Stripped of all technicalities, safety means freedom from danger, harm, hurt, uncertainty, misfortune, accident, evil or insecurity. Safety embraces those activities that seek either to minimize or to eliminate hazardous conditions that can cause bodily injury or even death.
In this discourse, we are not as much concerned with the phenomenon or concept of safety as with how to use communication, mainly nonverbal, to enhance safety or to escape danger (an unsafe situation). A discussion of the nitty-gritty of safety in various respects is left for safety experts. We, however, have a word or two on it here based entirely on information provided by the Encyclopedia Britannica (Delux Edition, CD-ROM, 2004).
Safety precautions fall under two principal headings: occupational safety and public safety. Occupational safety is concerned with risks encountered in areas where people work: offices, manufacturing plants, farms, construction sites, and commercial facilities. Public safety involves hazards met in the home, in travel and recreation, and other situations that do not fall within the scope of occupational safety.
Safety was not considered to be a matter of public concern in ancient times when accidents were regarded as inevitable or as the will of the gods. Modern notions of safety developed only in the 19th Century as an outgrowth of the Industrial Revolution, when a terrible toll of factory accidents aroused humanitarian concern for their prevention. Today, the concern for safety is worldwide and is the province of numerous governmental and private agencies at the local, national, and international levels.
The frequency and severity of accidents vary from country to country and from industry to industry. In the industrialized nations of the world, accidents now cause more deaths than all infectious diseases and more than any single illness except those related to heart disease and cancer. Accidents in the home, in public and private transportation, on farms and in factories are, by far, the predominant cause of death in the population under 35 years of age in industrialized nations.
Industrial accidents can occur because of improper contact with machinery, the lifting or other handling of bulk materials, and contact with electrical, chemical, or radiation hazards. The mining and lumbering industries are among those that have the highest rate of severe accidents. High-technology industries such as electronics have relatively low accident rates.
Several international organizations provide means by which national safety organizations can exchange information and pass on new ideas. Among the bodies serving in this capacity are the International Social Security Association (ISSA) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). These two bodies have sponsored international safety congresses every three years since 1955.
Communication in Safety
By communication in safety, we mean the application of communication principles, processes and methods to safety management. Communicating to enhance safety in a particular setting or to ask for help to escape danger involves both linguistic and non-linguistic activities. Verbal communication media which are employed to transmit safety messages include face-to-face interaction, printed materials, radio, telephone, walkie-talkie, television, video-conferencing and teleconferencing, e-mail and other new technological communication devices.
Here, we shall concern ourselves more with coded language and nonvocal communication forms like signs, signals, symbols, colour and sign language all of which are employed where speech is difficult or unsafe.
Signs, Signals, Symbols, Pictography, Sign Language, Colour
Signs, signals and symbols three related components of communication processes found in all known cultures have attracted considerable scholarly attention because they do not relate primarily to the usual conception of words or language.
Signs
Ashley Montagu (1971), an anthropologist, defines “signs” as a concrete denoter (i.e. a physical pointer) possessing an inherent specific meaning, roughly analogous to the sentence, “This is it; do something about it!” The meanings expressed by signs are right inside them; that is, the sign points to what it means and not just provides a clue to what it means.
The most common signs that we encounter in our daily life are pictures like a clenched fist and an outstretched arm. A hand posed in a “stop” gesture may also be called signs.
Signals
A signal is merely a device by which one is able to formulate external meanings. It is any sound or object which provides a clue to the intended meaning. Unlike signs, the meaning of a signal is extrinsic, not intrinsic to it; that is to say, from what you see or hear, you make out a meaning. An example of a signal is a scream for help. The difference between signs and signals can be illustrated by the observation that while many types of animals respond to signals, only a few intelligent and trained ones (usually dogs and apes) can respond to simple signs.
Symbols
Symbols are more difficult to understand than signs and signals. To avoid any mental confusion arising from understanding the difference between sign or signal and symbol, let us just say in a layman’s language that the term symbol is a device or something which is used to represent an abstraction.
Sign Language
This is any means of communication through bodily movements, especially of the hands and arms, used when spoken communication is impossible or not desirable. Wherever vocal communication is impossible as between speakers or mutually unintelligible languages or when one or more would-be communicators is a deaf-mute, sign language can be used to bridge the gap.
Members of religious orders who have taken vows of silence, as well as others who for reasons of piety or humility have forsworn speech, have need of sign language. Often, in a silent monastic order, for instance, natural gestures such as passing food or pointing to some needed object have sufficed for effective communication, leaving little need for specially coded signs.
Colour
Different colours have different meanings depending on the culture of the communicators and on the contexts of communication. Psychologically, colour may evoke feelings of warmth, quietness and cheerfulness. In one context, green may mean fertility and in another, permission to continue. Red means stop or wait while amber or light yellow means be ready to move. In the broadcast studio, red light indicates that a programme is on air and so there should be no loitering; green means move cautiously along.
Settings of Safety
Safety precautions and communication to avoid or escape danger are necessary in various settings. These include office, environment, home, workshop, sea, air, road, fail, forest, industry and production plant.
Unsafe situations include accidents, health hazards, and emergencies that require first aid treatment. Below are some of the unsafe situations which cut across the various safety settings:
(1) Burns and scalds (2) drowning (3) bleeding (4) electric shock (5) food poisoning (6) fractures or dislocations (7) snake bite (8) dog bite (9) cuts and sprains(violent twisting of a joint) (10) particles in the eye (11) a fall from a height (12) fainting (13) epilepsy (14) haemorrhage (16) lightning (17) ozone depletion (18)global warming (19) (20) tsunami (21) pollution of the environment (air) caused by exhaust fumes, cigarette smoke and industrial pollutants (22) air pollution (23) water pollution caused by sewage, industrial waste, fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides (24) sea pollution resulting from the escape of crude oil and (25) radioactivity.
Basic Facts on Unsafe Situations: 21-26 above
Ø Pollution means that substances have been put into the environment by man in sufficient concentration to cause damage to health.
Ø Industrial pollution occurs when harmful fumes and gases from industrial processes are discharged into the atmosphere and when harmful chemicals are discharged into rivers.
Ø Exhaust fumes from cars and lorries contain cancer-causing chemicals.
Ø The smoke breathed out by people smoking cigarettes is harmful to those non-smokers who breathe it in.
Ø Raw sewage pollutes rivers and lakes into which it is discharged, partly because it may contain pathogens and partly by causing the reduction of dissolved oxygen in the water.
Ø Fertilizers which seep into rivers and lakes cause pollution by speeding up the growth of micro-organisms.
Ø Insecticides may control insect pests, but if these insects are eaten by other animals, then the insecticide may accumulate in the bodies of the predators and kill them also.
Ø Radioactivity is a pollutant because it damages cells and may kill organisms.
(Source: Mackean and Jones (1983). Certificate Health Science for West Africa. London: John Murray Publishers Ltd).
First Aid
In the above unsafe situations (1-20), the first aider should: (a) take steps to prevent further accidents; (b) not move an injured person unnecessarily; (c) restore breathing by mouth-to-mouth resuscitation; (d) arrest bleeding; (e) send for help; (f)support and immobilize injured limbs before moving a patient; (g) place unconscious person in the recovery position; and (h) take steps to reduce the effects of shock.
The object of first aid is to save life, prevent injuries from worsening and helping in the recovery of victims. During the administration of first aid, therefore, communication, both verbal and nonverbal, is vital. The first aider may be invited through the walkie-talkie, telephone, e-mail or by word of mouth (if the person is nearby) to help out.
While the first aider is at work, he must be provided with all the necessary information through linguistic or symbolic communication, whichever is applicable. And because of the sanctity of human life, whenever first aid is being given, the first aider must be cheered up and made happy so that he will be more committed to the work.
In the case of other unsafe situations listed in 21-26 above, written communication may be used to draw the attention of the relevant authorities or organizations to the issue of reducing health hazards. Adequate information must be supplied on the health hazards at stake. A combination of oral, written and mediated communication could be more effective in this regard.
Communicating with posters for safety purposes in every safety setting is advocated. Posters as visual aids are very useful verbal communication tools. Posters, as noted by Uranta (in an unpublished material on “Communication in Safety”), “remind employees of some specific safety practice that they have previously been taught, or a hazard they have laid themselves open to.” Posters are also meant to: remind workers of behaviours that cause accidents; stress the need for safe working conditions; advocate safety-friendly behaviour and the use of safety clothing and foot wears; and encourage team work among employees for the purpose of avoiding accidents. ####
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