Occupational Medicine & Health Affairs
Open Access

Abstract

Fires continue to ravage Asia�s ready-made garment industry resulting in significant death and injury amongst the workforce. Particular attention has been paid to Bangladesh, but other Asian countries also continue to pay a heavy toll. The Fair Labor Association, under the leadership of Dr. David Gold and in concert with the (US) National Fire Protection Association and the (UK) Institution of Occupational Safety and Health has developed and implemented an initiative to raise the awareness of fire safety (fire prevention and fire protection) in a number of Asian countries building national and organizational capacity to address these issues. The goal of this initiative is to eliminate or reduce the risk of workplace fires by stimulating awareness throughout the workforce. The method used is to train Master Trainers who in-turn train Trainers who in-turn train Workplace Fire Safety Facilitators who in-turn train workers. The method rapidly develops into a cascading system allowing for an intensive but effective dispersion of fire safety messages. As a result of this initiative Master Trainers have been trained from eight countries. Six major international ready-made garment brands are actively involved. Workers in small groups are beginning to receive bimonthly messages as part of on-going fire safety campaigns. Quantitative and qualitative results have been measured. In conclusion this cascading training is an effective prevention-oriented tool to construct a culture of prevention that will eventually lead to a return on investment. It is fully applicable across the occupational safety and health spectrum.

Biography

Email: david.gold@xn--gold-knecht-pf3f.com