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HSE Officer Foundations: Workplace Health, Safety and Environment in Nigeria

What a health, safety and environment officer actually does on a Nigerian site: the law, hazards and risk assessments, permits, PPE, fire and emergencies, incidents, toolbox talks and the management system behind it all.

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About this course

HSE officer is one of the most advertised jobs in Nigeria, from construction sites and oil-servicing yards to factories, warehouses, hotels and banks, and most people who apply have only a certificate and no idea what the first month looks like. This course is the grounding. You will learn what the role is and where it stops, the Nigerian laws and the global standards (ISO 45001, ILO, OSHA as a reference) that an officer works under, how to find hazards on a walk-through and write a risk assessment and a job safety analysis a foreman can act on, how construction-site controls, permits to work, PPE, machinery, electrical and chemical safety are organised, how to prepare for fire and emergencies and run a drill, how occupational health, welfare and environmental management fit in, how to report and investigate incidents and learn from them, how to give toolbox talks and build a culture where people report, and how the whole thing sits inside a management system that clients and regulators audit. Every lesson follows a new officer on a fictional Lagos construction project. It teaches you to organise, inspect, record, train and respond; it does not teach hazardous work itself, and it tells you plainly where certified training is required. Free, like every Skillnaija course.

Chinedu Okafor arrives at the Kolawole Construction site in Lekki at 6:50 on a Monday morning with a new helmet, a reflective vest that still smells of the shop, a Level 3 certificate in a plastic folder and no idea what to do first. Thirty-eight workers are queuing at the gate. Baba Sule, the foreman, is shouting about a late cement delivery. Engr. Bello, the site manager, shakes his hand and says, 'You are the safety man now. Make sure nobody dies and the client's auditor is happy on Thursday.' Then he walks off to the crane. Chinedu is not the first new officer to stand at a gate wondering whether the job is paperwork, policing or preaching. It is none of those. This lesson is the answer he needed that morning.

What you'll learn

Course syllabus — 12 lessons

  1. What an HSE officer actually does15 min
  2. The law and the standards you work under16 min
  3. Hazard, risk and the hierarchy of controls16 min
  4. Writing a risk assessment and a JSA15 min
  5. Safety on a Nigerian construction site16 min
  6. PPE, machinery, electricity and chemicals: what the officer controls16 min
  7. Fire safety and emergency preparedness16 min
  8. Occupational health, welfare and wellbeing16 min
  9. Environmental management15 min
  10. Incidents: reporting, investigating and learning16 min
  11. Training, toolbox talks and building a safety culture16 min
  12. The HSE management system, audits, certifications and the project17 min

Your project

Your HSE Starter File

One document (Google Doc with view access, or an uploaded Word or PDF file) with a headed section for each of the six parts. Tables are welcome. Everything fictional; no real personal data or employer documents.

Certificates on Skillnaija are earned, not issued for attendance: you submit this project, it is graded against a rubric, and passing issues a certificate anyone can verify. See the full project brief, rubric and free workbook →

Frequently asked questions

Is HSE Officer Foundations: Workplace Health, Safety and Environment in Nigeria free?

Yes. HSE Officer Foundations: Workplace Health, Safety and Environment in Nigeria is completely free on Skillnaija. You need a free account to open the lessons, and there is no charge for the course, the project, or the certificate.

How long does HSE Officer Foundations: Workplace Health, Safety and Environment in Nigeria take to complete?

6 weeks · ~4 hrs/week. There are 12 lessons, about 3 hours of material in total. You learn at your own pace and your progress is saved.

Do I need any experience to start HSE Officer Foundations: Workplace Health, Safety and Environment in Nigeria?

Beginner-friendly. You can start from scratch — no prior experience is assumed.

What will I learn in HSE Officer Foundations: Workplace Health, Safety and Environment in Nigeria?

You will build practical skills in The HSE officer role and its limits, Nigerian OSH law and global standards, Hazard identification and the hierarchy of controls, Risk assessments and job safety analysis, Construction site safety and permits to work, PPE, machinery, electrical and chemical controls, Fire safety and emergency planning, Occupational health and welfare, Environmental management, Incident reporting and investigation, Toolbox talks and safety culture, HSE management systems and audits. Every lesson is written for a Nigerian context, with examples drawn from how the work is actually done and paid for here.

Do I get a certificate for HSE Officer Foundations: Workplace Health, Safety and Environment in Nigeria?

Yes, but it has to be earned. You complete the course project — Your HSE Starter File and submit it for grading. Passing the project issues a verifiable certificate; finishing the lessons alone does not.

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