A holiday is a day set aside by custom or bylaw on which normal activities, especially business or work, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tradition of cultural or religious significance. Holidays may be designated by governments, religious institutions, or other groups or organizations. The degree to which normal activities are reduced by a holiday may depend on local laws, customs, the type of job being held or even personal choices.

Just like in the work place where accident is very prone, accident can even be more common and fatal during the holiday period. There has been recorded cases of fire incident, domestic accidents of various types, road accident, epidemic, rape, electrocution, robbery, domestic violence and just to mention but a few. Just as in the workplace, holiday incidents are preventable if all the precaution taken at workplace is taken when we are faced with similar incidents while on holidays. For example, at workplace all electrical wires are properly channeled through trucking or cable tray but while on a picnic we run wires exposed over the field. In this write a few of the causes of accidents during the holidays will be identified and properly managed so we can all have a beautiful holiday season devoid of any form of incidents.

FIRE SAFETY

The December/January period comes with harmattan which possess a great fire danger to every one most especially people decorating for Christmas celebration. They set up extra lighting, Christmas tree, fireworks, frying, roasting and usually long hours of cooking. These activities will strain the electrical installations {wire, sockets, switches, fuses etc.} in the house resulting into overloading and overheating which can lead to a serious fire outbreak in the home. To prevent fire from spoiling your fun during this holiday period adhere to the following tips

· Make sure you know the power consumption rate of the decorations you are buying during this period and know what rating of sockets best works for them to avoid overloading and over heating.
· Do not allow kids to handle fireworks without adult supervision
· As always keep matches and lighters away from children
· Do not give the kids the opportunity to cook all in the name of celebration except you will supervise them.
· To avoid electrocution, do not run wires over wet surface or use electrical appliances under the rain.
· Make sure you put off all fire made for cooking, roasting and frying after use.
· Make sure you use well maintained/good camp gas

PATHOGENIC TRANSFERS

During the holidays there is going to be a lot of free mixing, contact between different people, between people and animals, people and contaminated objects etc. These contacts may be during handshake, hug, sex, sharing objects, swimming, using the toilets, food, drinks and so on. Pathogenic organisms like virus, bacteria, and fungi can bring about different diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis, conjunctivitis; fungi infection, eczema etc. stick to the following to stay safe from pathogenic organism

Ø Adhere strictly to the principle of hand washing before eating, before and after using the toilet, before and after cooking, after returning from outing and before touching any opening in your body.
Ø Wash very well your eating and cooking utensils
Ø Note that the first 2 rolls of your tissue paper is potentially contaminated so avoid using this part of the tissue most especially if it is not the first use.
Ø When lodging in any hotel in the tropics, run all the taps for 10minutes before using the water. This is because the temperature in the tropics allows some certain organisms to grow and multiply easily.

DRIVING

Road accident in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. Why? It is because road accident constitutes a menace in our modern day. Decaying infrastructure, over speeding, reckless driving among others are deficiencies that all road users including the government must seek to address; so as to reduce the high rate of accident on our roads. It is a pity and quite painful that out of 193 countries in the world Nigeria is rated 2nd highest of road accidents. Although, road accidents happen in both developed and developing countries, it is more in developing countries, most especially in Nigeria. For instance, in April 2016, not less than 142 people died in motor accident in just 15 days.

Globally

• 1.25 million die in road accidents every year

• A further 50 million are injured

• Africa has highest road traffic death rate of 24.1 per 100,000 population

• For every 1 person who dies in a road traffic crash, 20 are injured

• 1 in 20 of those injured are left with a disability

• 111 countries have a universal national access emergency number

• Only 59 countries have an ambulance service able to transfer over 75% of injured patients





HUMAN CAUSES OF ROAD ACCIDENT

ü Tailgating
ü Drunk driving
ü Distracted driving
ü Unsafe lane change
ü Over speeding
ü Fatigue/stress

Examples of distractions include talking or texting on mobile devices, including hands-free use , accessing Internet with mobile devices, eating, drinking, reading, or note taking, talking to passengers, adjusting mirrors, changing radio stations, applying make-up, adjusting/ correcting children etc.

Some strategies for safe driving:

· Be well rested before you start driving
· Eat lighter healthier meals before and during driving
· Maintain physical fitness
· Plan rest breaks into the trip
· If you feel tired while driving, take a
rest break
· Drive within the speed limit and at a safe speed {between 80 and 90}for different conditions
· Check the weather, road conditions, and traffic; adjust travel as needed
· Familiarize yourself with directions
· Inform others about your route and anticipated arrival time
· Keep safe distance of 4seconds from other vehicles ahead
· Proper maintenance of tires and tire air pressure will prevent blowout or a flat
· Periodic change of wiper blade is highly recommended, especially during the wet or rainy season
· Strictly adhere to the maintenance schedule as recommended by the manufacturer



Hammed Usman {IDipNebosh, GIFireE, ANISP}

Health and Safety Expert! Fire Safety Instructor!

First Aid Instructor! Emergency Responder!

Mobile: 08098558872

WhatsApp: 08028558872

Email: sheconcept@gmail.com

seriously.... do people read this looking posts??

Tiffbuxas:
seriously.... do people read this looking posts??

I hope so