Global and domestic Czech experience shows the growing importance of safety
management at the beginning of the 21st century. Area safety issues are currently well solved at the state and regional level in the Czech Republic, but there are still missing in the most developing strategic micro-regional documents. The aim of the paper is to define the term "area safety management" at the micro-regional
level and its "safety system", including basic elements and relations among them

Horčička, Aleš

English

Digital Library of the University of Pardubice

 82 SAFETY MANAGEMENT AT THE (MICRO)REGIONAL LEVEL Aleš Horčička   University of Pardubice, Faculty of Economics and Administration, Institute of Economy and Management  Abstract: Global and domestic Czech experience shows the growing importance of safety management at the beginning of the 21st century. Area safety issues are currently well solved at the state and regional level in the Czech Republic, but there are still missing in the most developing strategic micro-regional documents.  The aim of the paper is to define the term “area safety management” at the micro-regional level and its “safety system”, including basic elements and relations among them.  Keywords: Safety management; micro-regions; safety system; regional safety actors; cooperation.  1. Introduction  Experience has shown the growing importance of area safety management at the beginning of the 21st century. Safety issues are highlighted after the demise of the bipolar division of the world and the influence of globalization as an inconsistent phenomenon. On the one hand, the today´s world is – thanks to the results of scientific and technological development – still closer communication, transportation, economically and culturally linked. On the other hand, globalization can lead to chaos and promote any danger in the world.  These are the reasons why area safety management is today so important not only at the state and regional level, but also in micro-regions. The Czech Republic as a whole (sovereign state) and all its regions and micro-regions have the duty to care for the welfare of its residents. All democratic tools are used for it. Area safety management, which can be defined as a set of activities carried out especially by territorial units in order to prevent the safety threats or minimize their consequences if the threat is filled [3], is one of the most important activities for states and regions. 2. Need for system safety in micro-regions There is no need to doubt that area safety ensuring should always be the systemic matter to be successful. All subjects on the territory must today ensure the safety thanks to effective mutual coordination (e.g. professional support from the external experts). Efforts to ensure safety area must respect the three basic elements:  · there is a direct causal link between the safety and threats from the outsider;  · ensuring the area safety is usually expensive, even though it often may not be immediately visible;  · risk resources - a dangerous entities of world chaos - are poorly visible and interventions against them are difficult.  However, micro-regional safety system has not been defined yet.    83 3. Construction of functional micro-regional safety system  3.1. General characteristics of the micro-regional safety system  In any case, safety system should reflect local traditions, experience and the European and experience. The micro-regional safety system must be based on the Czech state safety system, respect the constitutional order and related legislation. It constitutes an institutional tool for creation and implementation of the safety policy in response to the activities of national and European safety institutions.  3.2. Basic elements of the micro-regional safety system Based on similar experience from neighboring micro-regions [4, 5, 6], safety system in micro-regions should be composed of elements having respective competence within the laws.  There are legislative, executive and judiciary elements, as well as legal and individual persons who have responsibility for ensuring area safety in the Czech Republic. The functional micro-regional safety system should include the following elements, which can be described as “regional safety actors”:  Fig. 1: Basic elements of the micro-regional safety system (adjusted according to [4, 5, 6]) 3.2.1. Role of integrated rescue system Integrated rescue system consists of the three basic components: · fire brigade; · emergency medical services; · Czech Police. Integrated rescue system is created by law to [7] in cases of joint activities in emergencies. In emergencies, fire brigades and emergency medical services are responsible for emergency and clean up operations. The role of the Czech Police is a bit specific. Its mission is to ensure public order and traffic in emergencies.  3.2.2. Role of emergency services  Emergency services provide in emergencies:  84 · telecommunications services; · water supplies; · functionality of sewer systems; · power supplies; · gas supplies; · heat supplies. 3.2.3. Role of selected local government bodies and self-government bodies Local government bodies provide in emergencies: · road maintenance; · social safety; · quick information about the relevant situation. The role of self-government bodies (local authorities) in regions, respectively in micro-regions, lies in [2] policy and executive activities of self-governing municipal bodies in the area of local development, their initiation activities in dealing with micro-issues and defining micro-programs and activities and their participation in the implementation of regional programs. Regions and micro-regions process development strategies to identify needs, determine the direction of development, development activities and strategic decision-making. The task of city management can be formulated in this field as follows [1]:  · to protect the lives and health of citizens and not to allow degradation of their life;  · to protect property, environmental and cultural values in the existence of an emergency;  · to participate in creating a safe space and to ensure sustainable development by eliminating the risks, effective and efficient solution of possible emergency situations.  3.2.4. Role of selected legal persons and selected individuals Also selected legal persons (businesses, social organizations) and selected individuals (engineers, statics, pilots, mountaineers or speleologists) contribute to ensuring area safety in accordance with the law within their capabilities.  They perform compulsory and voluntary actions to protect values and human and civil rights. 3.3. Some suggestions for possible cooperation among regional safety actors at the micro-regional level  In order to quality ensure the area safety (municipality, micro-region, region), it is important to ensure effective cooperation among all elements involved in the exercise of services (concentration of certain services to certain places, increasing quality, good directing funds to training, etc.).  The cooperation could include (so-called “Ten recommendations for successful cooperation”): · identification of area specifics;  · identification of main threats and risks for the area; · organization of preventive activities and events;  · mutual support in emergencies and after them; · exchange of experience regarding emergencies;  85 · common preparation of defense and civil emergency planning; · communication with civil sector (public relations before, in and after emergencies); · application of the results of scientific and technological development in the field of safety management; · preparation of “safety documentation“for entry into developing strategic micro-regional documents; · clear definition of cooperation principles (e. g. foundation of “safety cluster”). 4. Conclusion  It is clear that in ensuring area safety must be involved all the bodies from the whole territory. It should be borne in mind that at the beginning of the 21st century there are many serious threats, whether natural or human origin, which may seriously affect life in the region or micro-region.  In the opinion of the author, attention should be concentrated to micro-regions as soon as possible to begin to work systematically towards the creation of safety systems and safety policies in their territories, which would be compatible with safety systems and strategies in regions, in the Czech Republic and in the European Union, taking into account the specifics of each area. The output of the article offers some ideas (“ten recommendations”) for quality working of a safety system and cooperation among all the regional safety actors that has emerged from the current active cooperation with the micro-regions leaders.  References: [1] HORÁK, R.; KRČ, M.; ONDRUŠ, R.; DANIELOVÁ, L. Průvodce krizovým řízením pro veřejnou správu. Praha: Linde, a.s., 2004 [2] REKTOŘÍK, J. a kol. Krizový management ve veřejné správě – teorie a praxe. Praha: Ekopress, s.r.o., 2004 [3] Sborník z konference Bezpečnost v podmínkách organizací a institucí ČR. Praha: Soukromá vysoká škola ekonomických studií, s.r.o., 2005 [4] Strategický plán rozvoje a obnovy mikroregionu Holicko. Pardubice: Regionální rozvojová agentura Pardubického kraje, 2001 [5]  Strategický plán rozvoje a obnovy mikroregionu Chrudimsko. Pardubice: Regionální rozvojová agentura Pardubického kraje, 2001 [6] Strategický plán rozvoje a obnovy mikroregionu Vysokomýtsko. Pardubice: Regionální rozvojová agentura Pardubického kraje, 2001  [7] Zákon č. 239/2000 Sb., o integrovaném záchranném systému  Contact address:  Ing. Aleš Horčička Institute of Economy and Management Faculty of Economics and Administration University of Pardubice Studentská 84, 532 10 Pardubice 2 E-mail: ales.horcicka@upce.cz  Phone: +420 466 03 6163 

239/2000 Sb., o integrovaném záchranném systému Contact address: Ing. Aleš Horčička Institute of Economy and

a kol. Krizový management ve veřejné správě – teorie a praxe. Praha: Ekopress, s.r.o.,

Průvodce krizovým řízením pro veřejnou správu.

Sborník z konference Bezpečnost v podmínkách organizací a institucí ČR. Praha: Soukromá vysoká škola ekonomických studií, s.r.o.,

Strategický plán rozvoje a obnovy mikroregionu Chrudimsko. Pardubice: Regionální rozvojová agentura Pardubického kraje,

Strategický plán rozvoje a obnovy mikroregionu Holicko. Pardubice: Regionální rozvojová agentura Pardubického kraje,

Strategický plán rozvoje a obnovy mikroregionu Vysokomýtsko. Pardubice: Regionální rozvojová agentura Pardubického kraje,

Safety management at the (micro)regional level

Safety management at the (micro)regional level

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