Health & Safety
From carnivals to funerals
Cup and the Olympics in the next three years. Being educated about health and safety isn’t always everyone’s cup of tea. If you have the time to watch it, Steve Coogan does a very entertaining stand up routine as ‘Health & Safety man’, Ernest Moss, and fans of Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights will remember Fire Safety Officer (and resident jobsworth), Keith Lard. But every now and then, an incident occurs that reinforces why we have an industry dedicated to health and safety and why, as a magazine, it’s important we continue to inform FMs of its importance. Such a story hit the news last month when a nightclub caught fire in the university-town of Santa Maria, killing over 230 young revellers in the ensuing stampede.
it seems, were not high on the club’s agenda.
The tragedy inside the Brazilian nightclub, Kiss, has slowly unveiled a number of failings and has brought about much broader questioning of the state of health and safety legislation and enforcement in Brazil.
The country’s deadliest fire in five decades reportedly started after a member of the band playing at the venue lit a flare, designed for outdoor use, on stage. Investigations have since shown that the club was filled to over twice its capacity, contained both faulty and fake fire extinguishers and had only one available exit. Health and safety,
Looking into the not too distant future, Brazil is set to host next year’s FIFA World Cup and will follow London in delivering the Olympics in 2016. The loss of so many young lives has been recognised with three days of national mourning. Anxiety ahead of future events has been widespread and well-documented; in the aftermath, Brazilian football legend, Pelé, tweeted: “The Brazilian government must make event safety and security a priority in this country!” With so many overseas spectators set to travel to Brazil over the next few summers, how serious are the risks to the health and safety of those looking to attend such large public events? What has become alarmingly clear following the nightclub fire, is that health and safety in Brazil is a localised matter. In response, the Brazilian Congress
Following last month’s news of a Brazilian nightclub fire, which killed 238 people, Assistant Editor, Tim Wood, considers the country’s health and safety credentials ahead of hosting the World
is in the process of drawing up a new federal bill which will cover the licensing of clubs and mass events, as well as fire prevention methods. One of the concerns arising from the new plans is the aim to establish nationwide rules about exit signs and emergency lights. Commenting on the tragedy, Fernando Haddad, Mayor of Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo, said officials would examine local laws about safety standards before working out what changes were needed. While reactive measures seem to have been forthcoming, surely there should be some concern that health and safety laws in Brazil can vary locally. If local enforcement works out as poorly as it did in Santa Maria, what other potential risks aren’t accounted for by national legislation?
“If local enforcement works out as poorly as it did in Santa Maria, what other risks aren’t accounted for by national legislation?”
Brazillian footballer, Pele, took to twitter to say his piece. 54
Perhaps it is most pertinent to address the 2014 World Cup as a more pressing issue – after all, any problems likely to occur at the Olympics will surely arise at the World Cup. The standard of security and safety in European stadia has increased dramatically in the 20 years
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