There are increasing initiatives in Poland aimed at expanding the network of professional, fully equipped shelters and hideouts. This issue is being addressed by local governments, among others, who are preparing their own packages of actions and investments. Work is also underway on legislation that will clarify the rules and guidelines regarding the construction of such facilities, technical requirements, and financing. As interest in the subject grows, the Military University of Technology is launching the first study program in Poland dedicated to shelters and hideouts starting in October.
According to data from the State Fire Service, over 300,000 people can hide in shelters in Poland (in about 2,000 facilities), with nearly 9,000 hideouts for over 1.1 million people, and a further 224,000 temporary shelter sites. By definition, a shelter is a structurally sealed, hermetic structure providing protection for people and property against various damaging factors acting from all sides. A hideout, on the other hand, is non-hermetic and equipped with the simplest installations. Temporary shelter sites are buildings without special resistance and operating requirements, protecting against some means of attack and the effects of extreme weather phenomena – and these are the most common in Poland.
“During the design stage of a shelter, it should be determined which factors such a facility is to protect against,” says Lt. Col. Bartłomiej Pieńko, Ph.D., Eng., of the Military University of Technology’s Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geodesy. “In our fortification laboratory, there is filter ventilation, emergency power supply, and the possibility of simulating an external attack. So you can learn how to function in case of external danger. In addition, there will be the opportunity to understand individual functional elements, the entrance to the shelter, and technical elements such as filter-fan rooms or generator rooms.”
Guidelines issued by the Chief of Civil Defense in 2018 state that population protection planning should secure places in protective buildings and shelters for at least 25% of the population registered in the administrative area of a given city. However, only 31% of village mayors, town mayors, and city presidents have taken care of this in local governments audited by the Supreme Audit Office. The report pointed to a lack of basic regulations indicating who is responsible for managing protective buildings, defining their necessary equipment and the technical requirements they must meet, or even defining what a shelter is.
This, however, is gradually changing. In August, the Permanent Committee of the Council of Ministers accepted and forwarded for further government work a draft law prepared by the Ministry of the Interior and Administration on population protection and civil defense. An important and socially expected part of the regulation concerns collective protection facilities, namely protective buildings – shelters, hideouts, and places for temporary shelter. This draft law creates a system for the registration, maintenance and construction of shelters and temporary hideouts for the needs of the population, providing significant financial support for these initiatives.
“Shelters should be built where there is a real threat of potential attacks, including industrial catastrophes, industrial accidents, so that both the population and people working in such places can be protected from possible consequences of such events. Shelters should be built in accordance with the adopted building system, based on Polish law,” explains Lt. Col. Bartłomiej Pieńko, Ph.D., Eng.
Population protection authorities in their area of local jurisdiction plan the necessary number and capacity of collective protection facilities, taking into account the number of people living in a given area and the types of threats expected. The Chief Commandant of the State Fire Service will maintain a Central Registry of Collective Protection Facilities, which will include information on existing shelters and hideouts, planned sites for the organization of temporary hideouts, potentially useful facilities for adapting to temporary hideouts, and shielding facilities, and will also divide them into public and non-public facilities. The regulations also provide that population protection authorities will be able to transfer financial resources to the owners or managers of buildings for construction, adaptation, or preparation of such facilities for use.
The Left party, for its part, has proposed its own bill, referred to as the “minor shelter law,” which includes, among other things, facilitation for people wanting to build a household shelter or hideout. Protective buildings with a usable area of up to 35 square meters could be built on a “notification” basis, while the demolition of existing shelters and hideouts would be made more difficult.
Local governments are also taking initiatives in this area. In March, the capital city announced the “Warszawa Protects” program, including a package of actions and investments in civil population protection in crisis situations and adaptation of the city to threats. Among these actions is the organization of shelter places, securing access to water, and educating residents about security. Plans also include the identification and adaptation of facilities that will serve as, for example, substitute hospital sites during a threat. From an inventory conducted in 2022, the capital has at least 7 million square meters of space that could serve as hideouts for the population.
With growing interest in the issue of protective buildings, the Military University of Technology is launching the first postgraduate studies in Poland this October, related to the preparation and operation of shelters and hideouts for the population.
“The studies are intended for people who are involved in the preparation, design, maintenance, or planning of such facilities in the system of population protection in Poland,” says a representative of the Military University of Technology.
The classes will be led by experts from the Polish School of Fortifications. The curriculum allows students to familiarize themselves with practical and theoretical aspects of protective objects used at the level of state and local administration and privately. The thematic range includes topics such as legal basics of the operation of protective objects, functional and spatial solutions for shelters and hideouts, strengthening building structures, fire safety and protection in protective buildings, but also contemporary threats and means of attack, evacuation in population protection, and rescue and protection of the population.
Organizational and legal issues, design, and operation in the field of fortification construction will be discussed based on the innovative educational base of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geodesy. It includes a fortification laboratory, which is a fully equipped shelter.
“You will be able to familiarize yourself with the possibilities of shelter function in case an external threat exists from an outside attack or industrial disaster,” emphasizes Lt. Col. Bartłomiej Pieńko, Ph.D., Eng. “We have applied an innovative solution for the entrance to the shelter because, in addition to a clean entrance, we have what we call a sanitary procedure node, where you can simulate entering from a dirty environment, with full disinfection and then entering the shelter.”
