HSE Legislation, Regulations and Regulatory Bodies (Nigeria and International)
The Nigerian framework
- Factories Act 1990 (Cap F1, LFN 2004) - registration of factories, general duties on employers (safe plant, ventilation, lighting, sanitation, fencing of machinery) and a Factory Inspectorate under the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, not under NESREA.
- Employee's Compensation Act 2010 (ECA) - a no-fault scheme run by the NSITF; the employer pays an assessment (commonly cited as 1% of payroll) and the injured worker need not prove negligence. It replaced the Workmen's Compensation Act.
- Labour Act (Cap L1) - hours, wages, leave, young persons.
- NESREA Act 2007 - environmental standards, permits, enforcement; plus the EIA Act, the Harmful Waste (Special Criminal Provisions) Act, NOSDRA Act 2006 (oil-spill reporting and remediation), the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (created NUPRC and NMDPRA, replacing DPR), NIMASA for marine pollution and SON for standards.
International instruments
ILO C155 (Occupational Safety and Health, 1981) and C161 (occupational health services); HASAWA 1974 (UK), source of "so far as is reasonably practicable"; OSHA Act 1970 (USA); ISO 45001:2018 and ISO 14001:2015 - voluntary standards, not statutes.
Traps
Examiners love "which body enforces what?": labour/OSH → Factory Inspectorate; effluent and waste → NESREA; oil spills → NOSDRA; oil and gas operations → NUPRC/NMDPRA. Remember the Factories Act does not cover every workplace, and ISO certification is not law.
Rule of thumb
Match the regulator to the harm: worker, environment, spill, or operations.