Ogun shuts two firms over fatal industrial accidents

The Ogun State Government said it sealed two firms over industrial accidents resulting in deaths. .Chairman of the State Task Force on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Farook Akintunde, made the disclosure in a statement on Thursday in Abeokuta. Mr Akintunde named the firms as Quantum Steel Industry in Ogijo, Sagamu Local Government Area and Xinfeng Plastics Limited on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. He said that Quantum Steels was shut down over an industrial explosion which resulted in fatalities, with some victims still hospitalised while Xinfeng Plastics was equally sealed after a machine operator lost his life due to electrocution.
Mr Akintunde said that government took the decision to seal the companies to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the incidents and proffer solutions to avert recurrence. He said, “As a government, we are determined to conduct credible and diligent investigations, including inviting external safety experts to get to the root cause of these incidents in the overriding public interest and safety. What is even painful is that despite the state government’s regular visits to these companies to educate them on the need to adhere strictly to safety procedures, such incidents still occurred within their production lines, hence the need to close them down.’’
According to him, the two companies will remain shut until investigations are concluded and new safety protocols entrenched in them. He warned other companies in the state to take safety of their workers seriously, especially those in the production line. NAN