Safety Share.... Beware of fire!

There is a tradition in the mining industry that is called #satfety share#. I am going to share with you today the fact that during my week on induction here in Perth, I went through a fire awareness session.
Is it worth pointing out how dangerous fire is? I think yes!

This session has generated a lot of emotion to me because I have experienced fire in 2008 and I couldn't have been here today to write this post, if Zaza, my neighbour, did not come out of his home that day of August 2008 and noticed that something was burning in my living room.

Oh yes! The candle I left on the tv in my living room burnt out and caught the plastic of the tv. This started generating a suffocating black smoke. It was nearly midnight that day. Zaza came out to switch off their generator and actually my window was located on his way to the generator area. This is what actually saved my life.

Once he noticed the fire, he immediately came to the window of my bedroom (that was not closed because of the heat I was suffering from although it was the rainy season) and managed to wake me. Without panick, he instructed me to immediately take the blanket, wet it with water and place it over the burning TV. This is what I did and we managed to control the fire. I then opened the door and got out of my studio because i was finally suffocating.

What an experience! Please, make sure you safely use candle because they are very dangerous if not properly used. This experience did not make me a person who avoids candles but I have now purchased a special device that enables me to use them safely.

Also, I would like to notice how good this awareness session was due to the quality of the trainer. And from the perspective of the training superintendent, I noticed today how important it is to appointed the right person given the topic to be trained.

The trainer we had today is a former australian police officer with 20 years of experience. He dealt with several fire cases from burning houses to forest fires. And the way he was sharing his experience added a strong value to the awareness session. He was just credible.

One thing I have learned in Rio Tinto especially in Iron Ore, it is that credibility on the work place, especially when it comes to safety related positions is very crucial. This trainer was just credible because of his experience in fire emergency management. Any advice he gives makes sense and have a strong impact in the mind of delegates in sessions he delivers.

So I learned a lot today on fire extinguishers, on how to behave in case of fire emergency and also, as a training service leader, I figured out once again, how important it is for me to hire/appoint trainers with the crediility required to fulfill their duty effectively. This credibility can be built also by ensuring they benefit from a sound development program on their job by sending them on certification trainings, also on exposure in other operations etc...