Monday, July 10, 2006
Disaster Management
The ugly hydra of disaster management has sprouted another head. Thirteen innocent lives have been lost. The death of these Kenyans should not be dismissed as just another bahati mbaya. This is a tragedy that should have been avoidable or at the least manageable. Preliminary reports indicate there was chemical spillage on the floor of the factory. This should have been a clear warning signal to stop every thing until the source and cause of spillage was determined and corrected. But perhaps production was not to be delayed, there were pending orders to be fulfilled. Other reports indicate there was hindrance by some parties of those willing to rush in and attempt to rescue the trapped employees. That the fear of losing money to looters superseded the need to break down the doors and perhaps rescue some of those people in itself speaks volumes. The premium we place on human live is at such a low level that they better burn than us lose money. This goes to the ridiculous ethos of business conduct in Kenya, make money at whatever cost. Businesses should have adequate insurance for such tragedies and even loss of cash. The employees in such hazardous occupations dealing with chemicals should have insurance beyond the meager workmen’s compensation. The Labor Ministry has the responsibility of enforcing industrial safety and compliance with the relevant statutes.
The disaster management team should have been at the forefront in the prevention of such disasters through education. Most of our factories have no disaster management capabilities. Some do not even have a single fire extinguisher, and those that do may not have people competent to operate them. These are not trophies to be hung in the offices, they are survival kits that should be readily available to all on the floor and all should know how to operate them. Frequent fire drills in the factories should be mandatory. Evidence of these should be in the factory inspectors reports (if the office still exists in the Labor ministry). Each factory should have a fire marshal, an established routine in case of fire, a designated area for employees to gather in case of a fire, a delineated route of escape and a fire door accessible and operable from the inside. These are simple common sense safety measures, yet they are non existent in most factories.
The government should be proactive in disaster management. Safety equipment in factories and public places should be mandatory, they should even be tax deductible to promote their affordability. The law should be enforced where they are not installed. We should not sit and wait for disasters to happen before we enforce safety. Employers have a responsibility to acquaint every employee with the safety regulations in their factory and enforce their adherence.
The disaster management team is now awake and will perhaps issue a statement and visit the site of the disaster before going back to sleep until the next disaster. This is a team whose business is not public relations, their primary duty should be educating the masses on the basics of avoiding tragic consequences as a result of tragic occurrences. They should start with teaching the people what to do in case of a house fire, stove bursting in flames,ground caving in, floods, motor accident, chemical spillage, train derailment, mass changaa poisoning, before thinking about earthquakes and terrorist bombs. Our people are willing to help incase of accidents but do not always go about it the right way. This is education that can be carried through the mass media, train volunteers in first aid, not just for wearing uniforms and marching up and down during national days, but volunteers in all walks of life who can be the first line of response in a disaster.
Sitting down and drawing up budgets for offices, vehicles, titles and grandiose projects will not help. Basic prevention lies in simplicity of the issues not in their complexity. Disaster management should start at the ground level, the factory worker, the matatu conductor, the mwananchi crossing the road. It is a legal requirement that all matatus should have a fire extinguisher, how many of these work, are they checked for operation during the annual licensing of the matatu? How many people know how to operate them? These are basics that would come in handy in time of a disaster.
Let us educate our people on safety and this way they will save their lives and those of others. We do not have to wait for another disaster to happen for us to appreciate the need for being proactive.
Charles Wairia
The disaster management team should have been at the forefront in the prevention of such disasters through education. Most of our factories have no disaster management capabilities. Some do not even have a single fire extinguisher, and those that do may not have people competent to operate them. These are not trophies to be hung in the offices, they are survival kits that should be readily available to all on the floor and all should know how to operate them. Frequent fire drills in the factories should be mandatory. Evidence of these should be in the factory inspectors reports (if the office still exists in the Labor ministry). Each factory should have a fire marshal, an established routine in case of fire, a designated area for employees to gather in case of a fire, a delineated route of escape and a fire door accessible and operable from the inside. These are simple common sense safety measures, yet they are non existent in most factories.
The government should be proactive in disaster management. Safety equipment in factories and public places should be mandatory, they should even be tax deductible to promote their affordability. The law should be enforced where they are not installed. We should not sit and wait for disasters to happen before we enforce safety. Employers have a responsibility to acquaint every employee with the safety regulations in their factory and enforce their adherence.
The disaster management team is now awake and will perhaps issue a statement and visit the site of the disaster before going back to sleep until the next disaster. This is a team whose business is not public relations, their primary duty should be educating the masses on the basics of avoiding tragic consequences as a result of tragic occurrences. They should start with teaching the people what to do in case of a house fire, stove bursting in flames,ground caving in, floods, motor accident, chemical spillage, train derailment, mass changaa poisoning, before thinking about earthquakes and terrorist bombs. Our people are willing to help incase of accidents but do not always go about it the right way. This is education that can be carried through the mass media, train volunteers in first aid, not just for wearing uniforms and marching up and down during national days, but volunteers in all walks of life who can be the first line of response in a disaster.
Sitting down and drawing up budgets for offices, vehicles, titles and grandiose projects will not help. Basic prevention lies in simplicity of the issues not in their complexity. Disaster management should start at the ground level, the factory worker, the matatu conductor, the mwananchi crossing the road. It is a legal requirement that all matatus should have a fire extinguisher, how many of these work, are they checked for operation during the annual licensing of the matatu? How many people know how to operate them? These are basics that would come in handy in time of a disaster.
Let us educate our people on safety and this way they will save their lives and those of others. We do not have to wait for another disaster to happen for us to appreciate the need for being proactive.
Charles Wairia
