Stay calm in "Golden 5 Minutes
The fire alarm suddenly rang in the middle of the production shift. In just a few dozen seconds, the grassroots fire prevention and fighting force quickly arrived, cut off electricity in the area, guided workers to move along the escape route, and at the same time deployed fire extinguishers and water hoses to control the simulated fire.
That is a familiar image in drills at many businesses in industrial parks of Lao Cai province.
For Mr. Ta Van Tam, Team Leader of the Basic Fire Prevention and Fighting Team of Unico Global YB Co., Ltd., each drill is considered a real situation.
The first 5 minutes determine about 80% of the fire control ability. If handled correctly from the beginning, it will greatly limit damage to people and property" - Mr. Tam shared.
According to Mr. Tam, when an incident occurs, the most important thing is that the commander must remain calm. The first thing is to cut off electricity in the fire area, guide workers to escape according to procedures, avoid jostling, and then deploy forces to approach the fire with on-site fire fighting equipment.
Those seemingly simple operations are practiced many times to become reflexes of each member of the grassroots fire prevention and fighting team.
From passive to active
Lao Cai currently has 7 industrial parks established and 8 industrial parks in the 2021-2030 planning and 2 industrial parks oriented for development after 2030. Along with the speed of industrialization, the number of businesses, machinery, raw materials and workers concentrated is increasing, leading to the risk of fire and explosion always existing.
In particular, many businesses operate in the fields of metallurgy, chemicals, wood processing or industrial production with continuous machinery systems, using many flammable materials.
Mr. Do Viet Bach - Head of the Management Board of Industrial Parks of Lao Cai province - said that fire prevention and fighting safety is always identified as a prerequisite for maintaining production activities and creating trust with investors. Just a small fire incident if not handled promptly can cause great damage, disrupting the production line, affecting the supply chain of businesses as well as the whole province.
Real-world surveys at many businesses show that fire prevention and fighting work no longer stops at equipping fire extinguishers or building response plans on paper. Instead, many units maintain periodic drills, review fire alarm systems, automatic fire fighting, check power sources, and build grassroots forces capable of handling from the first minutes.
According to Mr. Bui Duc Lam, Director of the Wood Production Factory of Kim Gia Trading and Production Joint Stock Company (Southern Industrial Park), the enterprise regularly propagates to workers to recognize the risk of fire and explosion right at their workplace.
Lieutenant Colonel Le Hong Giang, Head of the Fire Prevention and Fighting Team, Fire and Rescue Police Department of Lao Cai Provincial Police, also shared that functional forces regularly inspect production facilities, guide businesses to ensure that fire alarm and fire fighting systems operate 24/24 hours, and at the same time train grassroots fire prevention and fighting forces to proficiently use on-site vehicles.
In addition to requiring business leaders to fully implement fire prevention and fighting regulations, we especially focus on improving situation handling skills for on-site forces. This is a force that plays a decisive role in controlling the fire before professional forces are present" - Senior Lieutenant Colonel Giang said.
