CAPTION: Bank of Baroda staff and their Fire Wardens with their CEO after the completion of the Fire Warden Training last week in Suva.
So far this year, National Fire Authority (NFA) has responded to six Commercial and Industrial fires.
The total direct loss as a result of these Commercial and Industrial fires is more than twenty-five million dollars ($25m).
There are other social and economic impacts as a result of these Commercial and Industrial fires and this include the loss of jobs for employees, the disruption of service delivery and etc.
NFA is again reminding the Business Community and Organization to recognize that the possibilities of a fire occurring in their business is one of their top business priority and they must implement mitigation strategies to either reduce or eliminate the possibility of a fire occurring in their business or organization.
Each business or organization must consider their fire mitigation strategies depending on their operation. There are mechanical technology based, policy and procedures based mitigation strategies that could be implemented by business and organization to eliminate, control or minimize the risk or impact of a fire.
“An important component of the fire mitigation strategy is for employees to undergo proper fire safety training so that they are aware of what to do in case of a fire,” NFA CEO Mr John O’Connor said.
“It is important for all business organization and large property owners to ensure that they appoint fire wardens to ensure that in case of fire, they will be able to safely evacuate employees and visitors from their workplaces.
“Business owners, employers and building owners have the primary responsibility of ensuring of the safety of employees, members of the community or visitors to their workplaces in case of a fire. This responsibility must be taken seriously since it is an “absolute” responsibility .
The NFA CEO thanked business organization who have conducted fire safety training for their staff through NFA’s fire safety training courses.
“NFA’s fire safety trainings are structured to assist employees understand the theories of fires and firefighting strategies they should take in case of a fire,” Mr. O’Connor said.
“Such training also assists employees in the safe evacuation of employees and visitors.
Last week Friday, NFA completed a Fire Warden training exercise for the Bank of Baroda staff at their Suva City Branch.
“The Fire Warden training is one of the important NFA fire safety training course for businesses and organization which assists the employees understand basic concepts of fire safety and the use of various fire safety and protection methods during a fire incident,” Mr O’Connor said.
Bank of Baroda employees from their branches around the country were part of this Fire Warden training which ended on Friday.
“The training involved a theory component and a practical operation component and the proper application of the various types of firefighting equipment installed at the workplace.
“We also emphasized that this life skill training program benefits the participant’s family and is also part of NFA’s fire safety awareness campaigns,” Mr O’Connor said.
“With the increasing number of Industrial and Commercial fire incidents, it is important that business organization are aware of fire safety preventative measures to minimize the risk of a fire occurring in their workplaces and what to do in the event of a fire,” Mr O’Connor said.
Mr O’Connor said: “In most fire incidents, employees usually panic because they don’t know what to do. First response is very important in quickly controlling the fire and such training will prepare the staff to be able to safely and effectively fight the fire while waiting for the NFA crew to arrive.
“Organizations can contact the Commercial Training Department at NFA Suva to arrange for fire safety training sessions”, Mr O’Connor added.
NFA