The effectiveness of occupational health and safety management system in Nigeria: a comparative analysis using the United Kingdom

Health and Safety have long been important in reducing workplace accidents and deaths. Countries such as the United Kingdom have conducted numerous reviews to address this issue, with the Roben report known to be one of the biggest reviews undertaken in collaboration with other developed countries such as the United States. The review report changed the way Occupational Health and Safety is evaluated, leading to the formation of several organisations and other institutions as part of attempts to strengthen Occupational Health and Safety. In Nigeria, despite the establishment of several stakeholders and organisations for Health and Safety, there has been no major improvement in the incidence of workplace accidents. Therefore, this PhD thesis was able to define, explore, and evaluate the effectiveness of Occupational Health and Safety in Nigeria by comparing it to the United Kingdom. This work is socially significant because an effective Health and Safety system fosters technological advancement that aids development while reducing accidents.

A systematic review conducted identified five key themes: a) implementation, b) performance, c) indicators, d) disclosure, and e) challenges, and from these themes, a common component termed as OHS best practice was identified as a gap that required further investigation, established across all themes.

The gap in this thesis was addressed by conducting a comparative study, which employed both qualitative and quantitative methods, and using a survey method to examine the common components from the identified themes, termed "OHS best practices".

The findings of this thesis show that "OHS best practices" such as preventive measures and safety perception can help improve employees' knowledge of safety by establishing a safety system through safety governance, implementing preventive measures through evaluation and management commitment. Furthermore, our findings revealed that Occupational Health and Safety in Nigeria is not effective in part due to safety deficiencies such as a lack of enforcement and resources.

This thesis made three contributions to knowledge: 1) explored background, contributing theories and recent development of Health and Safety in Nigeria and United Kingdom; 2) examined of OHS Management system that identified key themes of OHS such as performance, implementation, disclosure, indicators, and challenges for an effective Occupational Health and Safety Management system; 3) evaluate common component termed as “OHS best practices” identified across the five key themes.

In conclusion, this thesis deepens our understanding of the features and components of Occupational Health and Safety, as well as Nigeria's present status of Health and Safety, and suggests some ways for effective Occupational Health and Safety in Nigeria, regardless of any regulatory issues.