Reliability of Audit Procedures for Life and Fire Safety in Institutional Occupancy Building

Abstract

Fire safety includes prevention of the outbreak of fire, prevention of serious or rapid spread of fire and detection and control of fire by providing active and passive fire control system. Neglect of fire safety aspect in buildings led to loss of precious life and damage to property. Therefore, it is essential to plan and design a building against fire risk. Fire safety is out of the most critical aspect in the design of buildings. Architect and Engineer are both concerned with the fire safety and take measures in building design to ensure non-occurrence of fire. Fire detection, alarm and fighting system are also recommended by the building designs in accordance with NBC Guidelines. Fire in buildings, invariably occur due to error or negligence on the part of human beings. In spite of adopting sophisticated systems and taking all the proper measures, fire may still occur due to improper installation, in use changes, poor maintenance by upkeep of system or even failure to anticipate risks during planning/design/installation stage. Fire safety in hospitals is another challenge as it caters to the most vulnerable population. There are special requirements that must be met while evacuating such people in case of fire emergencies. Hospital fire incidents in India have claimed many lives over years and has resulted in damage to properties. In actual practice, it is believed that most of the reasons for fire disaster can be taken care of by systematic risk evaluation and review of fire safety measures during design stage as well as during use. This study focuses on assessing the reliability of the existing procedure for fire audits conducted in the case of Institutional occupancy buildings i.e., the health care sector.