By Ir. Gary Lim
Synopsis
Building owners must put in place a fire evacuation strategy in order to ensure that the occupants inside the building are able to evacuate orderly, promptly and safely in the event of a fire incident.
All buildings are designed and built with life safety as the main criterion which is clearly spelt out in the local Uniform Building By-Law and to comply with local/international standards on fire protection system, on the travel distance, on egress from the building and obtaining the yearly renewal of Fire Certificate. The key stakeholders to ensure attaining the criterion of life safety are the Fire Rescue Department Malaysia (FRDM), Architects, M&E Consulting Engineers, Fire Contractors, Fire Equipment Manufacturers and Building Owners/Facility Managers.
Statistically fire incidents are often caused by human beings due to carelessness, ignorance, indifference attitude and even act of arson. This is something which is not within the control of any of the key stakeholders. Hence there is a need for continuous education on fire safety and this would take great amount of effort, resources and time. In this respect, fire incidents inside premises can occur with great severe consequences, the extent of which could be curtailed by the fire protection systems installed in the building. However, Murphy’s Law says that if something can go wrong, it can. What if due to poor upkeep of fire protection systems, the fire is allowed to spread generating smoke, evacuation of occupants to safe areas in the shortest time possible becomes the greatest concern.
Excerpt from the BS9999:2008 Code of Practise for Fire Safety in the Design, Management and Use of Buildings provides the guidelines when drawing up the fire evacuation strategy of a building. Building owners/managers must put in place fire evacuation plan and conduct rehearsal on a yearly basis to ensure the occupants are familiar with the procedures.
Introduction
When a building plan is submitted, built and occupied, there are many assumptions along the way that a fire incident would not happen:
- Building owner has provided the correct occupancy of the building
- Architect would have designed the layout in accordance to various Schedules in the Uniform Building By-Law in terms of selecting the right material, travel time, number of staircases, width of door, etc to ensure the safe evacuation of the occupants.
- M & E Consulting Engineers have designed the Fire Protection Systems in accordance to local/ international standards to control the outbreak of a fire within the premises
- Fire Installing Contractors have installed as per Engineer’s specification and conducted testing and commissioning of the fire systems of the building in particular smoke spill system, air well pressurization.
- Fire Maintenance Contractors have carried out the maintenance of Fire Protection Systems and the Fire Alarm system in accordance the scope of work agreed with the Building Owner/Manager. The emphasis on smoke spill and air well pressurization system failure to operate would be detrimental to the occupants. Building Owners/Managers must pay the contractor servicing fees which commensurate with the scope of work otherwise it is a false believe that Fire systems will function effectively during a fire mode
- Fire Equipment Manufacturers have provided SIRIM approved products, which have been installed in accordance with the specified standard so that these products would perform well under fire mode.
- FRDM’s renewal of Fire Certificate to the building provides the reassurance for the next 365 days
- Building Owner/Manager manages the building as required by the Fire Services Act where the exit doors are open from the inside for evacuation, escape routes are cleared passage for escape and occupancy remains unchanged.
The above sequences of roles and responsibilities of each of the stakeholders form a chain reaction with ASSUMPTIONS that every stakeholder plays his role diligently with integrity. What IF?
WHAT CONSEQUENCE TO BEAR
Property damages can be replaced but not the life of the occupants trapped inside a building which is burning. FRDM with the utmost effort would try to rescue occupants. This would be the likely scenario unless a fire evacuation strategy is put in place by the Building Owner/ Manager who has prepared for any eventuality of a fire incident however remote it may be.
Companies which obtain the ISO14000 Environmental and Management system (EMS) would require a yearly fire evacuation drill in order to comply with the certification requirements. Other buildings do not have such compliance requirements and hence evacuation plan remains voluntary. FRDM could only advise Building Owners/Managers to conduct such fire evacuation yearly but cannot enforce it.
HOW TO DRAW UP THE FIRE EVACUATION PLAN IN ACCORDANCE TO BS 9999:2008
The primary objective of an evacuation strategy is to ensure that in the event of a fire, the occupants of a building can reach a place of ultimate safety outside the building WITHOUT relying on external assistance, in this case the FRDM. There are two basic categories of evacuation procedure:
1.Total evacuation of the occupants by either simultaneous or phased procedure to a place of ultimate safety
1.1 Total Evacuation –Simultaneous Procedure
Upon the activation of a call point or detector gives an instantaneous warning from all fire alarm sounders for an immediate evacuation, which is a common procedure in factories.
1.2 Total Evacuation – Phased Procedure
Common procedure in high-rise premises where the first people to be evacuated are all those on the storey most immediately affected by the fire, for example the fire floor and two floors above and below the fire floor. In this situation, emergency voice communication system must be functioning to provide clear instructions via the Public Address system. This would avoid panic among the occupants of the building.
2. Progressive evacuation of the occupants, initially to a place of relative safety within the building which is fire compartmented from which they can later evacuate to a place of ultimate safety. In some way similar to phase procedure but this is adopted in large retail complexes. This is also called Zone Evacuation moving the occupants of the affected area to an adjacent smoke control zone while the fire-affected area is brought under control.
Whichever evacuation procedures adopted by the Building Owners/ Managers, it should ensure that:
- Everyone assembles at a place of ultimate safety and is accounted for, so that if anyone is missing the fire and rescue service can be informed on their arrival
- Designated members of staff check that no one is left behind
- Appropriate assistance is provided for any persons who are unable to self-evacuate
- Persons are deterred from re- entering the building until it is declared safe to do so.
To achieve the above requires a formal a competently-trained fire evacuation team where each member is to play a specific role under the command of the Chief Fire Marshal. Whilst there are many possible hierarchies, a simple hierarchy is shown below.
Overall Commander – Fire Rescue Department Commander – when arrived at site
- Chief Fire Marshall with supporting teams below
In-house Fire Team Leader
Floor Wardens with supporting wardens below
Area Wardens of each floor
- Assembly Area Warden with supporting wardens below
Traffic wardens
- Control Room Wardens
- First Aiders
Chief Fire Marshall will be the main coordinator with the various teams receiving information and issuing instructions to the respective team leader. The following activities expected are:
- With the Fire Rescue Department Commander who will take over the command upon arrival at site, to update on the fire situation, any trapped occupants on the fire floors
- With the In-house Fire Team leader, to receive update of the fire situation and the location of fire
With the Floor Wardens, to be informed if their respective floor is cleared of occupants, this information is obtained from the Area Wardens of each floor. The Floor Warden is expected to be the last person to leave the floor following the last Area Warden - With the Assemble Area Warden to inform if the roll-call of occupants status and take charge of the Traffic Wardens to clear the traffic ready for the fire brigade
- With the Control Room Wardens, to update of the operations of the various fire fighting facilities as shown in the control panel. To keep the occupants updated of the fire incident via the public address system to avoid panic among the occupants.
- With the Fire Aiders, probably they can work independently attending to the injured.
Summary
Built environments are supposed to be safe for the occupants as intended under the provisions of the Uniform Building By-Laws and the various local and international standards available for the professionals to follow. It is also important to ensure that the premises are safe with due care and diligence but Murphy’s Law says otherwise.
Evacuation strategy must be put in place and rehearsed yearly to address the eventuality of a fire incident, only then can the built environment be truly regarded as safe.
Reference
BS 9999:2008 Code of Practice for Fire Safety in the Design, Management and Use of Buildings Uniform Building By-Laws 1984