News & Article

Flooding is one of the physical environmental hazards by be caused by man-made or natural sources. About 27 states are already affected, yet the government of Nigeria has warned for state and local governments to prepare for further flooding until the end of November 2022 as related by Richard Davies. About 603 persons have been reported dead in Nigeria since February 2022 according to Sadyyah Umar Farouk. About 1,302,589 have been displaced as related.

It is being said that safety does not happen by accident; someone must take responsibility even when it is not the easiest choice to make. On Friday June 10, 2022, a major fire disaster was averted in Agbarho community in Ughelli North Local Government of Delta State when a driver of a petrol tanker drove his burning tanker to a safer place before it completely went up in flames. Mr Ejiro Otarigho demonstrated this feat.  As simple and unrecognised as this act was interpreted, thousands of lives were saved from untimely being burnt with many livelihoods preserved.

Unarguably, the increasing rate of building collapse in the country despite advancement in technology, involvement of professionals and the periodic review of building codes is worrisome. It is instructive to point out that building collapse in Nigeria has a long unenviable history of a sustained culture of negligence and impunity. More distressing is the aberrant impunity that is glaringly at play in recent times. It is clear that the reoccurring building collapse attest agonisingly to the escalating decline in safety measures that is prevalent in the construction sector.

Every profession celebrates its heroes, achievers, mentors, icons, and legends as pacesetters to sustain the

professional practice and culture of excellence. Such a glamorous event happened on the 12th of November

2022. Practitioners and stakeholders in the safety industry from all over Africa converged at The Lagos

Continental Hotel to celebrate the profession of safety. Among the participants were the sponsors, supporters,

award nominees, and a host of other participants.

A successfully engineered process is one with SAFE OPERATIONS i.e. that operates without causing any form of harm to both personnel and the environment. Process safety focuses on the application of engineering and design principles, safe operating practices, proper preventing controls, and safe optimization of chemical, physical, biological, etc. processes that have the potential to cause harm by uncontrollably releasing hazardous materials or energy. (e.g. release of hazardous materials, (loss of containment), the uncontrollable release of energy, (explosion, fire).

Adequate fire safety equipment, instrumentation, and engineered services are required for protection of life, asset, environment, including operational continuity by avoidance of downtime lost to shutdown of facility during fire outbreak. Engine rooms of marine machineries are protected with aerosol fire suppression systems whether marine production platforms, cargo ships, ferry boats, flotillas, cruise ships, yachts, cargo ships and small boats. Intrinsically safe equipment with low tendency to produce sparks and high temperatures are the best options, while extrinsically safe equipment acts to check process risk thereby reducing fire risks, and hazards to As-Low-As-Reasonably-Possible (ALARP). Pre-engineered fire protection solutions are so effective due the packaged and automated nature of such helps in early fire response.

Within the snap of a finger, the world came to a standstill at the emergence of the novel Corona virus. Like a flash, a mutant virus more deadly has emerged; the Omicron variant. This virus from the onset already poses a great threat to human existence. The omicron variant has been reported in at least 25 countries worldwide. In Africa, the omicron variant has now been detected in four countries, with Ghana and Nigeria becoming the first West African countries and the latest on the continent to report the new variant. The jittery health and social implication of the virus is already creating a gloomy outlook for the global economy.

For over a decade, Nigeria has been fraught with insecurity challenges. Gradually, Nigeria is notoriously known for the poor level of safety and security threats within its border.  This problem has gradually metastasised to most nooks and crannies of the nation as there is palpable fear in the land. It is a fact now that the issue of insecurity has invincible social and economic dimensions.  No day passes by without reports of wanton killings and attacks.  This menace seems to defy prolonged efforts aimed at addressing it. Recent security breaches underscore the dire need for concerted and deliberate efforts coupled with a resolved commitment to fight our security woes.  Truthfully, insecurity is a global issue; it is not a Nigerian thing. However, what is important here is that this challenge is identified and tackled timely.

In the codes and standards reviewed, there is general agreement that the performance goals of structural design against fire are to limit risks to the individual and society, to directly exposed or neighboring property, and to the environment

FM-200, NOVECTM 1230, and Inert gasses are the most common clean agent fire suppression systems in the market today. The clean agent fire suppression (total flooding) systems here include – Heptaflouropropane (HFC227ea or FM 200TM) and other halocarbons, including Halon 1310, HFC-125, HFC-23. Flouroketone ‘Dodecafluoro-2-methylpentan-3-one (FK-5-1-12) or NOVECTM 1230’ is a good clean agent. Inergen (IG541 or Nitrogen 52%, Argon 40% and CO2 8%), Nitrogen IG-100 (N-100 or 100% Nitrogen), Argon IG01 (Argon 100%) and Argonite (IG55 or 50% Argon, 50% Nitrogen). They have a high capacity to extinguish a fire without leaving residue after evaporation. Clean agents are non-toxic, non-corrosive, electrically non-conductive and environmentally friendly.