Founded in 1953, UMAN, the Italian Association of Security and Fire-fighting Companies, a member of Anima Confindustria, carries out a liaison function with public institutions, contributing to the development of rules and regulations able to cope with the rapidly evolving market. Their presence at SICUREZZA, therefore, will provide exhibitors and visitors with an opportunity to stay up-to-date on new trends and regulations in the industry. We have therefore asked Roberto Borraccino, President of UMAN, whose mandate has been unanimously reaffirmed for the period 2023-2024, for some insights into the association's guidelines for these coming years.

The market scenario is continually evolving, between integration into larger systems and increasing digitalisation. In this context and in relation to the recently concluded, and now extended mandate, what are UMAN's prospects for the next two years?

"This historic moment, characterised by rapid evolution, sees UMAN engaged in addressing issues of particular relevance such as the introduction of digitalisation in the fire-fighting field and the application of BIM methodology in the design phases. Highly topical issues that UMAN has decided to address in order to contribute to raising current security levels in both industrial and civil sectors. It is worth mentioning that in order to achieve these goals, the Professional Fire Protection Engineering Section was recently established within our Association, which joins the UMAN groups and will enable the sharing of experiences between the industry and fire protection engineers.

In any case, the Association will continue its objective of qualifying and enhancing the entire sector, contributing to the transparency of the regulatory framework and raising the awareness of professionals and public opinion on issues related to fire prevention and safety".

Training and regulations are two relevant topics for the fire-fighting sector. How to stay up-to-date and what role does UMAN play in this respect?

In view of the activities carried out in past years, the topic of training remains central on the association's agenda. UMAN remains committed to promoting the culture of safety in order to raise awareness of fire prevention and fire safety issues among professionals and the public, maintaining close cooperation with the National Fire Brigade Corps and the Ministry of the Interior.

For the professional training of fire-fighting technicians, in order to support operators in the sector, the Association has implemented the ‘UMAN Training Centres’ that offer training courses in preparation for both the qualification introduced by the famous Control Decree and voluntary third-party certification. The latter initiative (launched in past years by UMAN) allows fire-fighting technicians to certify their skills with an accredited certification body such as ICIM SpA.