Don’t use mobile phones in your kitchen – Fire Commander warns

A Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) commander is warning against the use of mobile phones in the kitchen, especially during cooking, as it has the propensity to cause domestic fire outbreaks.

Commander at the Accra Metropolitan Fire Station, Lilly Ashong Robertson, explained radioactivity from mobile phone calls have the propensity to cause gas cylinders to ignite.

She thus underscored the need to prohibit mobile phone use in the kitchen, as is the case at fuel filling stations, indicating that it is one of the surest ways to prevent domestic fires.

Ms Ashong who is a divisional officer grade one at the GNFS gave the warning at the maiden safety week celebration of the Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant (IRECOP) in Accra.

She said many of the fire outbreaks in the country are due to negligence and disregard for safety precautions.

A Divisional Officer Grade II, Mr E. Osei Owusu who took workers and stakeholders of IRECOP through fire preventive and control measures indicated there is the need for all organisations and homes to install fire extinguishers at their premises and learn how to use them.

He stated that the GNFS is always available nationwide to train and assist people to keep safe from fire outbreaks. He advised employees to always ensure that all main switches are put off when they sense fire outbreak.

DO II Osei Owusu described the training for IRECOP staff as timely, considering that the waste they collect are stored for a while before processing; something he said could trigger fire due to the fact that the waste are to be stored in different temperatures.

General Manager of (IRECOP), Ms Betty Brown Nyadu stated they so far have an encouraging safety record.

She said the vision of IRECOP is to inculcate safety policies and procedures in all aspects of management decisions and to protect employees by arriving at an accident free work environment.

The safety week was organised to further educate the employees on safety and to allow the workers to be audited in order to identify safety gaps and draw corrective measures to some of their operational standards and procedures.

“In contemporary times, safety has moved from a voluntary option to an inevitable choice in management practice, thus-every manager should endeavor to take health and safety issues very critically to forestall the loss of lives and the payment of unnecessary claims” she said.

Ms Nyadu said the Ghana Labour Act makes it mandatory for the employer to put premium on health and safety by minimizing hazards at the work place, a position she said IRECOP shares in.