Jun 26, 2012

Fire safety of the buildings

In the aftermath of the fire in Maharashtra's Secretariat building Mantralaya last week, an article appeared in Times of India on 24.06.2012 stating the review of fire safety in all buildings and maintaining the minimum requirements (as per National Building Code) to fight fire. They are,

  1. maintaining atleast 6 m radius around the buildings free space to enable fire tender movement (this is also to be maintained free from trees and vegetation so that any fire involving them will not lead to fire in the building)
  2. have fire detection and alarm system
  3. have fire hydrants, wet riser, hose reel and automatic sprinkler system
  4. have atleast 75,000 liter underground water tank and atleast 10,000 liter terrace tank exclusively for fire fighting
  5. maintain atleast minimum number of (portable) fire extinguishers
  6. have emergency lighting in and around the building
  7. have one single switch in every building (at an easily identifiable and accessible location) to cut off power supply in case of short circuits (obviously this should be located in the main corridor, preferably at the entrance of the building)
  8. have radiant (self luminescent) emergency exit direction markings along the corridor to the nearest exits
  9. not blocking / locking the emergency exits / stairs with unwanted materials
  10. test electrical systems also regularly to avoid overload/short circuit (as for any fire, people immediately show short circuit as the reason)
  11. have CCTV surveillance system
  12. display cautionary boards like do not smoke
  13. remove the waste/scrap every day
  14. test the systems regularly to see and ensure functioning of all fire protection system
  15. have nodal officer in every building responsible for fire safety
  16. conduct drills to all occupants to prepare them in case of any fire mishap
  17. etc
The above guidelines will help in protecting the persons and property from fire mishaps.


http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-24/hyderabad/32392807_1_wet-riser-fire-mishap-detection-and-alarm-system