Influence of Globalization on Fire Service Law and Practice in UAE - Coursework Example

Influence of Globalization on Fire Service Law and Practice in UAE Introduction Law is very often a reflection of the customs, traditions, and edicts that have come out of the experience of a people. In recent years, thanks to globalization the process of borrowing from the laws and technology of other countries has increased. Many countries, including former colonies, have borrowed extensively from UK law. But colonial ties are not the only link between countries when it comes to the law. Rather, reasonableness and applicability are important. This paper focuses on fire safety laws. In the United Kingdom statistics indicate that in 2004 and 2005 36,000 fires occurred all of which carried the risk of getting someone injured or killed. And there is a financial cost as well, "on average each fire in an industrial premises costs approximately £60,000."1 The paper examines how some laws in one country may be used in another and uses the United Arab Emirates in this case study. UK Fire Protection Law and the Notion of Responsibility In the United Kingdom, two laws relating to fire safety are in operation, one covering England and Wales and the other covering Scotland. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 came into effect on October 1 in England and Wales and is targeted toward employers and others in positions of responsibility for building with public access as well as "all non-domestic premises, including the voluntary sector and the self-employed where premises are separate from their homes."2 Whether in terms of factories, warehouses, hotels, community halls or places of worship, the law emphasizes responsibility, that is, "the identification of a responsible person, who will be held ultimately responsible for the safety of employees and relevant persons using the building. This will normally be the person who owns or controls the business or premises (where two or more such persons share a responsiblity, i.e., landlord and tenant they are obliged to c-operate).3 The responsible person can in turn appoint someone with specialist knowledge or management expertise to take charge. For example, For those working in low risk work facilities and who want to go it alone, the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) has just developed a new fire safety and risk management certificate, which is designed to equip holders to carry out fire risk assessments themselves and identify the range of fire protective and preventative measures required.4 Implementation includes the requirement to produce a manual that is geared toward reducing the risk of fire and minimizing the spread of fire should one start. All employees are to be given enough fire safety training during normal working periods and periodic refresher courses. "The Order permits the inspector, who will usually be a local fire officer, to enter a premises, inspect, ask questions and identify who is the responsible person. He or she may also copy fire safety records and take samples as deemed necessary."5 In fact, the change in the British law was to make it more centered on prevention.6 UAE Growth and Fire Threats The United Arab Emirates has been the base for a substantial amount of construction work in recent years. Foreign architectural firms bring a high level of technical expertise to the task, often, applying standards from such jurisdictions as the United Kingdom when it comes to fire safety. In the UAE as a whole, fire safety comes under the auspices of the Department of Civil Protection (Defence) but each emirate is able to enact its legislation governing fire safety. Even so, each emirate may give up some of its rights, as is the case with the joining of military forces by the emirates in the 1970s. Towards Fire Safety in UAE In UAE when it comes to fire safety technology, "most internationally recognized codes are accepted, so there is a mix of U.S., U.K., German and Australian codes."7 Since the British had an earlier presence in the UAE compared to their American counterparts, one might find that U.K. influence is stronger. In fact, fire legislation is still lagging. For instance, the insurance industry has been at the forefront in calling for tougher laws on construction and fire. In fact, in "an attempt to control the increasing fire costs - the Civil Defence Department is spending Dh250 ($68) per minute to put off a blaze. The authorities have submitted a draft law to make insurance firms responsible for civil defence bills."8 Unlike the UK law that puts the onus on the owner of the building or the person who controls the building the strategy in the UAE is to force the insurance companies to engage with building owners by demanding the cost of tackling fires from these insurance companies. In fact, "By increasing insurance costs for owners, the legislation seeks to create greater fire awareness with the public. The debate over fire prevention and liabilities intensified recently after two incidents accrued millions of dirhams of losses to authorities, the Khalid Port incident at Shajah in August 2007 and the Al Quoz warehouse fire in April 2008."9 Fire Service – Ethics Those who join the fire and rescue services become part of a special fraternity that are bound by moral and professional codes. Even though fire fighters and rescue workers are, by profession, risk takers this does not mean that they should be pushed into taking unnecessary risks. Wilson (2009 has noted for example, that one of the leading causes of death for fire fighters in the United States happens in the line of duty. He cites an example of six firefighters who dies in December 1999 when they tried to fight fire in an abandoned cold storage warehouse. The investigative report strongly recommended against risking firefighter lives to suppress fire in vacant or abandoned structures. Unfortunately, every year since 1999 more firefighters have died inside vacant structures. What happened to the axiom taught in incident safety officer training that says, "Risk a lot to save a lot (human life); risk a little to save a little; risk nothing to save nothing?"10 From the above, it seems that some fire and rescue chiefs have not done a very good job of making decisions affecting their crew. The moral obligation that fire fighters and indeed all other human beings have, extends to helping people, and in some cases, animals. As Phil and Holm (1997) note, "Most people accept that, when others stand in danger of their lives or of severe injury, pain or distress, there is strong obligation to go to their assistance. This obligation is sufficiently powerful that it is not extinguished where a rescue involves some risk to rescuers."11 But the risks should match the potential harm that might be averted. It seems that in some cases, rescue workers that have a culture of masculinity may sometimes rush headlong into a dangerous situation from which they cannot emerge. In another incident, in August 2008, a helicopter carrying fire fighters crashed, killing nine people who were to fight some wildland fire. But is it justified for fire fighters and rescue workers to die fighting a fire that does not threaten anyone directly? It seems that while the obligation to assist people is very strong among firefighters there has not been enough attention directed at preventing line of duty deaths (LODD). It is proper for rescue service workers to extend a helping hand to the general population in times of disaster. This obligation should also be expressed among fire fighters themselves so that their lives are not lost needlessly. UAE – The Fire Problem In UAE, the high point of concern came in 2008 when Dubai was hit by more than 300 fires in a five-month period, most of which happened at a warehouse labour accommodations and at factories. Major General Rashid Thani Al Matroushi, who is the Director of the Dubai Civil Defence said: "We cannot stop the fires from breaking out, but we can reduce the fire incidents by abiding by safety standards, which is the main am of this campaign."12 Dubai has also began to make greater use of technology such as the Global Positioning System to track warehouses and factories and to use color coding to make it easy for inspectors to follow up.13 In another incident that had occurred in March of 2009, a woman and a little girl were trapped in an apartment when an apartment below them on the seventh floor caught fire. Surprisingly, within an hour another fire broke out in Al Qusais, making it virtually impossible for a five year old boy to get out. The cause of the second fire had been some flammable material on the balcony, which raises the issue of education. In effect, rather than putting so much effort on putting out fires, which is important enough, one wonders if more effort ought to be put into education people about ways in which they might inadvertently start fires. In this regard it was comforting for Major Firas Mohammad Bel Hasa, who is the Director of the Hamria Civil Defence Station to say to parents that they should not "leave their children alone or lock them up in their apartments when they go out or to work, as this can be very dangerous."14 Other suggestions made included not changing the design of apartments and residential dwellings without the approval of the municipality and civil defence offices. "It also hinders rescue operations, Bel Hasa said, adding that civil defence teams faced difficulties reaching the trapped child in the second apartment due to the many partitions fixed inside the apartment, which forced firefighters to take off their breathing masks and enter without them."15 The media has been playing a role in publicizing fire rescues and the comments of civil defence leaders. Apartment fires also raise some ethical issues when personnel are shorthanded. For example, should fire fighters concentrate on helping those who are trapped in the apartment where the fire is raging or should they focus on other people in other apartments who have a better chance of being saved. Also, where there is evidence that there has been wilfull neglect of fire procedures, who should bear the cost? Should the city take responsibility for something that building owners could easily have taken care of, in terms of prevention, and should building owners be charged for fires that rage in their buildings. And what about those dwelling in individual apartments who start a fie by accident or through their carelessness. Should they bear any responsibility for their carelessness or should it be considered a matter of human nature. Considering that in some cases millions of dirham in property is lost along with human life, there seems to be a need for fire fighters to have leadership with a strong ethical sense or learn to make choices that are both sensible and ethical. Expanding Social Awareness It seems that the UAE leadership do not see increased laws as the immediate solution to the fire problem. While the other members of the UAE federation are doing what they can to deal with the issue of fire outbreaks Dubai has offered a model of expansion that the others are likely to follow by creating new kinds of civil defence stations. The goal of the new service, as articulated by Rashid Thani Al Matroushi, Director of Dubai Civil Defence is to make excellence a part of the firefighting and rescue service tradition in the city. In addition, "Under that goal, the civil defence also set targets which included achieving the best response times, increasing the preparedness of firefighting stations for any emergency, ensuring safety for water projects in the city and developing firefighting and air rescue services."16 In addition to ensuring that the new stations are equipped with excellent human resources the best technology would be deployed. "The four stations will be established at Dubai International City, Dubai Industrial City, Al Manara Centre and Marina Centre and there will be a firefighting point at Dubai International City."17 One excellent feature of the stations is that they have been designed like watchtowers so that those in them can see a portion of the city and determine if there is a fire or smoke that requires intervention. The watchtowers will also act as high tech stations that can control technology within the buildings. In addition, according to Matroushi, On the recent spate of fires in high rise buildings under construction, Brigadier Al Matrooshi said “Protection of high-rise buildings mainly depends on the degree of strategy that involves self-protection from fire before firefighters arrive at the scene via implementing a number of advanced e-services that monitors and controls the following: fire alarm systems, sprinklers, lifts, fire doors and fire separation systems that prevent smoke and fire from spreading.18 The UAE has developed a great reputation as a centre for business and is rapidly gaining ascendancy as a major cultural centre. People from all over the world are beginning to hear about the paradise that these group of territories are and it would be unfortunate if the reputation changes from one of positive associations with architectural marvels to one of incompetence and fears of lack of safety as it pertains to fire. Issues of fire, as the British laws indicate, should not revolve only around attempts to control a fire that has already started. Rather, every effort should be made to prevent fires from starting in the first place. This means that materials used in construction as well as the standards used in the design of buildings have to be of the topmost standard otherwise all the effort and money that have gone into construction will become a waste. And more importantly, lives will be needlessly lost when little attention is paid to issues of safety. Conclusion It is expected that the new efforts by UAE governments to deal with issues of fire will result in real change. The impact of the occasional fires in UAE are two-fold, material and physical damage on the one hand, and psychological damage. The success of UAE has given its citizens a great sense of pride. The UAE is fast becoming a notable centre of business and political clout. Neither business leaders nor political leaders will be excited about coming to the UAE if they think that they might be trapped on some high rise and having to weigh whether to jump or wait to be rescued. The UAE is fortunate to have a low crime rate. It will be unfortunate if UAE throws its success away by not investing enough in fire prevention. The psychological element involves the possibility of having both citizens and those who have come to see the city as their own somewhat demoralized that the UAE has spent billions of dollars to draw attention to itself only to ignore one of the most basic elements of modern city building, that is, fire protection. When it is understood that carelessness on the part of an individual could lead to the loss of one's own life and those of others, the issue becomes much more clear and understandable. The government does not want to lose citizens to the ravages of fire and neither does the government want to lose those who are willing to sacrifice their time and energy to work in the fire safety and rescue type occupations. Bibliography Al Theeb, Alia. Dubai hit by more than 300 fires in five months. June 09,2008, www.gulfnews.com [viewed on May 1, 2009]. Alia Al Theeb. New Civil Defence Stations to Improve Response Time. March 8, 2009. http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/09/03/03/10290916.html [Retrieved May 6, 2009] Getting Your House in Order, p.21, viewed on May 2, 2009, Harris D. J.,Phil & Soren Holdm. Risk taking and professional responsibility. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 90, p625-627. Risk Assessing Fire Safety. The RoSPA Occupational Safety & Health Journal, April 2006, pp32-3. Martin Kealy. Fire Protection in the Persian Gulf Region. Consulting Specifying Engineer, Feb 2007, p56. The Report Dubai 2008. Oxford Business Group, p.92. Wilson, Jim. Change Your Mind, Change Your Culture. Fire Chief, 53.1, p. 30. Elements of Dubai's Civil Defence Plan 2008-2015 to be unveiled at Intersect Middle East in 2008. http://www.messefrankfurtme.com/intersec/downloads/PR_F_INTERSEC_No v_2008_DUBAI_CIVIL_DEFENCE.pdf Read More