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Public Order
A Building Fire Safety Envoy Scheme trains owners or occupiers of buildings and staff of property management companies as envoys to help promote fire safety in buildings. At the end of 2013, 4,006 envoys had been trained.
The New Projects Division, in collaboration with the Buildings Department and other departments, vets new and amended building plans, including those for the mass transit system, tunnels, bridges and the airport. It also defines the fire protection needs of certain premises. In 2013, the division vetted 13,005 buildings plans.
The Railway Development Strategy Division scrutinises the railway infrastructure's fire safety requirements and carries out acceptance inspections of fire service installations of new railway projects. To encourage consistent fire safety design for new railway infrastructure, the department maintains a set of guidelines incorporating the latest fire safety measures and taking international standards and local experience into account. A bilingual version of the Guidelines on Formulation of Fire Safety Requirements for New Railway Infrastructures was published in September 2013.
The Support Division formulates, reviews and updates departmental policies on improving fire safety in buildings and strengthening public understanding of the need for fire safety. The division collaborated with Radio Television Hong Kong in producing a new series of the weekly radio programme, Happy Daily, in 2013 to enhance public knowledge of fire and ambulance services. A TV programme, aimed at promoting public awareness of domestic fire safety and to prevent hill-fires, was produced in October 2013. At the launch of the 2013 Fire Prevention Campaign, appreciation certificates were presented to village representatives from villages with no hill-fires during the Ching Ming Festival in April 2013.
By the end of 2013, 133,730 people had been trained as Fire Safety Ambassadors (FSA) and 343 community leaders appointed as FSA Honorary Presidents.
The Licensing and Certification Command formulates and enforces fire safety policies and regulations. The command supports the government's 'Be the Smart Regulator' Programme to improve business friendliness, efficiency and transparency without compromising fire safety. It also takes enforcement action against fire hazards in licensed/registered premises to enhance public fire safety.
The Fire Service Installations Task Force monitors the status of fire service installations (FSI) in all buildings and continues to strengthen public awareness of the need to maintain FSI in efficient working order. In 2013, 112,727 FSI inspections were made and 2,313 Fire Hazard Abatement Notices were issued. Legal action was taken against six owners of defective FSI and three FSI contractors for regulatory contraventions.
The department adopts a four-pronged approach (publicity, enforcement, checking and partnership) to tackle fire hazards in old buildings proactively and comprehensively. In 2013, this approach was applied to 23 buildings and it has been applied to a total of 163 target buildings since 2008.
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