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This enquiry has been sent to Practical Action specifically related to a project in Palestine on stove and lamp safety.

We have a number of projects in the occupied Palestinian territory that deal with treating burns victims (for example supporting burns units within hospitals) as well as looking at prevention (education programmes in communities and schools). From our data collection we have discovered that most accidents resulting in burns occur in the home and are as a result of poorly installed and/or unattended cooking and heating facilities.

What has been done to resolve this issue for example through the provision of safe generators or oil lamps etc in countries in the Middle East or elsewhere. We would be very keen to hear about anything you have done on this issue to promote safe cooking and heating facilities. We are keen to focus on the cause of these problems as we see this as an area where significant change can be made towards accident prevention.

In terms of solutions to these issues I have highlighted a couple of ideas but has there been any specific work on stove safety in terms of their design?

There has been some documentation on the benefits of using solar lanterns in place of kerosene or oil lamps in terms of safety and in their health benefits in cutting indoor air pollution.

The other area of work that fits in some ways is cooking with biogas which is a lot easier in some respects at least at the point of use. The disadvantage of this approach is the increase in cost and the maintenance of the bio-digester. There can also be issues with the fuel requirements, especially in more urban areas compared to rural farms.