COVID-19 LOCKDOWN RELAXATION AND EMPLOYERS’ DUTY OF CARE IN THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY IN PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA

Authors: C. S. Biriowu, Ph.D., J. A. Okwankpa, Ph.D. & T. B. Chris-Biriowu

ABSTRACT

Employers are legally obligated to put best practices in place that will ensure that they fulfill their duty to use reasonable care in the selection of employees so that they may be reasonably competent to do the work; to provide and maintain proper plant and equipment; and to combine the whole in a safe system of work, so as not to expose an employee to any unnecessary risk. This is to be done to avoid a breach of common law and statutory duties. This paper sought to qualitatively investigate whether there are breaches in employers’ duty of care in the face of Covid-19 lockdown relaxation measures at the workplace. The study set out to identify the Covid-19 lockdown measures that employers of the chemical Industry put in place for health and safety reasons and the likely implications of the Covid-19 lockdown relaxation measures by employers. The paper adopted the survey research design to elicit responses from respondents. The population of the study comprises these two companies (with population elements made up of Management staff of both companies) and a sample size of six (6) management staff (from the population elements) purposively drawn because of their knowledge of their company practices and policies. The interview guide in collaboration with the Researcher was instrumental in gathering data from respondents and such data was analyzed thematically. The study found that the risk leading to a lockdown still looms even after lockdowns have been relaxed hence, making it obligatory for organizations to pay increased attention to the health and safety of employees. The study concludes that in the likely relaxation of a lockdown, implementing prescribed strategies that employers put in place to ensure safety, will go a long way to re-enforce the potency of keeping to their duty of care. The study recommended that employers should develop analytic measures that will help them proactively measure their progress in fostering employee safety, and that employers need to constantly drive the strategies for keeping to their law duty of care to their employees so as to improve engagement and performance in the post lockdown period.

Keywords: Lockdown Relaxation, Duty of Care, Workplace Safety and Health, Covid-19.

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