NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 17

Kuwait
Committee makes strides toward
improving fire and life safety in
Middle East, Africa
The Middle East-North Africa (MENA)
Advisory Committee met for the second
time in November in Kuwait and devised
a plan to move fire and life safety
advancements forward in that part of
the world.
Established by NFPA in the spring of
2017, the group, which meets at least
twice a year, is committed to improving
fire and life safety in the two regions,
which have experienced rapid growth
over the past two decades. At the meeting, committee members decided that
the best way to build a safety infrastructure there is to enhance communication
between leaders in the public and
private sectors, specifically those in the
design and construction community.
Fires caused by combustible materials added to newly built skyscrapers
in cities like Dubai, in the United Arab
Emirates, have been widely reported
in recent years. Ultimately, the goal is
to get both sectors to adopt key NFPA
codes and standards, including NFPA 1,
Fire Code; NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®;
and NFPA 13, Installation of Sprinkler
Systems.
The next MENA Advisory Committee
meeting is scheduled to take place in
January at Intersec Dubai, an annual
safety and security conference where
NFPA is participating.

but to working closely with regional
fire prevention offices throughout Latin
America to help AHJs with their enforcement duties," she said. Caledonia said
the Lima workshop also highlighted
a need to educate policymakers in
Latin America about NFPA codes and
standards and the importance of their
adoption.
Israel
'Dig deeper': NFPA president urges continued fire and life safety advancements
at Israeli fire conference
NFPA President and CEO Jim Pauley
delivered the keynote speech at the
annual conference of the Fire Protection Association (FPA) of Israel, held in
December.
In his speech, Pauley highlighted
some of the most significant recent
fires that have struck Israel and elsewhere, including the Grenfell Tower fire
in London and the 2016 wildfires in the
Israeli port city of Haifa. Those events
and others, Pauley said, demonstrate the

need for a continued push for fire and
life safety advancements worldwide.
"My intent is not to be pessimistic
today but rather to point out that our
work is not done, and to lay the foundation for how we can work together
so that we can solve the fire problems
of our times," Pauley told the crowd of
more than 450 fire, electrical, and life
safety professionals.
In recent years, NFPA has built a
strong relationship with Israel. Two years
ago, it helped launch the FPA, which is
led by longtime NFPA member Shmuel
Netanel, who is also an NFPA technical
committee member. While Israel has
made strides in fire and life safety-Israeli
law, for example, requires NFPA codes
and standards be used in the absence
of a local standard-more work needs to
be done, officials say. Residential buildings over 30 stories may lack adequate
inspection and maintenance of fire protection systems, and there's a need for
more robust wildfire prevention efforts.
"Now is not the time to be complacent
or content with what you know," Pauley
concluded. "Dig deeper. Learn more."

Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv (pictured),
share concerns over combustible exterior wall
assemblies with other cities around the world.

Lima, Peru
Latin American enforcers identify ways
NFPA can help
In November, authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) from 10 Latin American
countries met in Lima, Peru, for an
annual workshop hosted by NFPA to
discuss fire prevention, inspection, code
adoption, and other key fire and life
safety topics.
The group came away with several
suggestions for how NFPA can help
them with their goals of improving fire
and life safety in their respective countries. Among their recommendations
was that NFPA provide instructions on
the stakeholders involved and steps
needed for code adoption to occur, and
for NFPA to offer more Spanishlanguage content, including current
codes, standards, and handbooks.
NFPA's director of International Operations, Olga Caledonia, said NFPA is
working to meet these needs. "We are
committed not only to making available
key codes and standards in Spanish

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - January/February 2018
