NOTE: Translated from Russian Via Google Translate from Russian News Source.
Employers are preparing for nuclear war
Companies and employers are obliged to provide their employees with personal protective equipment in case of radiation or chemical contamination – buy gas masks and special kits.
The purpose of Minister of Emergency Situations signed Vladimir Puchkov order which shall take effect from today – the protection of the population in the event of a chemical or radioactive contamination. The whole territory of St. Petersburg is related to a particular (highest) group of civil defense, including may be subjected to radioactive contamination in the event of an accident at Leningrad NPP.
Therefore, 100 percent of the citizens should be provided with gas masks, nearly one in three from St. Petersburg – as “medical personal protective equipment” (kits with special preparations – AI-2).
Primary responsibility for civil defense management Ministry of Emergency Situations holds the employers. They have to buy gas masks to all employees and to create a 5 percent margin. In the absence of necessary warehouses executives have the right to distribute gas masks and kits to the employees themselves, charging them with responsibility for the safety of property. And all this – at their own expense.
Any failure to comply with these requirements qualify as sufficiently serious administrative offenses: legal entities can be fined from 100 to 200 thousand rubles, their managers or other officials – up to 20 thousand.
Comply with the rules, of course, profitable. After all, the easiest mask on the St. Petersburg market is worth 150 rubles, AI-2 kit – 240 rubles. That is to ensure the collective enterprise of 50 people cost about 12 thousand rubles. Given that, according to the Committee on Labor and Social Protection of St. Petersburg, the city has about 3.1 million people, the total business expenses will exceed 700 million rubles.
However, in addition to the purchase of PPE, employers responsibility training for the rules of civil defense, coordination with local administrations comprehensive plans and so on. All this is not so much expensive as troublesome events. For example, the head of each organization or designee other officer (chairman of the committee) must undergo special training and every five years to improve skills in the institutions of Ministry of Emergency Situations (including Training Center in St. Petersburg).
Tuition is free, but you need to enroll and get directions to the district administration. For ordinary employees should conduct classes in the approved curriculum followed consolidate the knowledge and skills in exercises and training.
Employers themselves are convinced that the imposition on them relating to civil defense obligations looks like another attempt to strangling business. “I think that the balance between budget and augmentable pressure on business to be respected, and any mass control of the company in terms of providing personal protection equipment will not be, – says Dmitry Karev, COO outsourcing company Acsour. – To have or not to have personal protection – to solve each employer. In principle, they are inexpensive, and you need to compare the risks, costs, and so on. “
But the managing director of PM NAI Becar in St. Petersburg Natalia Skalandis estimates the cost of providing PPE team of 50 people in about 250 thousand rubles. “A more effective solution would be the introduction of the obligation to provide remedies individually. That is, each citizen should he buy a gas mask and a first aid kit, as drivers are required to have a fire extinguisher and first aid kit car “- believes Natalia Skalandis.
Far greater risks for the new rules are caught recently in disgrace NGOs (non-profit) organizations – NGOs. According to the head of NGO “Human Rights Resource Center” Mary Kanev, civil protection should the State. “Requirements for the acquisition of PPE – an additional burden for organizations which often employs one or a maximum of three employees. In this situation, the pressure on NGOs, perhaps for some it will be the “last straw” in a choice of capacity to implement, for example, charity. According to my practical calculations, the compliance with all the requirements of Rospotrebnadzor, RTN, FEMA, and other agencies Roskomnadzora will cost a total of from 80 to 500 thousand rubles – depending on the number of employees, floor space and other nuances, “- Mrs. Maria Kaniewska.
Meanwhile, the majority of respondents journalist “BaltInfo” Employers could not comment on the new requirements and readiness to fulfill them. “Our specialist is just at a seminar on this issue,” – confessed to the press service of “Imperial Porcelain Factory.”
Experts remind that the procedure adopted by the accumulation of personal protective equipment installed in 1998 and approved by the federal law on the basis of its rules. It is no longer a St. Petersburg company, came under the rink checks, was fined and received a prescription MOE.
Moreover, some companies have tried to challenge the legality of laying the financial burden of providing civil defense business. After ensuring the security of individuals, society and the state, including civil protection, it is the constitutional obligation of the state. But the higher courts found no violation. “Civil defense is organized on the basis of the principle of territorial-production. The disputed legal regulation, rests with the obligations due to the specifics of measures to ensure civil defense against catastrophes, natural disasters, epidemics and to eliminate their consequences, can not be regarded as discriminatory, unconditional and thus violates the constitutional rights of the applicant ” – concluded the Russian Constitutional Court.
Shall come into force from March 16 order reduces the responsibility of public authorities. For example, the previously existing regulations obliged the authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation to provide all children with special protective chambers or masks. Whereas in the new document the younger generation is not mentioned, and governments at all levels are required to purchase PPE primarily for their own employees and employees of subordinate structures. Regional administrations must also provide masks and kits all non-working population, but who, it means the – remains a mystery.
The press service of the North-West Regional Emergency Center is not yet able to comment on the journalist “BaltInfo” procedure for the application of the new order.
