12-hour shifts, instead of 24-hour ones for firemen from next month

KUALA TERENGGANU: The nation's 14,000-strong regular firemen will work 12-hour shifts from next month, said the department's chief.

Fire and Rescue Department director-general Datuk Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim said they would do away with the 24-hour shifts which were no longer suitable as they were labourious and taxing on the firemen who often faced ardous tasks in handling distress calls, emergencies and other operational duties.

For the record, the department handled a total of 98,000 distress calls for last year alone, he said.

"Working 24-hour shifts over a long period takes a toll on the firemen, despite off days in between. Their efficiency, concentration and morale can also be affected. Being humans, there is a limit to how much they can do.

"Our studies have shown that they are more receptive to the 12-hour shifts which also allows them to enjoy better rest, spend better quality time with their families and carry out personal administrative duties.

"The 12-hour shifts has also improved the competency of firemen, with 45 per cent of the 279 fire stations nationwide being able to respond to emergencies within 10 minutes of a distress call," he said at the graduation ceremony for the second batch of 414 auxilliary firemen at the department's academy in Wakaf Tapai.

Wan Mohd Nor added that apart from the 14,000 regular firemen who held permanent jobs, the department also had 1,156 auxiliary and another 13,000 volunteer firemen nationwide.

'These auxiliary and voluntary firemen supplement the regular force, especially in smaller towns and villages where fire stations are scarce. They also help to reduce the overhead and operating costs for the department which at the moment is not allowed to hire permanent staff owing to the government's freeze on new employment," he said.

To bolster the force, Wan Mohd Nor said an additional 300 auxiliary firemen would be trained next year and 300 new fire stations would be built by 2020, with 14 of them being constructed on a fast-track basis at a cost of RM42.9 million by 2017.

"These measures are necessary to better serve the people and improve our response time and efficiency," he said.

On another note, Wan Mohd Nor said Wakaf Tapai had been made the East Coast Logistic Operation Centre to store rescue assets for the monsoon floods.

The department has 608 aluminium boats, 63 fibreglass boats, 16 kevlar boats and 11 amphibious boats.

"Training and preparations have been enhanced with other participating agencies the past few months to provide exposure and increase the skills and readiness. We have equipped ourselves with a few hundred generator sets, floats and safety jackets.

"Among the training provided is water rescue, boat handling and giving emergency first-aid that tests the resilience and capability of the personnel when confronting a difficult or hazardous situation," said Wan Mohd Nor.

He added that the public living in flood-prone areas should be aware of flood preparations and how to tackle such situations.

"Of paramount importance is for the lead agency to properly manage victims during a flood disaster, which needs further sprucing up and required an integrated disaster management mechanism," he said.

Nationwide, he said, the department had ample assets such as 608 aluminium boats, 63 fibreglass boats, 16 kevlar boats and 11 amphibious boats which would be mobilised to affected areas.