‘No culture of safety’ in RP

While I was still taking up my postgraduate study, one of my course subjects was industrial management. Although I do not recall much of the management principles, one very simple lesson has become embedded in my memory, especially whenever I see or hear about accidents, or I experience them myself. It is actually about the three principal causes of industrial accidents, but the same hold true and are applicable in our daily living, too. Accidents occur because of any of the three causes or reasons, namely, carelessness, negligence or stupidity.

It hurts all the more to realize that these accidents are really avoidable and preventable if only we have been more careful, not negligent, and not been stupid in our way of doing things that caused the mishap in the first place. But it would be un-Christian to talk about these simple causes of accidents when such tragic mistakes have already resulted in loss of lives, injury, and destruction of properties.

It was so sad news on Christmas Day itself when fire razed a department store in Ormoc City, Leyte province where 25 shoppers and store employees, including two babies, were killed. It was caused reportedly by a firecracker that exploded when a curious young boy lit one and threw it in a fit of fear to a pile of firecracker products being sold there. In Marikina City, 20 houses were destroyed last Tuesday by a fire that was reportedly also caused by a firecracker explosion. Although no one was killed in that Marikina fire, a few residents were injured and suffered severe smoke inhalation.

As of yesterday, police and fire investigators have yet to complete their probe into how these firecracker-related fires started and quickly spread. So how did these accidents happen? Clue: carelessness, negligence or stupidity?

Yesterday, a big explosion rocked a public market in La Trinidad, Benguet and damaged a store selling firecrackers. A barbecue vendor reportedly put up near this store his makeshift grill to roast his products when charcoal embers were blown by the wind into the stash of firecracker products inside the store. I don’t know how else would you call this type of accident waiting to happen. Carelessness, negligence or stupidity? Fortunately, no one was killed or seriously injured in this incident.

Our country is replete with a history of tragic disasters that could have been mitigated, if not totally prevented, especially those that were man-made. I completely agree with the observation of Sen. Richard "Dick" Gordon that Filipinos have "no culture of safety" at home, at work, and even while at play. Gordon, who has been actively involved in many humanitarian undertakings of the Philippine National Red Cross, knows what he is talking about based on what he has seen up close in many of the rescue and relief operations in parts of the country devastated by natural and man-made calamities.

Playing with firecrackers as a traditional noisemaking activity every New Year’s celebration is one deadly activity that I could not understand and appreciate. As a media person, I have sort of become callous toward firecracker-related deaths and accidents that hog the headlines every New Year’s Day. In fact, writing this news has become a fill-in-the-blanks story because it’s like a rehash of the previous year’s top story and we just fill in the new total of firecracker-related casualties, fires, and injured persons at the end of the New Year revelry.

But this early, incidence of injuries related to firecrackers, stray bullets and other pyrotechnic devices have already reached 190 cases recorded from Dec. 21 to 26 this year compared to just 78 cases during the same period last year. Of this total, 179 were caused by firecracker blasts and 11 were due to stray bullets.

And every year, a week before New Year, we also have the same news of how government and law enforcement authorities come up with campaigns in trying to bring down these firecracker-related incidents. There is supposed to be a law that strictly regulates the manufacture, sale, distribution, and use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic products to make sure only those that conform to safety standards are sold to the public. This is Republic Act (RA) 7183 that came into effect in 1992.

To its credit, this law has challenged our local firecracker-makers to improve their products, especially on the safety aspect. But like any other local industries, our firecracker-makers have been displaced by the influx of imported ones, especially those coming from China, many of which are much cheaper and more fancy than local ones. However, it is the enforcement aspect of RA 7183 by police and local government units that leaves much to be desired. RA 7183 bans specific firecrackers classified as highly dangerous.

But what was not anticipated by RA 7183 is the evolution of the bamboo cannon as a New Year noisemaker. I recall my childhood days when my cousins used only gaas or kerosene that they poured inside the bamboo cannon to make the loud blasting sound. Now, some bright minds, following the principle of a bamboo cannon blast, came up with a modern version of using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes and designed like a big rocket-propelled grenade launcher. They now popularly call it "boga" using denatured alcohol to fuel the blast. It is reportedly sold at P300 to as much as P1,000 depending on the length. It is supposed to be safe. But you cannot totally rule out the risk of accidents.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III noted that the growing use of these modern improvised cannons or boga has accounted for 19 percent of the injuries reported since the start of the Christmas season this year. Dr. Duque cited most of the injuries are mainly on the faces of the victims who had looked into the mouth of the cannon to figure out why the blast was not yet forthcoming. The victims either ended up deaf or blind, or worse, both. So how did these accidents happen? Again, you have the three causes to pick from: carelessness, negligence or stupidity?

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Correction. I stated in my column last Wednesday that Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who is originally eyeing to run for the mayoralty race in Manila in the May 2007 elections, would be able to return to the Senate in case he loses. Actually, Lacson’s first term in the Senate is ending next year. But reports from the Senate have it that Lacson is allegedly having second thoughts about his mayoralty plans, running instead for re-election in the Senate.

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