WORKPLACE INJURY COMPENSATION IN NIGERIA AND THE CHANGES INTRODUCED BY THE EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION ACT, 2010

Abstract

Under the Employee Compensation Act, 2010 applicable to Nigeria, all employers andemployees are included in the compensation scheme although this does not extend to membersof the armed forces, other than such members employed in a civilian capacity. Using thedoctrinal research method, the paper examined and found out that the major feature of theECA 2010 is that it establishes the Employees Compensation Fund into which employers shallmake contributions and expanded the coverage and compensation provided by the schemeunlike the erstwhile workmen compensation Act of 2004. The Employee Compensation Act,2010 has put in place an employee compensation scheme that consolidates workers’compensation through the establishment of the Employees Compensation Fund which ismanaged by the Management Board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund in the interestof both Employers and employees in cases of fatalities resulting from or in the course ofemployment. This paper having found out that the diseases mentioned in the first schedule tothe Act falls short of the international standard by leaving out 33 categories of internationallyrecognised diseases therefore recommended that these diseases should be included ascompensable diseases. The law must also state categorically if all the conditions forqualification for compensation in the case of diseases as mentioned in section 9 of theEmployee Compensation Act, 2010 should be interpreted conjunctively or disjunctively. Theimplementation of the provisions of the law should be applied more aggressively, while payingcompensation benefits to injured workers timorously with minimal delays. The researchapplied the Doctrinal and comparative research theories.