U.S.-India SCCP Workshop focused on tall building fire safety.

Press Release Summary:



Held in New Delhi, India on November 4, ANSI convened the first in a series of workshops to be held under U.S.-India Standards and Conformance Cooperation Program that focused on improving codes and standards for fire safety in tall buildings. Approximately 30 representatives of U.S./Indian organizations participated in discussions pertaining to fire safety principles, role of safety standards, lessons learned from tall building fires, and fire safety infrastructure development.



Original Press Release:



ANSI Convenes First U.S.-India SCCP Workshop in New Delhi



Letter of Support from Congressional U.S. -India Caucus Underscores Endorsement from Public Sector

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), in cooperation with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), convened the first in a series of workshops to be held under the U.S.-India Standards and Conformance Cooperation Program (SCCP). The workshop, held at the Hotel Le Meridien in New Delhi on November 4, 2010, focused on improving codes and standards for fire safety in tall buildings.

Co-sponsored by Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the event marks the first sector-specific workshop carried out under the U.S. -India SCCP. The SCCP is a cooperative initiative launched in March 2009 to improve market access and increase trade between the United States and India by boosting cooperation on standards and conformance issues.

In his opening remarks, Secretary Rajiv Agarwal of the Indian Ministry of Consumer Affairs stressed the need for fire safety standards that meet the needs of India's growing cities, and the common experiences of the U.S. and India in protecting human safety. Additional opening remarks were provided by Alindra Chandra, additional director general of BIS; Blair Hall, minister-counselor for economics, environment, science, and technology at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi; Om Prakash, fire advisor at the Ministry of Home Affairs; Pritam Banerjee, head of trade and international policy at CII; and Dr. Sarita Nagpal, deputy director general of CII.

Approximately 30 representatives of U.S. and Indian organizations participated in discussions throughout the day on topics such as fire safety principles and the role of safety standards in the U.S. and India, lessons learned from tall building fires, and recommendations for the development of a fire safety infrastructure.

Speakers from the Delhi Fire Services provided an overview of India's practical experiences in preventing and fighting tall building fires, including case studies of incidents where failure to comply with relevant codes or standards resulted in disastrous fires. UL also provided an introduction to their research and development activities in the area of fire safety.

A discussion of the relevant codes and standards in place in the U.S. and India included presentations from Honeywell Fire Systems, on behalf of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and BIS.

Finally, a panel discussion was moderated by Gus Schaefer, senior vice president and safety officer at UL, and included speakers from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and BIS. Specific topics of the discussion included potential training to help fire officials and the construction industry understand the requirements of effective codes and standards for tall buildings.

In addition to the workshop discussions, ANSI was pleased to read aloud a letter of support for the U.S. -India SCCP from Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), co-chair of the Congressional U.S. -India Caucus, to the workshop participants. The full letter can be viewed here.

For more information, visit www.StandardsPortal.org/us-indiasccp. Questions can be directed to Leslie McDermott, ANSI program administrator for regional and bilateral affairs (lmcdermott@ansi.org; 202-331-3626).

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