On Saturday April 16^th, the Cameroon National Shippers’ Council (CNSC) organised a workplace fire-fighting awareness workshop for its staff. The exercise was conducted by a team of fire-fighters from the Cabinet de Sécurité Incendie et de Secourisme, FECS SARL.

Fire is the most common hazard for any workplace be it a large manufacturing or a process plant or a high rise building full of employees. In Cameroon, it is a legal requirement for an employer to ensure that the workplace is safe of all fire hazards and that the employees are well protected and have basic fire-fighting skills in case of any fire outbreak.

The training workshop which took place at CNSC’s head office sought to acquaint its staff with basic knowledge on the prevention and extinction fires. Participants at the end of the training workshop knew the importance of fire prevention mechanisms, necessary actions to take in the event of a fire, the different classes of fires, how to localize and use firefighting equipment and how to read an evacuation plan.

The training ended with a practical session during which participants were questioned on the different classes of fire lit in the yard and were expected to identify which extinguisher was more appropriate to put them out. These practical try-outs helped participants to better understand all the theoretical notions earlier explained to them on combustion.