Articles

The construction industry remains one of the most hazardous sectors globally, with Nigeria experiencing a high incidence of workplace accidents despite the adoption of Occupational Health and Safety Management (OHSM) frameworks. This study evaluated the effectiveness of OHSM practices in improving workplace safety across construction companies in Nigeria’s coastal cities. A cross-sectional design was employed, combining quantitative surveys of construction workers (n = 1,400) with qualitative interviews of 35 managers and supervisors. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS version 28, while thematic analysis was applied to qualitative responses. Findings revealed a generally positive perception of OHSM, with 54.4% of workers rating OHS policy effectiveness as “Good” and 52.0% rating health outcomes as “Good.” However, accident frequency remained a concern, with 46.4% reporting accidents occurred “Occasionally” and 31.9% acknowledging them as “Frequent” or “Very Frequent.” Comparative analysis showed indigenous firms were rated higher in policy effectiveness and health outcomes but also reported slightly higher accident frequencies than international firms. Thematic analysis identified five key monitoring and evaluation strategies including routine inspections, regular training, audits, behavioural reinforcement, and access control, Also, five measures of OHSM effectiveness, including compliance observation, incident tracking, KPIs, employee feedback, and benchmarking. OHSM was found to positively influence project outcomes by reducing compensation costs, enhancing reputation, and improving supervision and quality of work. OHSM practices in Nigeria’s construction sector are perceived as effective in policy and health outcomes, yet accident rates remain a critical challenge. The study underscores the importance of continuous training, stricter enforcement, behavioural reinforcement, and systematic performance evaluation.

Managing supply chains efficiently has become a major concern for organizations. One of the important factors to optimize in supply chain management is logistics. The advent of technology and the increase in data availability allow for the enhancement of the efficiency of logistics in a supply chain. This discussion focuses on the blending of analytics with innovation in logistics to improve the operations of a supply chain. An approach is presented on how predictive analytics can be used to improve logistics operations. In order to analyze big data in logistics effectively, an artificial intelligence computational technique, specifically deep learning, is employed. Two case studies are illustrated to demonstrate the practical employability of the proposed technique. This reveals the power and potential of using predictive analytics in logistics to project various KPI values ahead in the future based on the contemporary data from the logistics operations; sheds light on the innovative technique of employing deep learning through deep learning-based predictive analytics in logistics; suggests incorporating innovative techniques like deep learning with predictive analytics to develop an accurate forecasting technique in logistics and optimize operations and prevent disruption in the supply chain. The network of supply chains has become more complex, necessitating the need for the latest technological advancements. The sectors that have gained a fair amount of attention for the application of technology to optimize their operations are manufacturing, healthcare, aerospace, and the automotive industry. A little attention has been diverted to the logistics sector; many describe how analytics and artificial intelligence can be used in the logistics sector to achieve higher optimization. Currently, significant research has been done in optimizing logistics operations. Nevertheless, with the explosive volume of historical data being produced by the logistics operations of an organization, there is a great opportunity to learn valuable insights from the data accumulated over time for more long-term strategic planning. To develop the logistics operations in an organization, the use of historical data is essential to understand the trends in the operations. For example, regular maintenance planning and resource allocation based on trends are long-term activities that will not affect logistics operations immediately but can affect the business’s strategic planning in the long run. A predictive analysis technique employed on historical data of logistics can narrow down conclusions based on the future trends of logistics operations. Thus, the technique can be used to prevent the disruption of the supply chain.

Global colocation services provision mission-critical infrastructure in secure and reliable facilities, typically within a zero-tolerance SLA environment. Strength of colocation services is the volume of incidents and service requests, and the case management workflow is a critical determinant of the improvement of the end-to-end response capacity and quality. An objective, evidence-based exploration of the principles of colocation operations case management covering design, metrics, and pathways for continuous enhancement has been conducted. A structured inquiry engaged diverse sources: primary and secondary research, case study analysis following global delivery and service operation models, information provided by subject matter experts, and management performance benchmarks proposing KPIs. The investigation results in the articulation of fundamental principles and frameworks that govern the management of incidents and requests in colocation operations. Evidence of the natural path to optimization supports their formulation. Continuous awareness, evaluation, and reinforcement of the principles and frameworks contribute significantly to performance enhancement.

The introduction of 4G LTE communication technology was basically designed to meet the increasing demand by users for high-quality multimedia services, data communication speed and improved quality of service (QOS). It is pertinent to note that, with an ever-increasing subscriber base, it is essential to assess and analyze the network performance. To perform this task, there is a need to use the key performance indicators (KPI). This research study evaluates KPI’s gathered from field measurements, using a statistical approach to establish the performance and determine the present condition of the quality of service offered by a 4G LTE network in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. In this study, a drive test approach was adopted to measure the KPI’s and analysis was achieved with the use of TEMs Discovery software adopting a statistical approach. The result showed the value range of the measured KPI’s were; RSSI (-90, -49.7dBm), RSRP (-117.7, -68.6 dBm), RSRQ (-14.2, -22.8dB) representing minimum and maximum values. The probability distribution of the various KPI’s showed that the best signal ranges were distributed as 38.21%, 69.63% and 65.63% for RSSI, RSRP and RSRQ respectively. The KPI parameters were within the acceptable range, though require optimization to provide better service for a greater population.