Last month, four workers died in an underground parking lot in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, and accidents occurred one after another with a type of fire extinguishing equipment that emits carbon dioxide. It was decided to investigate and summarize the necessary safety measures.
There have been three fatal accidents since December last year regarding fire extinguishing equipment that uses carbon dioxide to extinguish a fire by lowering the oxygen concentration in the air.
Last month, carbon dioxide was released during the ceiling replacement work in the underground parking lot of an apartment in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, killing four workers, and the Metropolitan Police Department is investigating whether there were any problems with safety management during the work. I will.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has set up a study group this month with experts on fires and representatives of local fire departments to study safety measures for carbon dioxide fire extinguishing equipment.
In addition to investigating the installation status of carbon dioxide fire extinguishing equipment nationwide and the extent to which the safety measures required by the guidelines are taken, the cause of accidents that have occurred in the past will be analyzed in detail.
Based on the discussions of the study group, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications will compile the safety measures required of inspection contractors and fire extinguishing equipment installers by the end of this year.