Jeju Fire Headquarters Achieves Zero Fatal Accidents... Strengthening On-Site Safety Management

Published 21 Jul.2022 09:49(KST)

[Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Jeongpil] The Jeju Fire Safety Headquarters (Head Park Geun-oh) announced on the 21st that it is focusing on strengthening systematic on-site safety management to prevent safety accidents of firefighters and achieve zero fatal accidents.

In January this year, a fire occurred at a new refrigerated logistics warehouse construction site in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, where three firefighters died on site without escaping the fire, and in June last year, one firefighter died at a logistics warehouse in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province.

Recently, large fires such as ship fires at Seongsan Port and Hallim Port in Jeju have occurred consecutively, making the safety management of on-site personnel even more important.

Over the past five years (2017?2021), a total of 23 firefighters nationwide have died in the line of duty (an average of 4.6 per year), and a total of 4,235 firefighters have been injured on duty nationwide.

During the same period, no fatal accidents occurred in Jeju, and the number of injured firefighters was 35, accounting for about 0.8% compared to the national figure.

In the past three years (2019?2021), a total of 1,436 firefighter safety accidents occurred nationwide, with Jeju accounting for 17 cases, representing 1.2% of the national total.

Safety accidents have continued to occur this year as well, and the Fire Safety Headquarters is establishing and focusing on systematic on-site safety management measures to prevent fatal and safety accidents among on-site personnel.

By reinforcing dedicated personnel with extensive field experience, the role of on-site safety inspectors, whose rank has been upgraded (from Fire Lieutenant to Fire Captain), has been expanded and operated in all fire stations (12 personnel) to strengthen the overall management function of on-site safety.

On-site safety inspectors are responsible for identifying and preemptively removing risk factors during firefighting activities at disaster sites, as well as real-time communication with on-site personnel, and special training to enhance their expertise is continuously conducted.

To prepare for situations where personnel may become trapped during on-site activities, emergency escape training facilities have been created, and regular repetitive and proficiency training is being conducted for all 119 centers and 119 rescue teams to strengthen the crisis response capabilities of personnel.

A rapid peer rescue team (composed of 3 to 5 rescue personnel) capable of quickly responding to incidents such as firefighter burial or entrapment will be immediately deployed in case of emergencies.

To prepare for long hours of on-site activities, recovery support vehicles (buses) and rapid shift teams are operated at each fire station to thoroughly prevent accidents through fatigue management of personnel.

Regular risk prediction training based on actual cases and sensitivity training to identify near-miss accidents on site are also enhancing the voluntary safety management capabilities of personnel.

By distributing daily training manuals using the fire station building, firefighters’ fire suppression skills and adaptability on site are being improved, and in the second half of this year, a real fire training ground will be established to further strengthen on-site response capabilities through training similar to actual fires.

Park Geun-oh, head of the Fire Safety Headquarters, said, “As fatal and safety accidents among firefighters during on-site activities continue nationwide, the safety management of on-site personnel is becoming increasingly important,” adding, “We will continue to implement systematic on-site safety management measures to ensure that on-site personnel prevent safety accidents and that no fatal accidents occur, making every effort to manage personnel safety.”