Workplace Behaviour, Safety and Health
Senior 6 · Entrepreneurship
Workplace Behaviour, Safety and Health
Lesson 4 of 5
35 min
A spark from a faulty socket sets a pile of paper alight in a print shop in Nyarugenge. In the first ninety seconds three things decide whether the day ends with a scorched wall or with the building gone: whether someone raises the alarm at once, whether a trained worker uses the right extinguisher or knows to leave it, and whether everyone gets out by a clear route to a known meeting point. (An illustrative case.) Emergencies cannot always be prevented, but the response can be planned and practised.
Definition
Emergency: a sudden, dangerous situation that needs immediate action to protect life, health or property. Emergency plan: a written plan of who does what, how the alarm is raised, the escape routes, the assembly point and the emergency numbers. Article 80 of Law N° 66 of 2018 requires employers to take measures for first aid, fire-fighting and imminent danger.
Definition
Evacuation: moving everyone quickly and safely out of a dangerous area. Assembly point: the agreed safe place outside where people gather to be counted. First aid: the immediate help given to an injured or ill person until professional help arrives.
Important
Emergency numbers in Rwanda (toll-free): 112 for all emergencies; 912 for an ambulance (SAMU, run by the Rwanda Biomedical Centre); 111 for the fire brigade; 113 for traffic accidents (Rwanda National Police; RBC). Post them beside every telephone and in the emergency plan.
| Emergency | First actions |
|---|---|
| Fire | Raise the alarm; call 111 or 112; fight it only if it is small and you have a clear escape; otherwise evacuate |
| Electric shock | Switch off the power at the switch or main before touching the person; then give first aid |
| Collapse, no normal breathing | Call 912; start CPR; use an AED as soon as one arrives |
| Severe bleeding | Press firmly on the wound with a clean pad; keep pressing; call 912 |
| Burns and scalds | Cool at once under cool running water; remove rings and loose clothing nearby; cover loosely |
| Chemical spill | Move people away; avoid touching or breathing it; follow the product's safety instructions; ventilate |
| Storm, flood or landslide | Move to higher, safer ground; switch off power; follow local authority warnings |
| Extinguisher or tool | Use on | Never use on |
|---|---|---|
| Water | Paper, wood, cloth | Electrical equipment, burning oil or fuel |
| Foam | Paper, wood, cloth; flammable liquids such as petrol | Live electrical equipment, cooking oil |
| Carbon dioxide (CO₂) | Electrical equipment, flammable liquids | Paper, wood or cloth (it does not cool them, so they reignite); never hold the horn, which becomes freezing cold |
| Dry powder | Most fires, including flammable gases and electrical equipment | Small rooms where the powder blinds and chokes people |
| Fire blanket | A small pan of burning cooking oil; clothing on fire | Large fires |
To use a portable extinguisher remember PASS: Pull the pin, Aim at the base of the fire, Squeeze the handle, Sweep from side to side. Always keep the exit behind you.
These are the steps of the European Resuscitation Council's 2025 guidelines for basic life support. If a person is unresponsive and not breathing normally, treat it as cardiac arrest: push hard and fast in the centre of the chest, 5 to 6 cm deep, 100 to 120 times a minute, letting the chest rise fully each time. If trained, give 2 rescue breaths after every 30 compressions; if not, keep doing compressions without stopping. Switch on an automated external defibrillator (AED) as soon as one arrives and follow its voice instructions.
Worked example: how long does the evacuation take?
A garment factory has 360 workers and 3 exits. In drills, about 60 people a minute pass through each exit (an illustrative rate). Estimate the evacuation time with all exits open, and with one blocked by stored boxes.
All exits: minutes. One blocked: minutes, half as long again.
Lesson: a blocked exit costs a whole extra minute, and in a fire smoke can fill a room in less than that. Keeping exits clear is one of the cheapest life-saving rules there is.
Worked example
Case analysis: the print shop fire
The fire is in a pile of paper next to the faulty socket, which is still switched on. A worker grabs the nearest extinguisher, a water extinguisher.
Analysis: water is right for burning paper but dangerous near live electricity. The worker should first switch off the power at the main switch if it is safe to reach; then water can be used on the paper, or a CO₂ or dry-powder extinguisher on the socket area. If the fire spreads beyond the size of a waste bin, or smoke builds up, everyone should leave, close doors behind them, call 111 or 112 and gather at the assembly point.
Warning
Burns: water, not home remedies. International first-aid guidance (ILCOR, 2025) is to cool a burn at once with running water; bodies such as the British Red Cross advise at least 20 minutes. Never use ice, butter, toothpaste or oil, do not burst blisters, and get medical help for large, deep or facial burns, or for any burn on a young child.
British Heart Foundation, "Hands-Only CPR" advert. Note the speed and depth of the compressions; the advert gives the UK number 999, but in Rwanda call 912 for an ambulance.
Practice
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: the print-shop case, the fire triangle, the first-response flowchart, the tables, the examples and the practice items. The cases and the evacuation rates are illustrative (2026). This lesson does not replace a practical first-aid course.
