Firefighters have the rights to be respected in our society because they protect citizen's safety. But when they are putting out a fire, if a door or other furniture in the building is destroyed, the firefighters have to pay for repair out of their own pocket. This low treatment and the injuries they suffer from malfunctioning equipment, reported on the media, have shocked Koreans. In view of this situation, many are of the opinion that the status of the firefighters should be improved and the government should step in to strengthen the rights of firefighters. What is the current status of firefighters and what laws should be passed to protect them?
Government support for firefighters is very low today. Compared to the average percentage of government support in the OECD countries of 67 percent, it is widely known that Korea only supports them to the tune of 1-2 percent. It is also a matter of record that the equipment and the food given to Korean firefighters are far inferior to that provided in other countries. Firefighters risk their lives to protect other people, but Korean firefighters are in a situation where they do not even get quality equipment support and good food.
Because of this low level of support, the working status of firefighters is getting worse. Also, firefighters have much more serious health issues than the normal working person. If they get injured in their work, they have to pay for their treatment with their own money. According to the result of an investigation, firefighters suffer from health conditions, lack of human resources and equipment issues. Especially as regards health, they experience insomnia, sleeping disorder, tiredness, hearing disorder and anxiety disorder 15-20 times more than normal working person.
To prevent this situation, in July 2016, members of the National Assembly suggested a law called 'swiping the tears of firefighters'. The important aspect of this law is to turn the firefighters status into a national position. Currently, 98.9 percent of firefighters are tied to districts and only 1.2 percent of firefighters have a national position. Since district-linked firefighters have different equipment and number of them usually have to buy their equipment with their own money. To solve this problem, the law suggested turning all district-linked firefighters to a national force to be supported out of the national budget. However, the law has not passed for over two years.
Not only is the government support getting low, but people’s attitude towards firefighters is turning bad as well. Last year, a building door broke down while a firefighter tried to put out the fire. The building owner asked the firefighter to pay for repairing the door. I may seem to be a rare case, but it is not. Last year, these types of incidents happened over 20 times at a huge financial cost to firefighters. There are currently no laws that protect firefighters, so they have to pay to repair the damage they provoke. Furthermore, no law protects them against malicious reports by citizens claiming they are being disturbed in their work.
Firefighters who are given the job of protecting other people’s life are entitled to be well treated, receive good equipment, food and full support. They should also be immune from false reports. We have to reflect on how we treat those who protect our lives. Firefighters have human rights as well.
