How many of us pay attention to safety regulations when we enter a place of amusement? Do you ask the proprietor or operators to show you their certificate of compliance regarding fire safety standards? The truth is many of us do not actively care to know how safe the venue is, especially since the primary focus of going to a place of amusement is to have fun. Noting is wrong with having fun or being entertained; it is a desire in every human being to let down our hair occasionally. This issue becomes problematic given the low percentage of the places of amusement in Jamaica which are compliant with fire safety regulations.

According to Stewart Beckford, commissioner of the Jamaica Fire Brigade, only one in every eight places of amusement in the Corporate Area is compliant with fire safety regulations. He added that there are fears that members of the Jamaican public are unknowingly putting their safety at serious risk as they attend events in the nation’s capital. If this sobering revelation does not move you nothing else will.

The situation is one Beckford, as commissioner, finds untenable, as any emergency arising could see many people being injured or even dying because of the widespread flouting of safety regulations.

I am very disappointed in the lack of public discussion which has been generated from this news story. Is it that as Jamaicans we are not concerned about our own safety? The truth is that not many of us are concerned about that. We assume that the venue is compliant with safety regulations. However, each time we enter an establishment of amusement we are putting our safety and perhaps lives into the hands of the operators of the venue.

The Christmas season has just ended and so too the many parties which usually accompany it. According to Beckford, many of the buildings used as places of amusement were not purpose built and, therefore, lack the various fire safety considerations.

“There is the issue of no fire extinguishers; there is no alternative escape route – one way in, one way out. So if there is a fire at that particular entrance, you can imagine what the outcome of that would be because there is no other means of escape,” he said.

The fire chief also cited a lack of smoke alarms and detectors among common breaches. The attitude of many operators of places of amusement leaves much to be desired. The fire chief said many operators fail to acquire the certificate even when they are compliant. One can argue that this laid-back attitude is directly related to the patrons not insisting on seeing, for themselves, certificates of compliance with fire safety standards.

Commissioner Beckford said, “One of the issues that we have also observed is that persons will take the necessary steps to implement the measures as recommended, but the final process to get fully certified, they would not have taken that final step, which is to come into our office, pay the requisite fee, and we issue them with a certificate to say, ‘Yes, you’re compliant.’ So in some instances, persons are compliant, but the fact is they don’t take that final step to get that certificate.”

Sadly, in too many instances it’s a case of don’t ask don’t display. As patrons we need to change our reactionary culture to one of prevention. It cannot be that we only react to events and situations of a bad nature. We must ensure that procedures are in place to mitigate those negative events from happening. In quite a number of instances a fire is preventable.

Regrettably, a lot of materials used in the construction of places of amusements, such as nightclubs, are flammable and provide oxygen for fires whenever they break out. Jamaica has been fortunate over the years as we have not had massive fires breaking out at places of amusement. Unlike the United States of America which has had her fair share of fires and death in amusement venues which turned out to be unsafe for patrons.

Every 24 seconds, a fire department in the United States responds to a fire somewhere in that nation, this according to the National Fire Protection Association. November 28, 1942 at Cocoanut Grove, Boston, 492 people were killed. This was the deadliest nightclub fire in US history. The tragedy at one of the top clubs in the post-Prohibition era prompted increased safety standards at bars, such as sprinklers and accessible exits.

As we go out to enjoy the company of others let us remember that personal safety begins and ends with us. In the powerful words of Benjamin Franklin: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo.