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Power Industry Cuts Workplace Fatalities By 37% In Q1

Nigeria’s Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) recorded a significant improvement in workplace safety in the first quarter of 2026, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), has disclosed.

According to the Commission, fatalities, injuries and incident notifications all declined during the period under review compared to the previous quarter.

A report presented by NERC’s Technical Regulation Division at the First 2026 Bi-Annual NESI Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Managers’ Meeting showed that fatalities across the industry dropped from 27 in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 17 in the first quarter of 2026.

The report also revealed that injuries declined from 18 to 13 during the period, while incident notifications reduced sharply from 48 to 28, representing an overall 41.7 per cent decline in significant safety incidents.

The Commission stated that every incident represents a human life and renewed its commitment to achieving “Operation Zero”, an industry-wide goal of eliminating workplace fatalities and serious accidents across the power sector.

According to NERC, the meeting, which it hosted in collaboration with the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), brought together HSE managers from electricity generation companies (GenCos), electricity distribution companies (DisCos), the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), and State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) to review safety performance and strengthen compliance with industry standards.

It stated that participants assessed the sector’s health and safety performance for the first quarter of the year and agreed on measures to further reduce operational risks across the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.

The Commission added as part of the resolutions reached at the meeting, electricity licensees were directed to strengthen compliance with the revised NESI Health and Safety Code, establish dedicated HSE Management Committees, improve HSE reporting and audit processes, and implement all outstanding resolutions from the November 2025 Bi-Annual HSE Managers’ Meeting.