All about the profession of an engineer of security and fire alarm systems

The profession of a security and fire alarm (FSA) engineer is a very important technical specialty and is in great demand in the modern labor market. The position is considered very responsible and requires special knowledge from the employee, on the depth of which not only the performance of fire-fighting systems depends, but also the life of the company's employees.

OPS complexes are installed at many civil and industrial facilities and are the most important electronic and mechanical systems responsible for the safety of workers and the safety of property of enterprises. As a rule, the maintenance of such a system is carried out by several employees at once, including an electrician, a maintenance specialist, an installer and an adjuster, each of whom is responsible only for his own area of ​​work.

At the same time, general control over both the equipment and the actions of technical specialists is assigned to the OPS engineer, who not only coordinates their work, but himself thoroughly understands all the intricacies of the functioning, repair and modernization of signaling systems. Moreover, OPS engineers independently design modern fire alarm systems and control their installation, as well as develop projects for other security mechanisms, including checkpoint complexes and video surveillance systems for enterprises.

The pluses of the specialty include high wages and the prestige of the profession of an engineer, and on the downside - quite difficult training, the need to be well versed in physics, electronics and radio electronics, as well as high moral and material responsibility.

According to the job description, an OPS specialist has a number of functional duties, on the conscientious execution of which the safety of the enterprise depends.

• The OPS engineer is obliged to know well the content of regulatory and methodological documents, regulating the operation, modernization and repair of security and fire complexes, as well as operational video surveillance and communication systems.
• The specialist is obliged be well versed in the structure and functioning of technical means and, if necessary, be able to independently repair any module.
• An engineer must have in-depth knowledge of radio traffic and be able to ensure the protection of the complex from acts of unlawful interference.
• The specialist must be able to make estimates to carry out preventive maintenance and repair work, timely submit applications for the replacement of components and assemblies with an expiring service life and monitor this replacement.
• The duty of the fire safety engineer is to monitor strict adherence to fire safety rules and internal regulations of the enterprise, making remarks to violators with the obligatory notification of the management.
• The engineer is obliged to ensure that the technical passports are filled in correctly. and forms of the serviced equipment and timely make changes to the technical documentation. In addition, the specialist's tasks include the development of progressive fire warning methods and their consistent implementation.
• OPS Engineer should be engaged in improving their qualifications and actively follow the innovative methods of fire alarm systems. The specialist is obliged to take an active part in seminars in this area, as well as attend meetings of the senior management, where, if necessary, he must demand the strict observance of safety and labor protection rules.

In the event of a negligent attitude towards his official duties, which entailed harm to the health of employees or damage to production equipment, the OPS engineer can be brought to both administrative and criminal liability, depending on the degree of harm caused to people, as well as the degree of material damage.

To work as an OPS engineer, persons who have completed training in a higher educational institution of a technical orientation on the bachelor's or specialty system, specializing in "Engineer of security and fire alarm systems" or other related disciplines related to the operation of security systems, as well as young specialists who have graduated magistracy.

After graduating from the university, graduates can be hired for the position of an OPS engineer without a requirement for length of service, and after working in this specialty for 3 years, the employee is assigned category III. After working as an engineer of the III category for more than 3 years, the specialist is assigned the II category, and after another 3 years - the first.