EID SAFETY

The Eid celebration of the Muslims is one of the many celebrations of human race as ordered by Allah on the Father of Faith and practiced by Holy Prophet Muhammed {SAW}.
This celebration just like every other celebration has come with its own hazards which require identification, acknowledgement, analysis and evaluation, awareness, respect and documentation. These hazards do not result from the act of celebrations but mostly from human negligence and error. Some of the hazards that come from this celebration include: fire and explosion, manual handling, repetitive injury, use of excessive force, biological hazards, sharp objects, slip, trips and fall, nip injury and stress.

FIRE AND EXPLOSION

There has been a paradigm change in the way Muslims cook the meat during sallah, before now majority will use fire wood and charcoal for cooking but today the use of Gas Cooking system has taken over. Using gas comes with its own hazards and majorly resulting from its use, just like the way majority of people use their cooking gas at home, keeping the cylinder too close to the burner, this same action has surfaced during the Eid celebrations. Regulations requires that a minimum distance of 11meters be kept between the burner and the cylinder. If you look at the way it is done today in our society, the cylinder is place almost side by side with the burner this singular act or omission can result into a disastrous explosion killing people up to 2/3miles away depending on the size of the cylinder.

Do you remember that camp gas you use at home which I have always condemned? Eid period is a very good time to use it, because you will be using it in the open and not inside the four walls of your kitchen. In addition to the above, ensure that you use a hose that is not compromised, use a regulator that is functioning optimally, ensure that your cylinder is not expired and do not use bar soap to patch any part of the cooking system.
EID celebration requires carriage, lifting, pushing and dragging of cooking utensils, the ram {KILLED AND LIVING}. Manual handling can impact the health and wellbeing of the Muslims during this period and also one the reasons a Muslim will have hours or days of body aching after the celebration. One way to avoid this pain is to understand your limitation and do not go above the threshold. Do no lift anything above 25kg all alone call a second person for assitance, ensure you have a good grip of the object you want to carry, ensure that your lifting environment is not slippery and hazardous, ensure that you don’t handle hot liquid carelessly, follow the proper lifting techniques, make sure you lift with the muscles of your thigh and not the muscles of your back.

One of the principles of the EID sacrifice is to use very sharp knife so that the animal is killed easily and with mercy. In addition to this objective, sharp knives and cutlass prevent the use of excessive force which can result into people cutting themselves and others who are helping to hold the meat or ram. While butchering the ram into smaller units be aware of nip points between two bones and protruding bones. If possible the act of using the mouth to pump the ram should be discouraged, this act has a big potential for transfer of zoonotic diseases from animals to man. If one man contract this disease it can easily be transmitted to other human through contact and other means.

Be conscious of sharp objects such as blades used while removing the hair from the animal, do not drop soap used during the hair removal process on the floor, remove fats from the floor so as to avoid slip, trip and fall. ensure children keep safe distance from you so they don’t touch the blood and other potential disease causing agents.

After the whole killing and cooking operations remember to return the environment back to the way you met it, clean the floor and ensure proper waste disposal while also disinfecting the sorrunding.

One of the teachings of Islam is not to over feed, do not eat too much of the meat as this can result into damage of your liver { too much protein}, AVOID DRUGS AND ALCOHOL, be moderate with fizzy drinks and most importantly take a lot of water to flush your system during and after the celebration.

I wish us all a happy and incident free EID festivities.

May Allah accept our sacrifice.

Hammed Usman { IDIPNEBOSH, GIFireE, ANISP}
FIRE SAFE INSTRUCTOR II EMERGENCY RESPONDER II
FIRE AID INSTRUCTOR II HEALTH AND SAFETY EXPERT II