The five basic human needs are a list of essential factors that
together build the foundation of a society. The list consists of exactly
what the name suggests: extremely “basic” items that are the right of
every human being, which need to be present before any real development
can take place.
Among
them, “safety” is one such need; and there is a clear lack, as well as a
lack of effort, of any kind of safety in Bangladesh. While safety from
crime is something that has deteriorated to a point far beyond our
control, we are focusing on other aspects of safety; what about the
controllable safety measures within our reach that we can adopt in our
everyday lives? The biggest challenge is the complete lack of
awareness of safety in our society. At first we need to embrace the fact
that safety is a human right, and we cannot deny ourselves or other
citizens their safety. Our cities are so densely populated that an
accident next door could harm us as well. For this reason, maintaining
safety first is everyone's responsibility.
Safety at home
The
practice of safety begins from the home, but does everyone really know
of the dangers in the household? Breaking a few habits can reduce many
risks. The first habit is how we deal with fire. Sometimes we literally
pretend it does not exist; if you do a lot of cooking, you probably
cannot count how many times you've left the fire burning at the stove.
Since smoke alarms do not exist in Bangladeshi households, there is no
way to know if something is wrong in your unattended kitchen until it's
too late. Our beautiful saris and the elaborate long kameezes that
are in vogue with the bell bottom sleeves and the chiffon scarves are
the worst outfits to wear when you are cooking; they catch fire very
easily. Another bad habit to break is hanging clothes in the kitchen to
dry with the stove on when it's raining outside. You are just one light
breeze away from a piece of clothing dropping on the open fire and
causing a crisis.
A concept that is still alien to us is that of
“child-proofing” the house. In many countries, when a child is born in a
household, especially when she reaches her toddler years, parents
install a lot of contraptions to ensure the safety of the toddler. For
example, a childproof gate on top of the stairs so that she won't fall;
or locks on cupboards and drawers that she could possibly reach, like
those under kitchen counters. What do we do when there's a toddler
in the household? We hire a maid and dump all the responsibility on her
shoulders. Don't be passive about your child's safety; stay proactive
and install safety measures in the house. And in case something does
happen, do you know how to treat a burn? If you drop hot water or a cup
of tea on your lap and your pants get stuck to your skin, what do you
do? How is a first degree burn different from a third degree burn, and
how do you immediately treat it? Ask these questions, because you never
know when you might need to know the answer.
Workplace safety
Your workplace is where you spend most of your waking hours every day
and unlike your home, your office, especially if you consider the
building as a whole, might have a large group of people. The safe
handling of electronics is the first priority at work. When you leave
your office, turn off all the power switches on your computer. This also
applies to the home as well. In a country with frequent power
outage, we tend to forget that when it comes back on, there is a surge
of power rushing through the wires that might fluctuate and burst,
causing a fire if the fuse isn't working. Unattended, this kind of
incident could have staggering effects, especially in offices because no
one will be present to handle it after a certain time of the day.
There are extensive occupational health and safety standards manuals and
even longer training programmes provided to staff in many countries. If
your workplace is one where there is a lot of manual labour, you should
be aware that there is a proper way to lift heavy objects without
straining your back. There are also some stretches that can be done by
employees who work at their computers all day. Research these basic
standards and put up the diagrams that depict the simple postures in the
tea corner at work; this simple gesture can significantly reduce a lot
of irreversible back injuries. Observe your office building to see
if fire exits are clearly marked, and most importantly, usable and not
locked from the outside. Are there fire extinguishers on every floor,
and do you know how to use them? Are there regular fire drills?
Safety is everyone's responsibility
Pointing fingers is easy, but ensuring safety for all can never start
with just one person. You've got a role to play as much as anyone else.
Is your family aware of all the basic safety issues in the household?
Does your workplace have a fire safety strategy enforced? If you are a
teacher, you need to start a special class in your school that teaches
your students about safety and how to treat burns and injuries. If you
play a management role at your office, it's time to do a random fire
drill. If you're a concerned family member, you need to let the rest of
your family, including the helping hands, know about all the things that
could go wrong so they are extra careful.
And finally, if you
believe yourself to be a concerned citizen, you will take some time out
of your busy Facebook stalking schedule to look up all the issues
mentioned above on the Internet. Let's stop making safety second, third,
fourth, and sometimes even the last, thing on our mind.
By Mehereen Aziz
Source: The Daily Star, Bangladesh.
