Refugees and Migrants Learning OHS

Sandra Maudier works with new refugees and migrants, and wanted to share an awareness of how little some people know about safety in the home, workplace and their own personal safety:

“One of my students was given information about the CFA and how to contact them in case of a fire. Another student in the class was surprised to learn that there was only one number (000) for all emergency services in Australia. In his country there is a different number for each emergency service – and a very different policy on their use. He told us that in his old country if someone calls the fire brigade because they have a fire at home, the people who made the phone call are arrested. They are then interrogated to establish whether they started the fire themselves. My student said (before learning the difference here in Australia) that he would not have called the fire brigade here either, for fear of being arrested.”

Sandra says this is just one example of the many difficulties that some refugee’s are facing and the need for education about things we take for granted. Sandra finds a ‘hands-on’ approach works well with her students, so she takes them around the campus to identify potential safety risks, and shows them different examples of safety signs so they can become familiar with them.

Thank you Sandra for these insights and keep up your great work!