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Rajkumar Kamat, president FSAI (Goa Chapter)
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If the public observes safety parameters and is taught to take care of life, living and property, much burden will be reduced on the administrative level and losses will be cut down
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Intro:
In an effort to increase awareness in the community through inputs and education to industry and other stake holders to minimise property and life loss and improve security, FSAI Goa Chapter was launched on May 26, 2016. BHARATI PAWASKAR has a chat with its president, Rajkumar Kamat to gauge what progress has been made
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Heading:
FSAI: Fostering a spirit of safe living in Goa
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FSAI is a trade body and a Chamber of Commerce of fire protection, safety and security engineering service industry in India. It’s a non-profit organisation that represents various electronic and physical security fire product manufacturers, installers, interpreters and service providers. We aim to establish life safety and security as an important obligation in the economic development of the nation. Constituted in the year 2002, it has 2500 members across India with its headquarters in Chennai and 15 chapters in different states, including Goa.
Our primary aims and objectives are “ to foster a spirit of safe living among all citizens of India and inculcate a proactive mind-set towards safety and security at all times, to promote and advance the use of fire safety and security systems, to foster fire safety and security engineering education and awareness and to maintain high ethical standards among its members. We aim to work closely with the government and all other stakeholders to enable the Indian fire and security industry to reach global pre-eminence with better regulatory framework
FSAI Goa Chapter came into being on May 26, 2016 and as of now we have 73 corporate and professional members. Our object is to create awareness and educate the general public and professionals on fire safety and other security related issues, thereby improving the safety and security infrastructure at our workplace and home. Our goal is to work towards a safe and secure Goa. The motivation came from the Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services (Goa) to increase the awareness in the community by giving inputs and education to the industry and other stake holders to minimise the property and life loss and improve security.
Goa doesn’t have tall buildings but we do have crowded areas, especially in the markets and on the beaches. We outnumber in road accidents too. Every state needs to strengthen its safety and security system. If the public observes safety parameters and is taught to take care of life, living and property, both individual as well as public, much burden will be reduced on the administrative level and losses will be cut down.
The credit to start FSAI Goa Chapter goes to Ashok Menon, Director, Fire and Emergency Services, Goa. It was due to his initiative that this chapter was activated and is today, getting full support from various government organisations in the State to facilitate and foster a spirit of safe and secure Goa.
We are focusing primarily on professionals and the industry. We have completed a two-day training programme on loss prevention and sprinkler technology. We shall extend the footprint of safe school project initiated by the Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services to schools in Goa. For homes and homemakers, we have kitchen safety project wherein our trained personnel shall visit housing complexes and educate the residents on safe kitchens. Our members will take training from the department and then visit schools to train the teachers and students. Training of our members will begin this month. We will also be holding a workshop to offer inputs to architects and overall to the construction industry.
FSAI has a model in each area which will be replicated in Goa. The safety aspects in industrial estates will be studied. We have tied up with Secutech India to have a model control and command system for our industrial estates, beginning with Verna. This system will be operational for 24x7x365. FSAI Goa Chapter will work as a catalyst between public and fire department. Goa will be first in India to have Secutech India’s system installed.
We need to create fire and life safety awareness among the people who design systems including the architects along with the entire community. We aim to achieve this goal by sharing of knowledge through seminars and workshops. We wish to catch young minds too to spread the message. We will try to include government bodies too.
We are launching Project SAFE Goa wherein S “ to aid security in Goa, A “ awareness through mass education, F “ first responder training to beach attendants, adventure sports and petrol pump attendants, E “ engaging with private players and PPP projects we aim to stir things faster.
The project will be carried out in phases and applied once in a year with deliverables spread across in four different phases of six months each. The first phase will focus on low cost projects. Time will also be utilised for resource mobilisation so that from second phase onwards, larger projects can be initiated. We have signed a MoU with Underwriter’s Lab at UN and want to do this programme professionally as well as increase the number of beneficiaries to 10 lakh by March 2017.
FSAI with the Consul of Architecture decides the curriculum for architectural students. We have signed an agreement regarding creating fire and safety manual which will create and percolate to architectural students. We have also signed a MoU with NFTA-World body for creating standards, the first session of which will happen in December 2016 in Mumbai.
In our engineering colleges there is no subject on fire and security. Considering this we have begun opening Student Chapter in colleges to make students understand the importance of the issue. Eight such chapters have been already opened. We wish to cover 2500 students by the end of March 2017. First training laboratory is opened at Bharatiya Vidyapeeth, Pune. Live demonstrations are conducted with the help of industry and students to train them on various alarm systems, detection systems, hydrant systems etc.
Yes, deaths due to fire and road accidents are very common, not only in Goa but all over the country. Innocent people die on roads due to negligent driving. There is need to have an ambulance facility at every 50 km distance. These ambulances should be equipped with rescue tools and basic fire extinguishing equipment. We shall provide a list of the things required to be in this mobile facility to save life and property. Every person should observe safety parameters, safety norms. Each and every individual can contribute in a larger way.
Secutech India is one of the largest and professionally organised security shows in India. It has been on the forefront of the fire, safety and security industry’s advancement by showcasing the latest in technology, ideas and solutions. With its help and under its guidance, measures will be taken to avoid the incidences of fire in homes, schools, public places, markets, slums, factories, big buildings, rural areas, hospitals etc. Making sure of the availability of rescue tools, how to use them, training of the public regarding carefulness and first aid in case of fire will be taken care of. Highlighting and taking care of the safety of the building while it is constructed and to see that it’s fire-proof and secure will be taught to the stake holders.
Including the chief minister (patron) and I (president) we have Ajit Kamat as secretary and eight other members “ Avinash Dwivedi, Anurag Tyagi, Shawn D'Sa, K K Sekhar, Shashikant Keni, Ashok N Joshi, Prem Nadar and Capt Virendra Mehta. We intend to increase our number of members from the current 73 to 100 by December 2016.
