Last week, the GSK Health and Safety Team spent the day visiting the section of Munsieville referred to as "The Shacks", an area of immense poverty. The team focused on Health and Safety issues, particularly around the use of paraffin. At least 90% of the shack housing in South Africa uses paraffin for energy/cooking and its misuse causes over 2,500 deaths each year. Many of the mothers that we spoke to said they had experienced shack fires due to paraffin. In addition several had children who had suffered paraffin poisoning through ingestion, as the plastic bottles containing paraffin are stored on the ground where they can be reached by toddlers.
During the visits the Team provided on advice on fire safety and first aid, as many had a real lack of awareness of the hazards of paraffin. The aim is that this will help mitigate the alarming number of children that are harmed every year by ingesting paraffin and also those who sustain burns through accidents.
We have developed a poster outlining key paraffin safety and first aid messages. These posters will be available to all the creches and homes in Munsieville, through the Children's Embassy. We have also drafted a paraffin safety education leaflet for use by the key stakeholders (The Thoughtful Path's local volunteers) who will be sustaining this initiative when we depart, with input from Joe from the Paraffin Safety Association. The plan is that in the medium term Joe will liaise with The Thoughtful Path and external bodies to source bottles with proper safety caps that can be used solely for the purchase and storage of paraffin.
Check back soon for further updates from The Thoughtful Path's work in Munsieville!
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