It is very important to personally increase fire officers' personal safety when performing on-site activities and give them a sense of calling and responsibility for the performance of their jobs. It is also important to socially raise their sense of mission and morale in addition to their job consciousness by improving the welfare environment of fire officers.
firstly, concerning this sector of public administration performance evaluation should be made more equitable and the promotion system should be improved.
The promotion system should also be improved; examinations for promotion to fire sergeant or fire lieutenant should be composed of 50% investigation and 50% testing.
besides the assignment of fire officers to their respective positions should be made efficiently. Favoritism causes an unnecessarily frequent number of new assignments and favoritism towards specific officers should be stopped. When assigning employees to new positions or transferring them, health conditions should be considered.
For the purpose of education training in work should be solidified. Frequent invitations of lecturers and the purchase of training equipment essential for education training should be budget any concerns that deserve support.
The law stipulates that the status of fire officers is unique and different from that of other general public officers. Fire officers are specially designated officers. This means that the government admits the administrative demand for fire officers is different from that of other general officers. Therefore, the quota of fire officers should be separated from the total quota available to local government, and managed as a special, an external quota.
Secondly, concerning the area of economic compensation the system of payment and allowances should be improved. The short budget and finance hinder the rationalization of payment. In this situation, most fire officers are interested in minor matters like various kinds of allowances rather than in demanding a change of the payment system. Policy makers and local governments should pay attention to and improve this matter.
also a hospital specializing in the medical checks and treatment of fire officers should be set up.
Fire officers who have to face and cope with fires find it hard to predict and detect on-site harmful environments require special approaches to medical examinations. There is a lack of a system that specializes in helping fire officers with rare diseases resulting from burns and injury of the respiratory tract. Special treatments such as plastic surgery cost too much, but under the current health insurance, the system of treating an injury sustained while on duty is not well established, and a complete treatment of such an injury is hard to obtain.
Even after finishing the treatment of an injury sustained from on-site activities, fire officers suffer for a long time from post-injury stress syndrome. They are vulnerable to bacterial infection and exposed to a much higher risk of infection. The recognition of this fact makes it more necessary to establish a hospital specializing in the treatment of fire officers and secure a system for stable treatment.
at the same time Government promoted lots of solutions for improvement of work environment and raising the morale such as development of working system, construction of health care and medical system, possibilities of an overtime allowance, expansion of applications to be buried in national graveyard with minimizing burial process, and substantial compensation for a surviving family of died officials, but still insufficient.
For instance, in case of a surviving family receive pension and compensation by 「Law of compensation for died officials on dangerous jobs」, and can lay the dead below the national graveyard by the 1st term of the 5th article of 「Law of establishment and operation of national graveyard」. Injured officials can charge for medical expenses and fees by 「Law of pension of official」.
However, there are 4 problems of these laws. First, 「Law of compensation for died officials on dangerous jobs」 only states damages got from putting out a fire or saving the life on a disaster calamity spot. Second, there is no standard to verify if it's a disease from work by inhalation of toxic gas or other harmful substances. Third, laws relevant limits the application of 'died person while duty' comparative to police or soldiers. Last, there are still in short of systematic medical process and rehabilitation program for injured officials.
Thirdly, concerning the area of physical working conditions with the three-shift system introduced, more fire officers are needed and should be secured. What is particular about the organization of fire fighting is that it should always be in readiness for unpredictable occurrences.
As emergency responses are common for this organization, it is greatly different from other administrative organizations whose universal and usual jobs can be treated in a leisurely manner.
The system of a five-day workweek has been enforced since July, 2007. The system applies to almost all areas of society such as outdoor workers, police officers, prison officers, subway employees, and communication service employees who are all similar to fire officers. In order to comply with the regulation of a 40-hour work week, a system of three or four shifts is in operation. Though fire officers are gradually working on three shifts, current fire officers are reassigned without new ones, which is a self-providing method, not a real three-shift system. Most fire officers still work 24 on and 24 off for 84 hours a week, suffering from overwork. The national government and local governments should hire more people and improve the working system of fire officers.
also safety equipment for individuals should be prepared and deteriorated fire engines should be replaced.
To create a good work environment for fire fighting, high quality equipment and kit matching the physical characteristics of individuals should be secured. It must be required that the record of safety performance test for the fire equipment purchased be submitted. Legal and institutional systems should be prepared for the safety of fire officers. A periodical performance test of fire equipment and safety kits should be institutionally introduced.
The deterioration of overdue fire engines can cause difficulties in putting out fires, which increases the risk of fire officers being exposed to more accidents.