How Safe is Your House? Or is your house truly Safe? Or is Your Home Really a Home
How safe is the place you call a home?

A house, according to laymans definition is a place you lay your head, after every day’s jama-jama (hustle).
According to Dictionary.com, a house is a domicile, that is a dwelling, residence, home etc.
Thus, home, according to popular expectation, is supposed to offer the dweller, comfort, relaxation,
basically a comfort zone, however, do most of our homes in Nigeria, and Africa as a whole meet this criteria?
Aside the expensive houses in the highbrow areas. Are most houses equipped with all the basic safety
equipments inplace? Before we jump the gun and put the cart before the house by asking of safety
equipments, its ideal we ask ourselves one key question that has been troubling my heart for so long, I still
find it hard to give a concrete answer, and that is…are these houses even built to standard, talking about
standard here, I mean are the appropriate amount of cement, sand, gravel etc. utilized? It has also been
observed that most houses, are built having just one exit door, an act that is a far cry from the safety
demand of an exit door and another emergency door in the event of unexpected circumstances that
prevents the use of the normal exit door. I know the question you would ask me is, what is the role of the
government regulatory agency? Well, like Omawunmi, the popular musician sang, “If you ask me!!, na who I
go ask!? Corruption has crept into, resulting in officials ignoring their roles and responsibilities, of ensuring
that homes are built to standard which in the long run helps to prevent deaths , HELL NO!!! They prefer the
money and the flashy cars, cus to them, who your living don epp?
Another problem we have grown with and now feel relaxed around is the attitude of applying religion to
safety. No one says God isn’t our shield and protector, but who builds a house on sinking sand and expects it
to stand solid? As my safety friends would always say..God is not a safety factor. Who plays with fire and
expects not to be burnt? That exactly is what most of us do, which isn’t right. We always want to cut cost
not minding the implication it would have on us or the workers involved as regards to safety. What we really
don’t know is, incorporating safety in all you do, prevents you from hurting yourself, reduces the chances of
an accident occurring (That’s if the risk assessment wasn’t dutifully carried out and the right preventive
measures prescribed and adopted). Inculcating safety into our fabric. Take a stand today, beware, be smart,
be safety smart
The question again is, is your home safe? Is it fire safe?