Focus on Occupational Health and safety to mitigate fire outbreaks and loss of pupil’s lives
The first step to observing occupational health and safety is following guidelines and regulations right at the school set up by professional physical planning experts and government statuary institutions.
Keep Reading
By Robert Kigongo.
On Tuesday 6th morning, I read every disastrous news of 17 deaths of pupils in Kenya.
The world is going through unprecedented news and tragedies from Bobi Wine's near-death assassination, Gaza War, Mpox disease outbreak, the Ukraine-Russian war and then boom! At the very least unexpected is the fire outbreak at Hill Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County, Kenya.
Suddenly, Fire gutted a dormitory causing pain, tears and agony to African parents struggling under economic hardships to take their future retirement caretakers for quality and equitable education.
Unfortunately, such disastrous fire outbreak calamities happen not only in Kenya alone.
Tragically, Uganda has faced countless firebreaks in Schools, the most recent being Victoria Nursery and primary Busia District at the Kenya Uganda borderline.
Perhaps, there are several underlying factors leading to fire outbreaks, but the most critical one is criminally underrating occupational health and safety in public utilities;
Believe me, if occupational health and safety was a key priority, we could have saved the 17 pupils that died at Hill Side Endarasha, the 11 blind pupils that died in October 2023 at Salama School of Blind in Mukono, the 20 innocent lives lost at Buddo Junior School in Wakiso, Uganda on 14th April 2008 the list is endless.
According, to Kenyan media post incident report state that “Emergency doors were closed from outside, watchman was missing” This is serious negligence of the highest order frustrating evacuation plans and first aid response.
Subsequently, The Uganda Police primary investigation Report in 2008 for the fire outbreak at Buddo Junior School stated that the “fire started from unoccupied bed with piled old pillows by the house mother spreading to several dormitories” In my opinion this was due to improper waste disposal, negligence and lack of training in occupational health management and safety to the school house mother.
Many of our learning institutions across the African Continent default regulations, terms and conditions while setting up school structures.
Majority of schools don’t have a certificate of inspection leveraging on faulting the processes through bribing the education and physical planning officials in local governments.
Sadly, as a result, many of the schools and public utilities don’t have even the basics like fire extinguishers, earthquake detectors, first aid kits, electric modern conductors and modern machines.
Some of our traditional schools still have old and outdated equipment that were installed by the Christian missionary founders, now tell me! Can such learning institutions avoid hazards like fire outbreaks and electric faults?
As education became commercialised, many boarding and day schools take in more students than they can accommodate exposing learners to suffocation, chemical and air pollution;
For instance in most the post fire outbreak incidents some of the deceased causalities died because of the listed reasons above.
Yes, we want to educate our future Jomo Kenyatta and Nelson Mandela but how about their safety and lives? Do we really mind about an enabling environment that supports pupils to achieve the African dreams of their independent fathers?
Therefore, let’s focus at occupational health within our knowledge production centres’
For Uganda, the Government has stretched to establish the Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) Act 2006 that feeds into the International Labour Organisation Convention objectives, as well as the National Building Review Board’s online fire safety assessment tool kit.
Let me pose a question, how many head teachers or house mothers, security guards and students know about this?
Then fire could not have gutted St. Theresa Girls School Kisubi, Kamuli Girls Primary School, Little Flowers Day and Boarding Primary School Kalisizo Rakai District.
As the old saying goes prevention is better than cure, the agony and tears of the parents of Hillside Endarasha in Nyeri County, Kenya could have been avoided;
If occupational health professionals had been hired and active health surveillance officers in partnership with education officers.
The first step to observing occupational health and safety is following guidelines and regulations right at the school set up by professional physical planning experts and government statuary institutions.
For example, at one of my former schools Kisubi Seminary in Wakiso District, classroom blocks were spaced well, Earthquake detectors were installed, fire extinguishers, and first aid kits in every dormitory but most importantly limit student intake to 500 in total.
I wish Hillside School in Nyeri County or Salam blind school and Victoria School in Busia had earlier hired professional occupational health surveillance officers to train and educate other teachers and learners but this was not the case.
Wherefore, capacity building programs and training are paramount to occupational health, safety procedures, and emergency response.
Some of the fire-out breaks are as result of human behaviours and improper waste disposal.
Whence, schools eliminate smoking, and the burning of rubbish on school sites but instead opt for land fields and proper disposal of chemical waste among others.
It’s very prudent to conduct regular risk environmental assessments in most potential risk areas like laboratories, dormitories, kitchen, sickbays and classrooms.
Some of these outbreaks are sparked by fellow human beings as the diverse effect of mental health issues.
Therefore, regularly carry out medical check-ups on mental illness among learners and teachers.
Schools and public utilities can implore multipurpose safety signs that emphasise prohibition, mandatory, warnings and safe conditions.
“Community synergies, surveillance cameras and constant communication, ergonomics and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Incident reporting and monitoring, First Aid kits and modern emergency Response are all key components of occupational health and safety”
Occupational health and safety is not limited to learning centres only but all public utility facilities and homes;
Imagine, if there is an explosion today with all the mushrooming new fossil fuel stations, Kampala can blaze in just 30 minutes.
It’s not too late to save millions of younger dreams, lives, pain and agony caused by a preventable issue like fire outbreaks lets prioritise, scale up and emphasise occupational health and safety.
Robert Kigongo is a sustainable development analyst.
