The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry recorded 31 deaths and nine injuries in the fourth quarter of 2021, says Nigeria’s regulatory agency.
It involved both employees of the companies and third parties, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission said.
This was contained in the NERC Fourth Quarter Report 2021, released at the weekend.
The report said the total number of incidents that occurred in the quarter under review were 40, with nine injuries and 31 deaths compared to the 49 incidents recorded in Q3 with 19 injuries and 30 deaths.
According to the report, the commission has launched investigations into all the reported incidents with a view of understanding the root causes records as well as meting out relevant sanctions against the licensees.
The report by NERC said: “In line with its 2017-2020 strategic goals, the commission has intensified efforts at implementing various safety programmes aimed at eliminating accidents in the industry.
“Some of the safety programmes implemented by the Commission include the standardisation of protective schemes, public enlightenment on health and safety, engagement of government agencies on Right of Way (RoW) violations.
“And a review of an operational procedure for distribution system operators on fault clearing.”
The commission also said out of the 87 mandatory health and safety reports expected from licensees in Q4 2021, it received 75 reports against 85 submitted in the Q3.
It said: “Port Harcourt DisCo had three outstanding reports while AES Barge, Afam Power, Abuja, Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ibadan, Ikeja, and Kano Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) each had one outstanding report for Q4.”
The report said in accordance with Section 32(1)(e) of Electric Power Sector Reform Act, the commission continued to monitor the health and safety performance of the NESI.
“In order to guarantee the delivery of safe and reliable electricity to Nigerians,” the report said.
It said that the commission had developed new processes to track the submission of statutory reports, including the health and safety reports by licensees.
The report said the processes would guide the implementation of relevant actions against licensees that do not meet their obligations.
It said: “The health and safety reports were analysed in line with the provisions of Section 32(1)(e) of ESPRA for monitoring and evaluating of health and safety performance of licensees.
“In order to ensure that operators abide by their responsibility of delivering safe electricity services to consumers.”
