety in the country for the benefit of all,” he remarked.
