This is my gift to workers in the education space. At no training cost to you, come and learn from safety professionals how to ensure your school is safe school and ready to act in any emergency.

Who should attend?
Parents, Educators and Concerned Citizens

What will you learn
How your school and your child’s school can be prepared for emergencies

Who will you learn from?
Safety Professionals
Government agencies (FRSC, Fire Service, LASEMA, NSCDC, Police, Ministry of Education, Lagos State Safety Commission)
Child Protection Experts

What are you still waiting for? Click link to register
https://goo.gl/vLQXah

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Intentionally grooming a safety conscious generation

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Recently, a baby died due suffocation from the teddy bear in her cot. Before a baby is born, we want to make everything as beautiful and welcoming as possible. However, sometimes our good intentions cause harm.

How many stuffed animals do you have in the baby’s cot?
How are they placed?
What sizes are they?
Are their risks of it falling over the baby?

Most times we buy things either because they are pretty or for other personal reasons but if we take a second to review it, we’d see it’s a potential hazard.

Ideally, the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that babies sleep in an empty cot to avoid accidental suffocation or strangulation. This is because babies are small and may not be able to help themselves. You on the other hand may not always be there. You could sleep off, step out to pee, cook or even see a friend off and before you’re back the unthinkable has happened. Therefore, if you must, always bear the following in mind when putting stuffed animals in your baby’s cot:

The age of the baby
Some people believe that babies 7-12 months and above can have stuffed animals as they can roll away. However, the baby who died was  18 months, errors can happen. There are cases of children older  than 12 months who have died from accidental  suffocation. Therefore, mind baby’s age when considering toy placement.

The size of the stuffed animal
If the stuffed animal is small, there is a higher chance the baby will be able to nudge it away in a suffocation situation compared to a bigger one. So, keep the sizes small when babies are little.

The position
Is it dangling from above, is it placed at the cot corner or is it placed beside the child? The position of a stuffed animal has a potential to determine the baby’s safety. When dangling from above, it’s safer because it is away from the child’s reach. However, as a safety precaution, check that the  equipment it dangles from is in good condition to avoid a fall. When placed at corners, it might seem like a good idea but if baby rolls or moves a lot, baby could get entangled with the animal. Placing beside the baby is a huge suffocation risk most especially if the size of the stuffed animal is big.

When we make slight adjustments, we’d be able to keep our babies safe.

Image Credit: inquizimedia

Using your mobile device right now? Not a problem at all but where you are using it determines if it’s a problem. On the walkway? On the road? In your office? On your bed? In a bus? In your car with you as the driver? On a bike?

If you are in motion while using it, you are a hazard to your environment and you’re doing what my fellow safety professionals would call an “unsafe act”. You are a distracted road user and as such could cause problems for both motorists and pedestrians. Our generation has caught the Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) fever, as such we are always on our devices. It’s either we are chatting, checking out what others are doing, reading stories or listening to music. Either way, we are caught up in our own world and are not fully aware of our immediate environment. And this can kill you.

This is not an exaggeration. Few weeks ago, another person was killed by a train in the Ikeja axis of Lagos. She was listening to music and her ears were blocked with earphones. Most deaths that have occurred on that particular railway were due distracted road users. There have also been lots of bike and car mishaps because either the pedestrian or motorist was  absorbed in the use of mobile devices. Even though most of the deaths were due to use of mobile devices, other forms of distraction like eating, making up, thinking of problems can lead to accidents when we are in motion. We therefore need to cut off all distraction when using the road.

With just a little lifestyle adjustment we can become better pedestrians and motorists without being a source of harm to others.
1) Put away your phone
Yes, put it away. Preferably somewhere far so that you have to make an effort to get to it. As soon as you get to your destination, you can continue. If it is urgent, stop, get off the active walkway/road first before whipping out the device.

Did you know the road safety law regarding use of phones when driving does not say “receiving calls”? It mentions “use of phone” and that phrase encompasses a lot not just taking calls. Be guided.

2) Stop multi tasking
Doing make up or eating while driving can get you into trouble. All you need is the wrong pothole, careless driver or distracted pedestrian and the rest is history. Remember that in driving just a little swerve when you’re at a top speed can spiral into an accident. So, focus. It’s better to get to your destination first, apply the makeup or eat the food. Or better still, since you’re already late, finish your makeup and eat before heading out.

3) Stop thinking about your problem on the road
If you get knocked down by a vehicle before you get to your destination, how does that solve your problem? Stop thinking on the road, focus on trying to get to where you are going. You have enough time at your destination to think.

The little things we take for granted could be the difference between life or death. It could be the difference between complete health and reduced quality of life. Commit to choose the safe choice always.

Many educators require services and products that enhance safety of children and schools but most times have no means of accessing these services.
Do you provide products and services along the Safety value chain? Click this link to start the process of getting listed.

A good response is defined as one that is efficient, effective and creative. No two incidents ever look alike. This means that the responder needs be sufficiently calm to be able to assess the damage, decide on a course of action, carry out the action and evaluate the results.

How such response be achieved without proper drills or trainings?

A drill is an exercise in which people simulate the circumstances of a disaster so that they have an opportunity to practice their responses.

Disasters are unpredictable by nature, and this can make them difficult when it comes to preparation.
If people do not practice their responses, they will usually not be prepared when disaster does happen; while a disaster drill may not anticipate every potential scenario, it gives people an idea of how to behave during a disaster.

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A child died…

Over the weekend I heard of two cases regarding locking of gates at residential estates. In the first, a child died because the estate gate was locked, the security at gate wasn’t there to open for the family who wanted to rush the child to the hospital. The father had to forcefully open the gate and on the way to the hospital, the child died. In the second instance, a pregnant woman had to jump the fence because security was not at the gate to open and labour had started at night.

Holiday Season comes with high potential for injury and accidents most especially for children.

We should therefore be intentional about their safety this period.
1) Keep hot fluid (oil, water) out of their reach
2) Keep sharp objects away
3) Keep cleaning fluid out of their reach
4) Teach them to avoid stairs as play areas
5) Teach them to create boundaries when playing outdoors
6) Teach them to avoid playing on the streets
7) Teach them to never accept gifts from strangers
8) Teach them your phone number and house address
9) Let them know they can talk about anything to you
10) Teach them to be conscious of their environment

Last week, Ada noticed the office photocopier wasn’t working rightly. She thought  it was negligible but didn’t say anything to anyone. The office has never had a workplace inspection plan.

Yesterday, when Kate started to use the machine, she got electrocuted. Thankfully, Biola saw her and immediately switched off the equipment. Kate did not die. However, she sustained injuries.

Now, that was very close! Who wants to waste business funds on scenarios that could have been avoided?

These things happen!

A lot of potential hazards can be stopped from growing into accidents through workplace inspections. Most times, we take happenings in the workplace for granted. Other times, we create tasks for ourselves and employees wrongly.

Regular inspections can expose existing and potential danger. Hazards like a sharp nail, a blown fuse, faulty equipment, poor workstation design, uneven floors have a high potential to cause injuries and illnesses.

Someone might be thinking “This is not for me”.

Hold that thought.

Are some more prone to injuries than others?

Anyone can get injured on any type of job. People faint, fires start, people trip and fall, machines malfunction in various businesses. To really get things right, you would need a Safety Professional to help you with safety inspections.

However, on your own you can begin to assess the work process (Are there repetitive tasks? Is the task properly designed? Do staff have sufficient break time?), the environment (What is the noise level? Is the workplace too hot or too cold?), the equipment (Does it malfunction? Is it appropriate for the particular task?).

Workplace inspections could be done daily, weekly or monthly depending on the scale and nature of business.

Workplace inspections are important to businesses because they help you:

• Identify existing and potential hazards (danger)
• Recommend corrective actions
• Interact with employees and know their concerns as they perform their daily tasks
• Monitor existing corrective actions

So, what have you observed at work that could lead to harm?

Do something about it!

This article was originally published on She Leads Africa

Photo credit: Google images

Hazard reporting is key to keeping a safe business. Hazard is anything with the potential to cause harm. Most times we are afraid to report safety concerns or issues in the workplace because we do not want to be seen as “busybodies”. We do not want to put others in trouble or think it’s not our business.

It is your business actually.

Would you rather report a wrong action that could lead to an accident or allow the accident happen and let people get hurt?

Reporting hazards could save your life. Who knows, you might be the victim of an unreported hazard. The effects of these hazards could either be immediate or occur over time.

The employer/entrepreneur has a legal obligation to keep the workplace safe. However, as an employee, you are directly involved in the work process. You see the loose ends the boss may not see. Therefore, it is your duty to report shortcomings in the system. Some of us wrongly assume the employer knows about the situation already. Sadly, they do not always know and things could go wrong.

There are four categories of hazards that can be found in the workplace depending on the nature of business:

• Physical hazards: These are usually more common, faulty equipment, trailing cables, using wrong equipment for tasks, exposed moving parts of machine, spills, uneven floors
• Biological hazards: These could be from working with body fluid from humans or animals, bacteria, viruses
• Chemical hazards: This is exposure to various chemicals in liquid, solid or gaseous state like gasoline, cleaning products, fumes
• Ergonomic hazards: These type occur from workplace conditions, poor lighting, poorly arranged workstations, bad lifting posture, wrong office furniture, repetitive tasks

We do not have to wait for accidents to happen before reporting. We should report unsafe acts and tasks, faulty equipment, because these are the components of future accidents.

When we report hazards in the workplace, it helps the business by:

• Creating an awareness of the situation
• Leading to solution creation
• Increasing staff involvment as they also make suggestions to keep the work process safe
• Improving workplace safety

Image credit: Google images

This Summer, we have been at 3 Summer schools.

1. Redeemed Christian Church of God, Rivers of Joy Parish, Maryland, Lagos

2. Slum2School, Makoko, Yaba, Lagos

3. Anifa Preparatory Center, Illupeju, Lagos

It’s been an interesting time sharing knowledge on road safety, first aid, fire safety tips and personal safety with the kids. We look forward to doing more.