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Original research article, fire safety risk assessment of workplace facilities: a case study.

• 1 Architectural Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
• 2 Interdisciplinary Research Center for Smart Mobility and Logistics, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
• 3 Department of ICT and Natural Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Ålesund, Norway

Workplace facilities are organizational capital assets, which entail high risks of fire occurrences. The fire risks increase based on occupants’ behaviors, lack of awareness and poor workspaces safety management. Thus, fire safety risk assessment is vital to raise awareness about workplace fire-safety culture, and to train employees on effective fire response requirements and methods. The literature lacks studies focusing on managing fire safety at the workplace, and limiting occupants dispossessed behaviors. This research presents a case study, which demonstrates the utilization of risk assessment for fire safety prevention in a workplace facility. Relevant literature is synthesized for identifying causes of fire, various propagation hazards, control measures to develop a risk assessment tool based on fire codes. The codes were analyzed by describing the requirements for fire safety precautionary measures, followed by an exemplary assessment. This research aims to provide professional practice and knowledge on the fire risk assessment methodology, serving safety professionals, and facilities managers. It serves to raise awareness on the causes of fire, consequences of fire events, and mitigation strategies in workplace facilities, for the purpose of protecting users’ lives and business properties against fires.

Introduction

Office workplace.

An office building is a form of construction, which provides a workplace for conducting business activities, such as administration, consulting services and client-related services ( Aronoff and Kaplan, 1995 ). As in any built-environment, fires could occur in office properties, due to several causes ( McDermott et al., 2010 ; Campbell, 2013 ; Shang et al., 2013 ). The ramifications of fire occurrence in office properties could be catastrophic, in several dimensions. Fire events have destructive effects on business organizations. Fires could result in serious damages to property, and loss of valuable assets, documents, and data ( Sun and Luo, 2014 ). These consequences cause organizations to lose productive time for business operations, and hence incur financial losses. Fires also have destructive effects on the organizational staff, fire fighters and the public, due to the injuries and fatalities that could happen ( Hall, 2014 ). Thus, facilities managers of office properties should be prepared to conduct regular fire risk assessments, to identify the continually emerging hazards, due to users’ activities, design and operation of the workplace, and to safeguard against fire occurrence. The term hazard is used to describe any source or condition that would result in potential harm to people or properties ( Furness and Muckett, 2007 ). Fire risk assessment procedures comprise the systematic and regular identification of the available fire hazards that could harm the users of office properties, and devising means to reduce these hazards, to save lives and businesses ( Home Office, 2006 ; London Fire Brigade, 2020 ). These procedures would ultimately result in reducing the probability of fire occurrence and guarding against its consequences ( Sun and Luo, 2014 ). Watts and Hall (2016) defined risk assessment as “the process of establishing information regarding acceptable levels of a risk and/or levels of risk for an individual, group, society, or the environment”. They have discussed the lack of availability of a universal approach for fire risk assessment, as the relativity of compromises and complexity of the processes differ in acceptance by its users.

Behavioral-Based Fire Safety for the Workplace

Behavioral-based safety (BBS) is the process of building a strong collaboration among the workplace users, in an attempt to raise awareness and behavioral capacity upon fire safety. Figure 1 presents the strategies and consequences to be considered for behavioral based fire safety practices. It is focusing on workplace users’ actions and behaviors. There have been different approaches undertaking the fire risk assessment of buildings. Within literature, several examples have been presented as research case studies. Brzezińska and Bryant (2020) conducted research utilizing fire strategy risk index to benchmark key performance objectives. The significant considerations for fire risk strategy assessment covered in their study comprised of control of ignition sources, combustibles, compartmentation, smoke control, detection and suppression systems, field service intervention and firefighting. Danzi et al. (2021) proposed a different fire safety assessment approach that is inclusive of occupants’ behaviors, a methodology named fire risk assessment method for enterprises. The proposed method is less time consuming than computational fluid dynamics approaches. Koutsomarkos et al. (2021) discussed the need for simplicity of fire risk indexing, where more complex approaches are deemed less transparent, and non-feasible for its users. Therefore, it is imperative to comprehend the various causes of fire, types of combustibles in office properties. Following a synthesis of the reviewed literature the authors identified three main research questions, as an objective of this study:

FIGURE 1 . Behavioral based fire safety practices.

RQ1) How did the literature discuss behavioral fire safety practices in the context of workplace facilities?

RQ2) What are the fire protection and prevention measures, in the codes, that must be considered in office facilities?

RQ3) How to inspect and assess the behavioral fire safety in workplace office facilities?

Thus, this study aims to develop a risk assessment tool for assessing the compliance level for providing and maintaining compulsory fire protection and prevention requirements in office properties, for the purpose of mitigating fire occurrence. The study also presents a case study to assess the provision and maintenance of fire safety requirements, utilizing the developed risk assessment tool. This paper is of significant value to design professionals, real estate developers and owners, and facilities managers, through raising awareness about the causes of fire, consequences of fire events, and mitigation strategies in office properties. This research provides a comprehensive checklist for conducting periodic fire risk assessments of office buildings.

Research Methodology

This research comprised of a systematic set of activities. These activities conducted to accomplish the objectives of this research:

Synthesizing the relevant published literature in the domain of fire safety in office properties, to identify the various types of combustible contents and causes of fire, and the set of factors that render office properties as a high risk facilities in fire events ( Greenwald, 1991 ; Home Office, 2006 ; Hassanain, 2008 ; Thauvoye et al., 2008 ; Zalok et al., 2008 ; McDermott et al., 2010 ; Kuligowski and Hoskins, 2011 ; Campbell, 2013 ; Shang et al., 2013 ; Khorasani et al., 2014 ; Sun and Luo, 2014 ; The Building Regulation, 2019 ; London Fire Brigade, 2020 ).

Analyzing the fire codes to describe the pertinent requirements for fire safety precautionary measures, for office properties ( International Fire Code, 2018 ; National Fire Protection Association 10, 2018 ; National Fire Protection Association 13, 2019 ; National Fire Protection Association 70, 2020 ; National Fire Protection Association 72, 2019 ; National Fire Protection Association 78, 2020 ; National Fire Protection Association 92, 2018 ; National Fire Protection Association 101, 2021 ).

Developing a fire code-risk assessment tool to assess the compliance level for providing and maintaining fire safety code requirements in office properties, for the purpose of mitigating fire occurrence. The risk assessment tool includes 36 precautionary fire measures, classified under six groups, namely exits, fire protection systems, housekeeping measures, electrical wiring and installations, miscellaneous measures for fire prevention and hazardous materials.

Utilizing the developed fire code-risk assessment tool, in a case study to assess the provision and maintenance of fire safety requirements. The case study required conducting a walkthrough inspection in an office building located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

Reporting the findings of the walkthrough inspection in the case study building, and developing a series of corrective actions to upgrade the status of fire safety in the case study office building.

Literature Review

A narrative review of the literature has been utilized to analyze the following dimensions:

Combustible Contents and Causes of Fire in Office Properties

Besides administration, office properties can be used for conducting several activities, such as typing, drafting, filing, book-keeping, and archiving ( The Building Regulation, 2019 ). Thus, fire can take place in these properties, causing injuries, fatalities, and property damages, due to various ignition causes. These causes of ignition include:

Malfunction of cooking equipment: due to electrical faults, while being unattended during their use. These are equipment, such as toasters, microwaves, water heaters and coffee machines, in kitchenettes, could draw excessive current, which causes the equipment to overheat, and cause a fire ( Greenwald, 1991 ).

Malfunction of electrical office equipment: due to electrical faults, lack of regular servicing or misuse. Examples of these equipment include computers, photocopiers, printers, and paper shredders ( The Building Regulation, 2019 ).

Accumulations of flammable paper-based products: placed in adjacent locations to heat sources. These products include files, papers, and books ( Khorasani et al., 2014 ).

Overloaded electrical circuits: due to the need to power multiple office equipment using a limited number of electrical power sockets ( Sun and Luo, 2014 ).

Defective lighting fixtures: such as flickering fluorescent bulbs, where the ballasts, which regulate the flow of current to the lighting fixture cease to function properly. This condition would usually cause the ballasts to overheat and cause a fire ( Hassanain, 2008 ).

Careless disposal of smoking materials: heated tobacco products, in addition to lighters and matches could cause fire if they became in contact with flammable materials, such as paper-product, floor finish, or upholstered furniture at the office ( Campbell, 2013 ).

Space heating equipment: including central heating systems and portable heaters. This heating equipment could cause fires, if they came into close contract with combustible contents in the building ( Campbell, 2013 ).

Open fire doors: that could allow flames and smoke to spread through the building and prevent safe egress from the building during fire events ( McDermott et al., 2010 ).

Office Properties as High-Risk Facilities in Fire Events

Fire risk assessment involves comprehending the factors that contribute to fire occurrence in any given facility ( London Fire Brigade, 2020 ). Design professionals, business owners and facility managers need to realize that it is not feasible for office properties to operate without having some potential fire hazards on the premises. Office properties are considered a high-risk facility type, in fire events, due to several factors. These factors include:

The availability of large number of occupants: office properties, are non-domestic, commercial facilities. They are occupied by large number of occupants, within condensed floor layouts. These occupants could have different mobility levels, and perceptions to hazards that could cause fires. They could be also performing their duties in different locations of the workplace. These facilities could be also accessible by the public, who could be unfamiliar with the layout of the floor plan of the building ( Home Office, 2006 ). This large number of users could pose significant challenges during the evacuation from the building, due to fire emergencies ( Kuligowski and Hoskins, 2011 ). The risk is even higher, in the absence of measures for managing emergency evacuations, due to congestion at the main exits ( Shang et al., 2013 ; London Fire Brigade, 2020 ).

The availabilities of large amount of combustibles: When a fire takes place, the amount of energy that is released, and the duration of burning depend on the mass of the combustibles, or the fire load in the building ( Thauvoye et al., 2008 ; Zalok et al., 2008 ). The fire load usually found in office buildings include papers, files, books, office appliances, electrical equipment, furniture, finishes, plastic and rubber products, partitions ( Sun and Luo, 2014 ), chemicals for photocopiers, and decorations ( Home Office, 2006 ). Large amounts these combustibles are usually present, due to the diversity of activities taking place, and the large number of occupants availably in office properties.

Lack of proper housekeeping measures: Combustible materials, such as cleaning products need to be properly stored. Waste products, such as shredded papers, and packaging materials need to be removed from the premises, on a daily basis. Accumulation of these combustibles could significantly add the fire load in the building, and hence, add to the severity of the fire ( Home Office, 2006 ).

Fire Protection and Prevention Measures in Office Properties

Insufficient fire risk assessment practices in office properties could result in overlooking hazardous conditions that lead to the development of fires. Such fires would result in business interruptions, and hence failure to satisfy business obligations, which would ultimately result in economic losses ( Furness and Muckett, 2007 ). Active and passive fire protection and prevention measures, as mandated by fire codes, could significantly reduce fire hazards ( Troitzsch, 2016 ). Active fire protection measures employ fire detection and notification systems, such as smoke detectors and alarm systems. These active measures also include suppression systems, such as portable extinguishers and automatic sprinkler systems ( Chow, 2005 ). Passive fire protection measures employ the use of flame-resistant systems, such as fire-rated doors, walls, floors and ceilings. Passive measures also include the utilization of flame-retardant materials, for the containment of flames and smoke ( Landucci et al., 2009 ). The measures are illustrated in Figure 2 .

FIGURE 2 . Behavioural based risk assesment tool for fire safety in workplace facilities.

The provision and upkeep of adequate number of exits, through which building users can escape from the building, is a vital measure for preserving lives during fire events ( National Fire Protection Association 101, 2002 ). Facilities managers should ensure that the building layout is not modified in a way that reduces the number of exits, or the capacity of the corridors and exit points. Further, design professionals should ensure that exit routs are continuous from the building’s entry point till the discharge point, to the outside of the building, and that exit doors lead directly to a public space. They should also ensure that the minimum width for any corridor is not less than 1.1 m. Furthermore, the egress doors swing in direction of travel. Additionally, facilities managers should ensure that corridors and exit points are constantly lighted during the building occupancy, and that exit signs are adequately placed, and constantly lighted throughout the building. Moreover, there should be no obstructions, that reduce the width of an exit. In addition, the width of the corridor should not be reduced along the egress pathway. Finally, facilities managers should maintain the provision of the statement “PUSH TO EXIT” on all egress fire doors ( International Fire Code, 2018 ).

Fire Protection Systems

As office properties are high risk type of facilities in fire events, designers and facilities managers need to ensure the adequate provision and operation of the fire protection systems in these facilities. These systems comprise fire extinguishers ( National Fire Protection Association 10, 2018 ), smoke detectors ( National Fire Protection Association 92, 2018 ), fire alarms ( National Fire Protection Association 72, 2019 ), and automatic sprinkler systems ( National Fire Protection Association 13, 2019 ). Specific measures to provide and maintain in office properties include the provision of at least one 2A fire extinguisher per each 557 square meters in low hazard office areas, and maintaining a maximum travel distance of 23 m to any extinguisher. Facilities managers need to ensure that fire extinguishers are located in a visible, yet accessible locations, and are mounted on hangers. These fire extinguishers should be mounted at a height not exceeding 1.5 m from the floor. Furthermore, the fire extinguishers should be serviced on an annual basis ( National Fire Protection Association 10, 2018 ). Additionally, facilities managers should ensure that smoke detectors, firm alarm and extinguishing installations are constantly kept in operational form, and that inspection records of all installation are maintained for the past 3 years. Finally, there is no paint or cover over any sprinkler head, in the building ( National Fire Protection Association 13, 2019 ).

Housekeeping Measures

Housekeeping practices could significantly impact upon exercised initiatives for preventing fire accidents ( Hassanain et al., 2018 ). These practices mandate the storage of combustible materials in an orderly manner. Further, facilities managers should ensure that heating devices are distanced from storage spaces. They should also ensure that exit enclosures are free from combustible materials, and that mechanical rooms are free from combustible materials. Facilities managers should also maintain that dumpsters with a capacity exceeding one cubic meter are stored outside the building ( International Fire Code, 2018 ).

Electrical Wiring and Installations

Since faulty electrical wiring and installations are attributed as the second major cause for fire in office properties ( Campbell, 2013 ), designers and facilities managers should ensure the provision of certain measures, that could potentially reduce fire incidents. These measures primarily relate to the use of extension cords ( National Fire Protection Association 78, 2020 ). The measures mandate that extension cords are grounded, with overcurrent protection. They should directly be connected to wall sockets, and they should not be running through any components of the interior. Further, extension cords should not serve as a replacement for permanent wiring, and they should not be impaired. Moreover, facilities managers should ensure that a sign reading, “Electrical Room” is posted on the doors of all electrical rooms ( National Fire Protection Association 70, 2020 ).

Miscellaneous Measures for Fire Prevention

The miscellaneous measures for fire prevention in office properties mandate that the property has a clear and observable address number. Further, there should be a facilitated access to the fire hydrant. Moreover, an emergency evacuation plan is available in the building ( International Fire Code, 2018 ).

Hazardous Materials

According to National Fire Protection Association 400, (2022) the definition of hazardous materials incorporates “different chemical substances that are in waste or usage formats of storage and handling, that may tolerate physical and health hazards to occupants”. The definition of hazardous materials in this research extends to combustible materials, liquids, and compressed gases. Facilities managers of office properties should ensure that compatible materials are stored separately. They should ensure that the amount of combustible liquids used for operating equipment in the building is limited to 10 gallons. Finally, they should also ensure that rooms where compressed gases are stored are labelled “compressed gas” ( International Fire Code, 2018 ).

Data Collection

A case study was selected to apply and assess the identified protection measures. As a tool for risk assessment Table 1 ; Table 2 were adopted. The data collected was as follows:

TABLE 1 . Reference codes checklist utilized for the development of a behavioral-based risk assessment tool.

TABLE 2 . behavioural-based risk assessment tool for fire safety in workplace facilities.

Case Study Description

The selected case study for validating the developed fire-risk assessment tool, is a three floors office building, with a gross area of 1,692 square meters. It is located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The building is classified as “B” occupancy, as per the occupancy classifications of the International Fire Code. The classification of “B” occupancy is used to categorize buildings, or parts of, that are used for offices, for conducting professional and service transactions, and storing records and accounts ( International Fire Code, 2018 ). The building was constructed in 2017, and it is usually occupied by 74 users, on daily basis. Figure 3 illustrates the floor plan of the case study office building.

FIGURE 3 . Floor plan of the case study facility.

Code-based Risk Assessment Tool for Fire Safety

Watts and Hall (2016) have defined checklists as “a common accessory of fire safety consisting of a listing of hazards, usually with recommended practices. A checklist is usually less generic than a model code or standard. It may even be more specific that it is intended to be applied to a single class of buildings, reflecting the special concerns of their owners”. Table 1 illustrates the developed code-based risk assessment tool for fire safety in office properties. The developed risk assessment tool includes 36 precautionary fire measures, classified under six groups as shown in Table 2 , namely exits, fire protection systems, housekeeping measures, electrical wiring and installations, miscellaneous measures for fire prevention and hazardous materials.

Findings and Discussion

A risk assessment walkthrough was carried out in the case study office building. The walkthrough was guided by the developed fire risk assessment tool for assessing the level of compliance level of providing and maintaining fire protection and prevention requirements in office properties. The walkthrough findings reported on the level of compliance of the identified fire safety measures, included in this tool.

Exits: This group included ten measures for fire prevention. The walkthrough revealed that all the identified measures for exits were satisfied, except three. These three measures include lack of compliance of the number of exits with the requirements of fire code, exit doors were found to be swinging in the opposite direction of travel; there were no signs, or instructive statements such as “Push to exit” on all egress fire doors, to indicate the operational direction of the doors.

Fire protection systems: Nine fire prevention measures were included in this group. The walkthrough indicated that the lack of compliance of four out of nine measures. These four measures include exceeding the prescribed 23 m-travel distance to any fire extinguisher in the building. Further, the portable fire extinguishers were neither visible to the building occupants, nor mounted on hangers. Furthermore, there were no inspection records for fire safety installations over the past 3 years.

Housekeeping measures: This group included five fire prevention measures. The walkthrough indicated that all five measures were complying satisfactorily with fire code requirements.

Electrical wiring and installation: This group included six fire prevention measures. The walkthrough inspection revealed that two measures were not complying with fire code requirements. These include the adoption of extension cords as a replacement for permanent wiring, and the absence of posted signs reading “Electrical room” on the doors of all electrical rooms.

Miscellaneous measures for fire prevention: This group included three fire prevention measures. The walkthrough inspection pointed out to two compliance deficiencies with fire code requirements. These include the absence of clear and observable address number on the building, as well as the absence of an emergency evacuation plan in the building.

Hazardous materials: Three fire prevention measures were included in this group. The walkthrough inspection indicated that all three measures were complying satisfactorily with fire code requirements.

The implemented fire risk assessment in this research endorsed the utilization of a standard checklist methodology, as an efficient and cost-economic and a methodical approach for the fire safety management ( Bridges, 2008 ; Sun et al., 2008 ). The developed risk assessment tool included a listing of prescribed fire safety requirements for office properties, classified as “B” occupancies. The implementation of the risk assessment tool was facilitated through a walkthrough inspection. The outcomes from the fire safety checklist provide a practical benefit for guiding facilities managers of office properties on the current level of fire safety measures in their facilities. A checklist is a practical approach to analyze a building in relevance to a code or standard. It is rare that a code or standard applies to a single typology of buildings. The fire protection engineers, and facilities managers must focus on applicable assessment considerations that apply to each specific project, such as in this study for office buildings. A developed checklist can support this approach systematically and reduces requirements’ complexities, to be easily read, understood, and tracked ( Watts and Hall, 2016 ). The variety of codes cited in the paper did not aim to limit the regulatory system referenced for the developed checklist. As the aim is to ensure a comprehensive set of measures for the tool from different regulatory systems, to ensure wider applicability to office buildings. Especially that in Saudi Arabia the local regulations do not provide such a checklist, while it is based on different regulatory systems. In this essence, the approach of developing the tool was followed.

Legislation necessitates comprehensive assessments which ensure compliance with fire safety requirements. The British Standards Institution for example, have developed fire risk assessment code of practice for non-domestic facilities, the code was published in December 2020 and titled as (PAS 79-1:2020). The code delivers technical information on fire safety measures required by legislation, a similar approach has been conducted in this research serving a wider spectrum of codes and standards.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Office properties are considered a high-risk type of facilities in fire events. Provision and maintenance of mandated fire prevention and protection measures result in less number of fires, injuries, fatalities and property losses. This can be achieved through reducing fire hazards in built facilities. This paper presented a systematic approach to assess the level of compliance with compulsory active and passive fire protection and prevention measures, in office properties. The study provides ground for enhancing the behavioural-based fire safety knowledge of design professionals, real estate developers, owners, and facilities managers about the possible fire hazards in office properties. The study presented a risk assessment tool for assessing the compliance level for fire safety requirements, for the purpose of mitigating fire occurrence. The risk assessment tool was utilized during a walkthrough inspection in a case study office building. The level of compliance with each of the measures included in the assessment tool was identified. A plan of corrective actions, in the form of recommendations, was developed to enhance the fire safety performance of the case study building. These recommendations include:

Adding a prefabricated staircase to correct the violation of providing insufficient number of exits according to the requirements of the fire code.

Adjusting the swing direction of the egress door to be in the direction of egress.

Posting the statement “Push to exit” on all egress doors.

Installing additional portable fire extinguishers, so that the travel distance to any extinguisher would not exceed 23 m.

Maintaining regular inspection records of all fire protection systems in the building.

Removing the portable fire extinguishers from the cabinets and mounting them on wall hangers.

Eliminating or minimizing the use of extension cords in the building.

Posting the statement “Electrical room” on all the doors of electrical rooms.

Posting a clear and observable street address number on the building.

Developing and posting an evacuation plan in a visible location in the building.

This paper serves to expand the behavioural-based fire safety knowledge of design professionals, real estate developers, owners, and the facilities management team in office properties on the precautionary measures to mitigate the risks of fire events occurrences. In essence, it serves to raise awareness about the causes of fire and the consequences of fire events, for the purposes of protecting the lives of users and the business properties against fires.

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Author Contributions

MH collected the data while MA-H, and AI analyzed the data. All Authors Contributed equally to the conception, methodology and development of the discussion and findings of the research as illustrated and written in the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Also, they would like to thank the case study organization for their time in participating in this study.

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Keywords: codes of practice and standards, safety, workplace, fire, risk assesment, facilities

Citation: Hassanain MA, Al-Harogi M and Ibrahim AM (2022) Fire Safety Risk Assessment of Workplace Facilities: A Case Study. Front. Built Environ. 8:861662. doi: 10.3389/fbuil.2022.861662

Received: 24 January 2022; Accepted: 07 February 2022; Published: 07 March 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Hassanain, Al-Harogi and Ibrahim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Ahmed M. Ibrahim, [email protected]

† These authors have contributed equally to this work

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Fire can be especially dangerous when it occurs in hospitals because many patients in any typical hospital are not physically fit enough to quickly respond to emergency measures, especially evacuation calls. The present paper reports an in-depth assessment of the factors which have led to major fire accidents in Indian hospitals. The study reveals that several building safety codes, acts and guidelines are available, not only to prevent accidental fires but also to minimize harm when such fires do take place. However, observance of the stipulations is very lax, and seems to be exercised more in breach than in compliance. The study reveals that hospitals have zones like the intensive care units which are not only more prone to accidents than other zones but can also cause greater loss of lives due to the presence of critically ill patients, or persons who are extremely vulnerable (for instance newborn babies). Special codes and practices need to be framed for such zones. The study has also identified and catalogued a series of measures which must be implemented in future to prevent accidental fires in hospitals. The study is with reference to accidents that have occurred in India from 2010 to the present but is representative of the situation prevailing in most developing countries.

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Introduction

Fire protection in hospital is critically important since it predominantly houses people who are sick, elderly, disabled and need outside assistance for evacuation in case of an emergency [ 1 , 2 ]. Before 1950, no automatic fire systems had been installed in the Indian hospitals—which was how it was in most of the developing world. It led to several instances when fires caused heavy casualties in hospitals, especially the multi-storied ones [ 3 ]. Then, by-and-by, safety systems, codes, and practices were introduced to minimize fire accidents from occurring in hospitals as also mitigate them. Despite this, fire accidents have continued to occur frequently in hospitals across India. Indeed, the worst-ever hospital fire accident in India has happened as recently as in the previous decade. It occurred at one of the AMRI (Advanced Medical Research Institute) group of hospitals in Kolkata in 2011, killing ninety-three persons [ 4 ]. It has exposed most poignantly the poor conditions of the Indian hospitals in terms of fire safety. Even though over a decade has elapsed since that disaster, no lessons seem to have been learnt because the frequency with which accidental fires keep breaking out in hospitals has not reduced.

The present study has been carried out to make a quantitative assessment of the causes of hospital accidents in India and the factors which prevented them from being controlled before they had caused serious harm. An attempt has also been made to identify measures with which accidental fires can be prevented in hospitals. The study is with reference to accidents that have occurred in India from 2010 to the present but is representative of the situation prevailing in most developing countries.

A Past Accident Analysis of Hospital Fires in India

To obtain a quantitative assessment of the number and type of fire accidents that have occurred in Indian hospitals, their extents, and the factors that had triggered or accelerated them, data was acquired for the period 2010-present. It was culled from scholarly articles, other reports, newspaper articles, and various sources available in social media and on the internet. Pie charts were then developed to show the relative frequencies of different causes and effects. A chart was also developed on the fraction of hospitals that had lacked legal non-compliance. A comparison was made between fire accidents occurring in private hospitals and government hospitals.

Given that no bias has been allowed in data acquisition vis a vis locations, categories, causes, and effects, the present study is representative even if it may have missed those instances which were not reported in the media.

Results and Discussion

Results at a glance.

A summary of all the reported hospital fire accidents that have occurred in India since (and including) 2010 is presented in Table 1 . The locations of all accidents, the nature of hospital ownership, the accident triggers, the number of casualties, and the aspects of negligence on the part of the hospital management are given in Table 1 .

Figure  1 provides an assessment of the frequency with which hospital fire accidents have been occurring in India since (and including) 2010. Even as the number of accidents has been per year fluctuating, the statistical trend line indicates a sharply rising frequency.

Number of hospital fire accidents that have occurred since 2010. The figure for 2023 is based on the projection that if two accidents occur per quarter (as happened during January–31 March 2023), there may be eight in 2023

Nearly as many accidents have occurred in privately funded hospitals as in the government funded ones (Fig.  2 ).

Proportion of fires in government hospitals in comparison with private hospitals

Short circuit was the major cause of the fire accidents, contributing to 89% of the total outbreaks. Flammable chemicals were the next biggest trigger, causing 4% of the accidents (Fig.  3 ).

Cause of fire incidents in the hospitals

Half of all the hospitals were not compliant of safety requirements (Fig.  4 ).

Proportion of hospitals that showed legal compliance and non-compliance

A Summary of Representative Accidents

A study of detailed reports pertaining to representative fire accidents, from among the ones listed in Table 1 , brings to light several surprising findings.

The law requires that all hospitals should obtain certificates of compliance from all regulatory agencies on different aspects of safety and disaster management. But the present study revealed that in practice gadgets for fire prevention and control are often installed simply to get the necessary permission to function. Subsequently there is little or no follow-up to keep the gadgets in fully functional condition, nor keep the staff adequately trained [ 62 ]. For instance, in PBM (Prince Bijay Singh Memorial Men’s) Hospital, Bikaner, a short circuit occurred due to faulty electrical wires which were very old and lacked proper insulation [ 57 ]. The aged wires could not carry the load which had been increasing with time. A tripping point reached when indiscriminate use of air conditioners, medical equipment, computers, etc., overloaded the wires because there had been no mandatory inspection of the power supply system.

India’s worst-ever hospital fire accident, which occurred at AMRI, Kolkata, in 2011, killing ninety-three people, was escalated by the illegally stored flammable material stored in the hospital’s upper basement floor which was originally made for car parking [ 4 ]. The centrally air-conditioned hospital did not have the provision for mechanical ventilation. Consequently, several persons were suffocated to death in the smoke that was formed. Other reasons identified which caused the casualties to increase was the poor emergency preparedness of hospital staff. Due to it one and a half hours elapsed before the fire brigade could start its firefighting measures. The malfunctioning and non-functional smoke detectors and alarms contributed to the slowness of the emergency response.

A fire at the ESIC (Employees’ State Insurance Scheme of India) hospital in Mumbai, witnessed in 2018, exemplifies the consequences of breach of norms caused when hospital premises are used to keep forbidden inventories. An illegal canteen had stored twenty liquid petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders in the hospital’s ground floor [ 62 ]. The fire was not only initiated there but escalated quickly due to the illegally stored fuel. Another typical episode of accidental fire involved the intensive care unit (ICU) of Shrey hospital in Ahmedabad, which killed 8 patients [ 24 ]. There were no fire extinguishers provided inside the ICU ward and those which were outside the ICU could not be operated by the hospital staff because they were not trained to handle and use the extinguishers.

A reconnaissance by the present authors indicated that the catastrophic fires referred above could have been prevented if there were adequate fire prevention and control facilities in place or if the staff had been trained to enable it to ensure compliance with the codes and standards.

Instances were also found when the license-to-operate of the hospitals had expired, yet the hospitals continued to function, leading to major outbreaks of fire [ 33 ].

The study reveals that many hospitals do not even have the basic fire protection measures in place. When fire started in the Murshidabad Hospital in West Bengal, the emergency exit gate was closed, the fire alarm and the elevator were non-functional, and hospital lacked the basic firefighting infrastructure like fire extinguishers [ 51 ]. The fire that raged in the DGH (District General Hospital), Bhandara, in 2021, burnt to death 10 babies because the hospital did not have the mandatory fire extinguishers and the staff was not trained to use whatever equipment that was available [ 19 ]. Sunrise Hospital, which is situated on the 3rd floor of Dreams Mall in Bhandup, Maharashtra, was given provisional occupational certificate to run COVID-19 center. March 2021, the hospital witnessed a fire outbreak which took a toll of 11 people [ 15 ]. The audit report of the hospital reveals that major firefighting appliances like riser system, pumps, sprinkler system, underground water storage tanks and hydrant system had been installed but none was functional.

After the DGH Bhandara tragedy mentioned above, 484 government hospitals situated in the Indian state of Maharashtra were assessed for fire safety. It was found that in more than 80% institutions, fire safety audit had never been carried out and less than 50% hospitals had conducted mock drills in past. Barring a few, none had obtained fire safety certificates from the concerned agency [ 63 ].

That a general laxity prevails in terms of appreciation of the fire hazard and in taking steps toward risk minimization comes out strongly from these illustrative assessments. One more dimension of the problem has been highlighted by Kodur et al. [ 64 ], which relates particularly to the post-modern buildings in which there is liberal use of plastic-based material in lieu of metal or concrete-based systems used earlier. This presents a major hazard, the risk from which is exacerbated by the generally cavalier attitude of the building managers toward fire safety.

It has also been brought out [ 65 ], that intensive care units (ICUs) of the hospitals pose special risk due to the presence of greater levels of oxygen in their atmosphere. This happens from the inevitable leaks of oxygen occurring from patients put an oxygen support system. It enhances the flammability of the air in the ICU, enhancing the probability of accidental fires.

The Major Lacunae in Hospital Safety

Lack of compliance with the safety norms.

The problem begins with the hospitals bypassing, in part or full, the norms, codes, and practices relating to fire safety. This leads to serious hazards of (a) ever-present triggers of likely fires; (b) difficulties in the evacuation of patients and staff in the event of fires; (c) presence of substances—used in building construction, furnishings, and hospital practices—in a manner that fire gets escalated and aggravated; (d) delays in beginning the firefighting measures; and (e) discoordination and lapses in the course of firefighting and evacuation.

Laxity in Surveillance and Control

There is laxity in the surveillance system which fails to serve renewal notices upon hospitals when the hospital’s license-to-function has expired. This has resulted in hospitals continuing without auditing and renovating their safety equipment and practices—eventually leading to disastrous fires.

Profusion of Inherently Hazardous Substances Specific to Hostels Which Need Special Care

Hospitals use many patient-care items and chemicals which are highly flammable and tend to escalate fires once fires break out. Bedding, PVC (polyvinyl chloride) tubes, paper/plastic disposables, alcohol-based chemicals, and other volatile organics—all highly flammable—are deployed in profusion. Then there are oxygen cylinders which are a part and parcel of patient care, especially in the intensive care units (ICUs). Despite all precautions oxygen dispensers leak oxygen leading to the ICUs having higher concentration of oxygen in the air than elsewhere. In this manner fuels and oxidizers abound in hospital rooms. There is also presence of potential ignition sources or triggers in the form of heated probes, air conditioners, and other appliances prone to generating sparks. Hospitals have been found to even use the highly hazardous open coil heaters to keep the patients warm during winters.

Apathy of Top Management

Instances have been reported wherein the hospital staff had been conscious of safety concerns and had been urging the top management to provide the required alarms, controls, and emergency response systems. But the top management had not been responsive [ 8 , 10 , 15 , 21 ].

Measures Suggested for Preventing Hospital Fires and Managing Them When They Do Occur

All relevant laws, standards, codes, and regulations need to be taken into consideration, without exception, during the design stage of the buildings. There should be unwavering compliance.

Collaboration between engineers and fire safety professionals is needed during the planning of building design. The structure and the design of the building should be such that it causes minimum damage to life and property in case of any emergency.

A proper schedule of housekeeping should be maintained. Flammable items like organic chemicals, cotton, bedding, and disposables, should be kept in dedicated storerooms which should be made fire-proof. Flammable or combustible material should not be stored in the basement.

Firefighting appliances must be in place and must be in always working condition. Alarm system should be kept fully functional round the clock. The staff need to be adequately trained for emergencies. Mock drills and fire safety audits should be conducted at regular intervals.

All corridors and exit routes should be kept free of obstruction.

There should be standard operating procedures for fire management which must be duly followed.

Electrical equipment should be well maintained to prevent sparking.

No building should start operating unless the fire clearance certificate has been obtained from the concerned authority/department. Such certificates should be renewed before they expire. Approval certificates should also be obtained for the electrical fittings and installations in the buildings.

Proper estimation of the present and projected fire load should be made at the design stage itself and appropriate buffer should be provided before the building starts to function. Too many modifications and changes should not be done in the electric circuit connections. If any change is done, wire capacity should be kept in mind.

Proper emergency preparedness plan should be made, and staff and other occupants should be properly trained as per that.

Auxiliary power backup should be available when emergency occurs.

Links should be made with the nearby hospitals to provide quick medical attention to critical patients.

Indoor split ACs should not be placed near oxygen cylinders, oxygen lines or any point near the administration of oxygen. Distance of at least 4–5 m should be provided between them. Central air-conditioning should be preferred.

Spark producing machines should also be kept 4–5 m away from the point of administration of oxygen. Smoking should be strictly prohibited.

Proper color coding of wires, simple and clear layout of the electrical wire connections, adequate insulations are among the safe practices that must be followed.

Oxygen monitors should be installed.

Oxygen and nitrous oxide pipelines should be properly color coded (as per the national standard) and should contain very few joints to prevent leakage. Periodic inspection should be done to check for leakage.

An alternative emergency exit door should be made available in each ward.

Concepts of inherently safe design, accident forecasting, and vulnerably assessment should be employed to minimize the risk [ 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 ].

Summary and Conclusion

An assessment of hospital fires occurring in India has been presented. It is based on accident data spanning 2010-present. Based on frequency analysis it is seen that electrical short circuit is the most common cause of fires in hospitals; accounting for as many as 89% of the fire outbreaks. Flammable material including chemicals catching fire due to causes other than short—circuiting contributed to 4% of the accidents. A slightly larger fraction (54%) of all the fire accidents occurred in Government hospitals while 46% took place in private hospitals. In at least 50% of the hospitals, legal non-compliance was reported. It is seen that timely safety audit can help identify the vulnerabilities in hospitals so they can be addressed in time. Imparting proper training and conducting mock drills at regular intervals can help the staff to remain prepared for emergencies. The paper identifies the challenges faced by hospitals from fire hazards and makes recommendations on how to meet those challenges.

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Juyal, S., Tabassum-Abbasi, Abbasi, T. et al. An Analysis of Failures Leading to Fire Accidents in Hospitals; with Specific Reference to India. J Fail. Anal. and Preven. 23 , 1344–1355 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-023-01668-x

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Received : 03 January 2023

Revised : 30 April 2023

Accepted : 08 May 2023

Published : 06 June 2023

Issue Date : June 2023

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-023-01668-x

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