THE IMPORTANCE OF FIRE SAFETY
With the increase in construction of high-rise buildings, new smart cities, and coming up of new industrial zones, fire safety continues to be a concern due to the rise in the number of fire accidents. Inadequate planning of buildings, lack of evacuation plans, and insufficient monitoring of fire protection systems leads to major fire accidents that could have been avoided by simply following existing rules and regulations.
Absolute safety from fire is not attainable in practice but most fires are preventable. The safest way to deal with fire is to prevent it.
Fire safety audit in a building is an effective way to assess whether fire safety systems are in place and comply with the National Building Code of India (NBC). Part 4 of NBC covers the requirement for fire prevention, life safety in relation to fire, and fire protection of buildings.
Fire in a Building Can Be Avoided By
- Designing fire safe structures in line with mandatory safety regulations and relevant standards
- Maintaining fire safe practices on a regular basis and carrying out fire risk assessments
- Awareness and regular firefighting and evacuation training to occupants
- Keeping sources of ignition and flammable substances at safe distances
- Ensuring good housekeeping at all times — avoiding build-up of rubbish that could burn
- Installing smoke alarms, fire alarms, or warning bells
- Installing appropriate fire-fighting equipment for putting out fires quickly
- Keeping fire exits and escape routes clearly marked and unobstructed at all times
- Reviewing and updating risk assessments regularly
NBC 2016 Chapter 4 – Three Key Aspects of Fire Safety
Life Safety covers general exit requirements, arrangement of exits, doorways, corridors, internal and external staircases, pressurization of escape routes, refuge areas, fire lifts, emergency escape lighting, and fire detection and warning systems.
Fire Prevention covers classification of buildings, fire zones, types of construction, requirements common to all occupancies, heating/smoke venting, and passive systems.
Fire Protection covers extinguishers, hose reels, dry riser, wet riser, down comer, yard hydrant systems, automatic sprinkler installation, manual and automatic fire alarm systems, and storage tanks and pump systems. Additional features in NBC 2016 include fire protection in car parking facilities, malls and multiplexes, hospitals, hotels, commercial cooking protection, and super high-rise structures over 100 m.
Regular fire safety audits are helpful in finding anomalies/defects in the existing system and give time to get the required changes done to avoid any dreadful fire accident.
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