[Asia Economy Reporter Osangdo] Dedicated safety management personnel called 'On-site Safety Inspectors' will be assigned to fire scenes where accidents frequently occur. Additionally, a Rapid Rescue Team will be established to be deployed when firefighters engaged in rescue operations suffer accidents, and a 'Safety Index' indicating the level of safety awareness at fire stations will also be introduced.
The National Fire Agency announced on the 19th that it will enact the "Regulations on Safety Management of Firefighting Activities at the Scene for Fire Officers" containing these provisions, which will take effect from the 23rd.
These regulations were prepared to ensure the safety of firefighters exposed to various hazards at disaster sites such as fires. The safety management section was separated and supplemented from the existing "Regulations on Health and Safety Management for Fire Officers."
From now on, three On-site Safety Inspectors will be assigned to each individual firefighting activity site. Although the On-site Safety Inspector system existed before, surplus personnel were designated depending on the dispatch situation. However, due to a shortage of personnel at the scene, On-site Safety Inspectors often performed other duties concurrently.
The new regulations require On-site Safety Inspectors to focus solely on safety management. Furthermore, in preparation for explosion accidents and the like, a Rapid Rescue Team will be formed to wait at the scene in pairs of two.
The types of firefighting activities subject to safety management and the kinds of on-site accidents have also been subdivided. Safety management now includes daily safety activities such as removal of beehives, and accident types are divided into cases with and without casualties.
Detailed criteria for casualties have also been established. Death is clearly defined as "death occurring within 30 days after the accident," and serious injury as "injuries requiring treatment for three weeks or more." New regulations related to treatment, psychological counseling, and other measures for affected personnel have also been introduced.
The National Fire Agency's proactive response is due to the fact that 54 firefighters have died in the line of duty performing hazardous tasks over the past decade (2010?2019). The number of injured personnel was also found to be 4,542.
Firefighters who died in the line of duty were involved in rescue (19), fire suppression (14), and emergency medical services (8) activities when the accidents occurred. Injured personnel were mostly hurt during emergency medical services (1,027), fire suppression (988), rescue (393), and daily safety activities (70).
Last year, 705 firefighters died or were injured while conducting fire suppression, rescue, and emergency medical activities, nearly doubling compared to ten years ago.
The National Fire Agency explained, "More than 500 firefighters suffer safety accidents annually, but there were deficiencies in the on-site safety management organization," adding, "There were limitations in establishing preventive measures, so these have been comprehensively supplemented."
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