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The beginning of a New Year demands that we list out our priorities for the year ahead and resolve to pay attention to them. I am sure you have guessed what I am going to put first in the list of priorities- consumer safety. Yes, in a country where accidents caused by the negligence of service providers and the administration are commonplace, consumer safety is a major concern. Consumers should pay utmost attention to this aspect in 2008. We, as consumers, need to become safety conscious and begin to look at everything from a safety perspective, and demand safer goods and services. We can focus on four main areas – homes, educational institutions where our children study, our work place and public places like markets, cinema halls, airports, railway stations and bus stations. Whether it is your gas cylinder, electrical and electronic gadgets or your bathroom flooring, make sure that safety precautions are always adhered to. You must be extra cautious if there are elderly people and children in the house. If you have a room heater on, ensure that it is not close to your curtains or near your carpet. Keep mosquito repellents, medicines, matchboxes and gas lighters, kitchen knives and scissors, out of the reach of children. Ensure that the toys that they play with are safe, don’t have sharp edges or toxic paints. When you buy electrical goods such as wires, switches, plugs and bulbs, look for the ISI mark. In a multistoried housing complex, you need to look at the safety of the lifts installed there is it regularly serviced? Does it have all modern features incorporating safety? Similarly, if there is a swimming pool in the complex, you need to ensure that it is properly fenced and locked to keep out small children. Even when children swim, it is always good to ensure that they are under adult supervision. Check the safety of your child’s school, school bus and the playground. Have a meeting of the parents’ association, inspect the school and all the facilities that it offers to see if there is any lacuna. Is the school built in such a way as to ensure the safety of children studying there? Do they have fire-fighting equipment? Do they have proper exits for the children to escape in case of a fire or any other emergency? Is the playroom equipment safe? What about the canteen? Is the cook safety conscious? Find out, if you are in a seismically high-risk zone, whether the building is earthquake proof and has a lightning conductor. Just make a checklist and confront the school if you think that the school does not pay attention to safety. The Bureau of Indian Standards has published a safety code for educational institutions. You can use that for reference. You can also speak to the fire officers in your area or some other experts for guidance. Look at the cinema theatres, malls and shopping complexes and any other place that you may be visiting, from the point of view of safety. In case of a fire, are there arrangements for extinguishing the fire? Can the place be evacuated in the shortest possible time? If 10 people make such enquiries, the authorities start thinking along those lines. These days most large malls have cinema halls on the top-most floor. Usually, there is one entrance to a series of halls. How safe is it? Remember, you are paying a steep price to see movies at these halls. It is your right to demand that the hall owners ensure your safety. Do not hesitate to ask questions or boycott unsafe halls and malls. Form a safety group in your residential colony and also at your place of work. You can even use the internet to get support for your work from citizens around the country.
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