TOWARDS A SAFE WORKPLACE: ANALYSING OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH IN NIGERIA AND THE UNITED KINGDOM

Abstract

A safe work environment is crucial to the productivity and overall development of any society. Industrial growth and development has been one of the indices of civilization and development over time. When workers are motivated and the work environment is ideal, the productivity is higher. Thus, it is sacrosanct that there should be a framework that guarantees a safe work environment. This article attempts an analysis of the legal framework for occupational health and safety under the Nigerian and the United Kingdom laws; this is because of their shared history as common wealth jurisdictions. It finds that both jurisdictions offer a robust legal framework with Nigeria adopting a multi legislation approach while the UK has a single legislation, it also finds that there are however areas of weaknesses that needs to be addressed especially as regards sanction in Nigeria and concludes by making recommendations for mutual lessons to be drawn by both jurisdictions.