During the past decade, the schoolchildren faced many disasters and emergencies originating from natural and man-made sources. The safety of schoolchildren rests with school management and teachers. This study aimed to assess teachers' awareness with regard to disaster prevention and health, safety, security, and environment (HSSE) policies at primary schools in Pakistan. In addition, it explores the suitability of teachers to perform as emergency handlers in the absence of school nurses and resource officers (SROs). The study involved a qualitative study, based on open-ended interviews from a sample of 25 school teachers. Methodology triangulation was applied to reduce bias. Results revealed that the majority of teachers do not know about national policies related to school safety and security. Most of the teachers had been assigned additional roles as safety officers at the school, though they lack relevant training. Moreover, neither safety nor security aspects are incorporated into national educational policy. This study was the first study on Pakistani teachers’roles as emergency first responders. With the highest rate of attacks on educational institutions globally, the region still lacks a coherent policy structure. The study found numerous inconsistencies in public policies. It seeks to contribute to the literature to better understand the educational safety environment at both the ground and policy levels.

Background. Hazardous material (HAZMAT) transportation drivers are responsible for safe delivery of consignments and face multiple challenges carrying out their duties. Drivers are also the first to respond to emergencies and accidents. Objectives. The purpose of the present study was to identify the essential competencies needed by HAZMAT transportation drivers to deal with emergencies. Methods. Three rounds of focus groups were conducted using expert panels comprised of HAZMAT specialists, health, safety and emergency representatives, security experts and transportation advisors from June to July 2019. The panel discussed competencies, gathered from a literature review, for emergency responders. Results. The panel identified six (6) core and 23 sub-competencies of HAZMAT drivers. This is the first study in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) to identify core competencies of HAZMAT truck drivers. Conclusions. The integration of these competencies into a development and training program for drivers will better enable drivers to handle emergencies in an efficient and effective manner. Participant Consent. Obtained Ethics Approval. The Graduate Advisory Committee of Comsats University approved study protocols. Participant Consent. Obtained Competing Interests. The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Use of Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE) is an integral segment in occupational safety program in order to improve injury and loss prevention; however, in developing nations the occupational safety is often undermined. Across the under developed countries, employees in informal sector are executing their duty in the absence of adequate safety setup. We conducted a Systematic literature review of studies on use and impact of protection equipment in informal sector (Welding and Spray Painting) of Pakistan. Google Scholar was searched for use of occupational personal safety studies conducted in English in two sectors (Welding and Spray Painting) in Pakistan. Search resulted in fifty six (56) studies. The initial, abstract and full text review finally yielded seven (7) studies for this review. Overall state of use of PPE was found very disappointing. No Policy exists and poor field implementation was reported. Eye Shields and gloves were among the highest available used PPEs. There was no use of respirators in welding and spray painting areas. This is the first-ever review on the state of occupational safety in informal sector (welding and spray painting) of Pakistan. Detailed studies in informal sector are required to depict the safety practices.