’This the season for shopping and malls/shopping centers are more crowded than usual. Particularly on weekends, when families go shopping together — mommies, daddies, kids, even infants in strollers, and the elderly, some of them in wheelchairs. It’s heartwarming to see families spending precious time together at the mall. But it was disheartening to see anxious daddies carrying their toddlers, screaming children clutching on to their panicking mommies, and assorted elderly people crying for help as they scampered for safety when pandemonium broke loose at a mall a couple of Sundays ago.
I was caught in the middle of the chaos and, like most shoppers, I hadn’t the slightest clue of what was happening and why people were running for their dear lives, searching for the nearest exit. Most of them were carrying not a few shopping bags, some were carrying their children. One was running with a plate of sisig in his hand.
To compound the nightmare, even the security guards (aren’t they supposed to secure shoppers’ safety?) didn’t know what was happening as they went about their job of routinely checking bags and frisking shoppers. There was no announcement, no warning of any sort to calm people down and inform them of the situation at hand. And there was nobody in charge to lead people out of the mall in an orderly manner — no pushing or shoving — to avoid a sudden mad rush or stampede.
Only after sometime did we hear the faint sound of a fire alarm. Fire had broken out in a resto on the upper level of the mall!
Finally out of harm’s way and out on the street that warm evening but still sweating from all the running I did, I was standing next to a young girl who told me that she was trapped in a clothing store and the salesgirls there locked it up so she had to plead for them to let her out. Some storeowners locked their doors and wouldn’t let shoppers out (for fear of looting?).
Outside, people were running in all directions. The policemen couldn’t control the crowd as traffic went haywire.
Fire is not uncommon to shopping malls that have sprung up in the country’s major urban hubs. Outside the country, a tragic fire in 2004 at Ycuá Bolaños V Supermarket in Paraguay killed 394 and injured almost 500 people. More recently, last Nov. 16, a major fire killed five persons at Larcomar Shopping Mall in Peru ahead of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Lima.
With the anticipated Christmas shopping spree, mall goers had better watch out for fire and any unfortunate events that may occur without warning. While the mall management is primarily responsible for ensuring customer safety within the shopping complex, smart shoppers can help in minimizing damage to life, limb and property in case of emergencies.
Fire in shopping centers can spread very quickly due to the presence of highly combustible items in most shops, including paper, cardboard, plastics, textile, and wood. Data from the study on “Fire Risk Factors in Shopping Malls” by Carmen C.S. Fong of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University indicate that the burning duration for a clothing shop with an area of 45 m2 is 26 minutes; same for a toy shop with an area of 18 m2; and 38 minutes for a furniture shop with an area of 75 m2. The fast combustion of materials in a mall environment, no doubt, requires speedy but orderly evacuation.
The EcoWaste Coalition, a non-profit watch group for consumer health and the environment, has come up with practical dos and don’ts on how to keep safe in shopping malls against fires, explosions, or any untoward incidents during the festive holidays. Take note, dear shoppers:
• Make it a point to notify your nearest kin or closest friend about your mall location via call or text.
• Be aware of the mall entrance and exit points (probably the first thing you should find out when you enter a mall). Memorize or keep in mind where the fire exits are located.
• Keep a close watch on your young mall companions. Carry or hold your child tight in case of an emergency and keep kids as far away from any commotion as possible.
• Pay attention to the special needs of the elderly shoppers and those with physical disabilities and help them walk to the closest exit.
• In case of fire and earthquake, use the staircase and not the elevator to safely evacuate from the building. Follow instructions from the mall’s public address system or from the security and fire brigade present.
• Stay calm and don’t panic to avoid crowd crushes or stampedes, which can injure or kill more people.
• If there is smoke in the air, cover your mouth and nose with a handkerchief, stay low to the ground to avoid suffocation, and carefully find your way to the nearest exit.
• Before opening any door, feel it first for heat as the sudden opening may expose you to fire and smoke.
• Prioritize your personal safety over and above goods procured. Choose to leave bulky items behind so as not to hinder your walk to safety.
• Upon reaching the evacuation point, get some fresh air, relax, and opt to immediately leave the fire or emergency scene.
For the mall stores, the group urged administrators, shopkeepers, and their attendants to observe the following safety precautions:
• Conduct fire safety and security preparedness check ahead of the holiday shopping rush, including the readiness of security guards and janitorial staff, as well as store personnel, to act as marshals to guide customers and other people to safety. Go beyond the basic requirements of the police and fire authorities.
• Install illuminated “fire exit” signs in strategic spots.
• Ensure corridors, egress directions and exit staircases are free of obstructions at all times.
• Make sure all electrical connections are in good condition; fix damaged cords, exposed wirings and faulty outlets at once; remind tenants not to overload electrical outlets and to unplug after store hours.
• Ensure smoke detectors, water sprinklers, and fire extinguishers are properly working.
• Minimize storage of allowable hazardous chemicals and flammable supplies within the mall premises. If essential for mall operation and maintenance, ensure such materials are safely stored.
• Implement good housekeeping procedures to reduce the chances of accident and fire.
• Enforce ecological waste management for a cleaner and clutter-free mall environment. Keep the mall’s materials recovery facility (MRF) well-maintained so as to remove or reduce the risks of fire.
• Impose a total smoking ban, including in the mall’s receiving areas and store rooms.
• For shopkeepers: Only sell quality electrical products such as Christmas lights that have valid Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) stickers.
• For mall management: Deploy extra security personnel during the peak days of holiday shopping for consumer safety and better crowd control.
• For mall security: Strictly enforce essential procedures to detect and thwart any security threats, which, if not prevented, can potentially endanger the safety of mall goers and others.
Safe and happy shopping, everyone!
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Quitting smoking? Try the e-cigarette
Nearly three million people in the UK use them, and their market is growing fast. We’re talking about a smoking hot topic: electronic cigarettes or simply, e-cigarettes.
Note that there’s a burning debate over whether e-cigarettes are harmful or beneficial to public health. Advocates say there are lower health risks from e-cigarettes (only five percent) than from smoking tobacco and e-cigarettes can actually be a valuable tool in helping people quit smoking. The current body of evidence also indicates that e-cigarettes do not encourage tobacco smoking among non-smokers or children. And via a new EU Tobacco Products Directive, e-cigarettes are regulated as tobacco-related products.
“We are not opposing that this be regulated. In fact, we’re supporting reasonable and sensible regulation,” stresses Robert Eugenio, head of legal & external affairs, British American Tobacco Philippines.”
Robert adds, “The notable thing about this is it’s the first one introduced by a big tobacco company.”
Stephen Jenkins, NicoVentures director, regulatory & medical affairs, Asia-Pacific, informs us, “We spent a lot of time, invested a lot of money over the past number of years in developing the highest quality product so you can trust the technology of the factory, trust the quality of the data, and feel comfortable about it... Most important are the quality controls, safety controls on this product.”
To which Robert adds, “In the UK, 500M pounds were spent just on research and product development. Research on how you can reduce the harm in smoking.”