GGML, OSHA team up on fire prevention education

Arusha. Geita Gold Mining Limited (GGML) has partnered with the Occupational Safety and Health Authority (Osha) to provide specialised training to women food vendors in an attempt to educate them on how to respond to fire disasters and implement fire prevention measures.

The training, which involved 50 women, also saw GGML distribute 50 cylinders of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to encourage the vendors to use clean energy.

The training was part of celebrations of the national commemorations of World Health and Safety at Work Day, hosted by Osha in Arusha from April 23 to 30 this year.

GGML senior manager for health, safety and environment, Dr Kiva Mvungi, said the company had decided to provide education to the food vendors so that they could combat fires at home and focus on safety in their business areas.

“We teach them how to fight fire disasters because their daily activities are related to fire issues and the use of charcoal and gas,” he said.

“It is also important to recognise the impact of climate change on people and the role of personal behaviour in contributing to the reckless cutting of trees,” he added.

According to him, it is beneficial for everyone to focus on the use of clean energy to overcome the disasters caused by climate change.

“We have prepared this education to see how to deal with the effects of climate change because excessive cutting of trees causes soil erosion, floods, and global warming,” he said.

The training focused on teaching food vendors the safe use of gas energy and encouraging the use of alternatives to charcoal.

The health inspector of the working environment from Osha, Ms Elizabeth Mtile, advised women to adhere to the various safety and health laws and guidelines in the workplace.

“Our slogan, which highlights the effects of climate change on safety and health at work, aims to control disasters and climate change by involving every group in society because these effects affect us all,” she said.

One of the women food vendors, Ms Prinsila Kwai, expressed gratitude for the training, which she believes will facilitate positive change for them and those around them.

“We are very grateful that our daily activities are related to fire, so this training will help us a lot in how to deal with a possible gas explosion,” she said.