Safety Education

Safety experts say education and information in the field of safety and disaster prevention is still scarce in Romania.

România Internațional, 18.03.2016, 14:00

Education and information in the
field of safety and disaster prevention is still scarce in Romania, and the
system for training professionals in charge of enforcing safety regulations is
flawed. On the other hand, by ignoring potential safety threats, many employers
put the lives of their employees at risk, says the vice-president of the Romanian
Association for Safety Technology, Stelian Arion.

Stelian Arion: They don’t see the importance of safety.
Organization leaders have this tendency of cutting spending in this field.
Cutting safety expenses, negligence and other oversights, might lead to a
disaster as big as the one at the Coletiv nightclub. The disaster there was
caused by a sequence of mistakes.

Due to the layout of the building
and the improper materials used inside the club, the 400 people attending a
rock concert on October 30 at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest stood little
chances of surviving the fire, which lasted for 153 seconds. This is one of the
conclusions of a report issued by the Institute for Mining Safety and
Anti-blast Protection in Petrosani. The document retraces every second of the
tragedy that left 64 people dead, caused by the fireworks used in the concert
held by the rock band Goodbye to Gravity. Specialists with the
aforementioned Institute claim the fireworks burned for 15 seconds, enough for
a spark to ignite a soundproofing pillar in the building.

The blaze quickly
engulfed the entire ceiling 9 seconds later, the fire being fuelled by the
ventilation system. 23 second later the heavy smoke clogged the airshafts, and
the two doors of the club were opened. Another 10 seconds later a deadly mix of
gases descended from the ceiling to the public. It took only 72 seconds for the
club to be completely engulfed in a black and yellowing smoke, and 102 seconds
for the flames to reach 1 meter above the floor, very close to the people who
were still inside. At 113 seconds the flames and the smoke started to clear
naturally as a result of the two doors getting open.

These technical
conclusions of the report represent an important piece of evidence in the criminal
investigation involving the Colectiv club owners and the company that set up
the pyrotechnical show that evening, charged with manslaughter. The three are
not the only ones indicted in the case. Military prosecutors with the National
Anti-Corruption Directorate have also prosecuted two employees of the
Inspectorate for Emergency Situations for their illegal certification of the
Colectiv club and for failing to perform routine safety checks. The former
mayor of Bucharest District 4 as well as two employees of the City Hall are
also being accused of abuse of office and accessory to abuse of office
respectively.