Things in Freetown which have a blatant disregard for what we would know as health and safety regulations
on Shona in Sierra Leone (Sierra Leone), 22/May/2011 10:38, 34 days ago
1) The roadworks– massive diggers moving around with no barriers, dumping large mounds of sand everywhere, large ditches appearing meaning you have to negotiate a plank of wood to get across, large holes in the road appearing with no barriers….2) And even though the road has been finished near our house, some of the pavement seems to have collapsed already…3) Okadas (motorbikes) driving up the wrong side of the dual carriageway meaning that crossing the road is an accident waiting to happen if you don’t look both ways!4) Taxis and poda podas which would never pass at MOT - with broken doors, broken windscreens, broken speedometers, the list goes on…!5) The fact that my house has metals bars on all the windows meaning that in the case of a fire we can only get out the front door– or by jumping off the balcony (a good 20ft).6) The maintenance guys in the hospital welding a space for a new TV in triage (why does triage need a TV?!) with no welding mask, no warning to people trying to walk past and no safety barriers– and sparks flying everywhere!7) Thirteen people in a taxi designed for five!8) The open fires in the alley beside our house– and children running around playing nearby.9) The rat(s?) that run around the sewer outside the Special Care Baby Unit.10) The open rubbish dumps and open sewers all over town.11) Taxis driving up and down the road to Mamba Point with no working brakes– and believe me, it is a big hill!