On Wednesday, the Lagos State Safety Commission closed off Ikeja Chinese-owned Chengfa Footwear Limited on safety risks and unpalatable working environment.
The move came after the death of Joseph Ekwenube, a 16-year-old worker who was electrocuted while running a machine.
On May 31, Mr Ekwenube was taken to the General Hospital of Lagos State where he was declared dead.
Chengfa footwear is a firm specializing in rubber footwear recycling and manufacturing and the manufacturing of rubber footwear raw materials.
Hakeem Dickson, the Lagos State Safety Commission’s general manager, said the firm was sealed after a security practitioner inspection.
“The law says once you engage over five staff, you must implement safety measures,” Mr Dickson said.
“If not for the accident, the Lagos State Safety Commission would not have known that there is a company like Chengfa.”
“I see very poor housekeeping, the hazards are so much, and the risks are high. The company must be ISO certified, 9001 ISO, 45001 and 14001 ISO before the company can be reopened.”
Members of the inspection team said the victim was electrocuted while loading into a machine to transport products to where they would be processed while providing their report.
A team member, recognized as ‘ Engineer Ogundimu, ‘ said they noticed a lot of safety infringements during site inspection after the incident.
“We saw electrical infractions; people were working in an unsafe manner, the whole factory was stuffy, people had to remove their clothes to work. Based on what we saw on that day, it is not a workplace; it is simply hazardous,” she said.
Some of the problems raised were bad cable wiring, unskilled labor, bad health safety, workplace rodents, leaking roofs, overcrowding, and absence of emergency access paths.
Tomilade Shodimu, general counsel for the company, said the deceased worker told the organization when he was hired that he was 20 years old, but it was confirmed that he was 16 years old after his death.
Ms Shodimu said after the incident, ”corrections had been made to ensure that staff work in a safe environment”.
The company’s claims on new workplace safety measures notwithstanding, Mr Dickson said it would remain shut until all safety measures are put in place.”
The safety commission boss said that the 45001 ISO certification should be acquired by other firms that are yet to be certified.
“It is a worldwide standard, and this would help prevent many hazards in companies, especially factories,” he added.
