ANNUAL REPORT 2015 Section 3. Research ‌ and Surveys on Human Rights Conditions and Human Rights Protection Activities 1. Surveys and Research on the Status of Human Rights4) The Commission has conducted the surveys and research hereafter to have a clear comprehension of diverse issues and the status quo of human rights in society. And the reports from the survey results are the basis of the recommendations issued from the Commission. A. Survey on the human rights situation of fire officers Nearly 8,300 fire officers have participated in the survey from March to September. They account for 21.3% of the total number of fire officers across the nation whose duty is to provide relief upon emergency, fight fire, save people, and serve shifts at 119 Situation Rooms. The survey found that the officers could not look after their personal safety and health on duty due to lack of manpower, obsolete and deteriorated equipment, poor on-site disaster response, and insufficient legal basis. In particular, they showed a much higher prevalence rate when it comes to hearing problems, depression, anxiety disorder, and insomnia in comparison to typical workers. Even worse, only one out of eight officers who experienced injury were recognized to have medical care benefits for official duties. Based on the survey results, the research team at the Commission proposed measures for improvement, which include: 1. clarifying the health and safety duties of the government and local governments; 2. ‌recognizing fire officers as a special occupational group with a high risk of injury, and setting new labor, health, and safety standards for them; 3. ‌preventing any disadvantage to an officer who applies for medical care due to official duties or the place he works for; 4. strengthening objectivity and expertise for investigations into the cause of disasters; 5. ‌preventing any economic and judicial disadvantage against fire officers in case of traffic accident on their way to emergency sites or during patient transport; 6. ‌formulating responsive measures when fire officers on duty suffer from any violence caused by ordinary citizens; and 4)Refer to Section 4 for more details of the surveys related to Reinforcing Activities to Promote North Korean Human Rights 42 | National Human Rights Commission of Korea