More to be done for building safety
THE Institution of Engineers, Malaysia expresses its regret over the fire that broke out in the ICU ward of the Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA), Johor on Oct 25.
Based on the reported news, the fire and rescue department responded promptly and prevented the spread of the fire.
A proper working fire alarm system is important, because it would alert occupants and visitors of a fire incident and they should then proceed to the nearest fire staircase to escape the building.
IEM recommends that for public buildings such as hospitals and other government buildings, a qualified professional engineer be commissioned to inspect a building’s fire and life safety systems, ensuring that these are operational, well maintained and meet safety requirements.
Hazard detection systems in the high risk areas in hospitals should have oxygen detectors in addition to a smoke detection system. Oxygen detectors are important in areas where much oxygen is present or used. Enriched oxygen conditions could make ordinary combustible materials more easily ignitable and when a fire happens, this makes it grow and spread faster.
A building with many people congregating should have a public address (PA) system to alert occupants on an emergency situation and what they should do.
The older building by-laws do not prescribe such PA system requirements. The latest amendment of the Uniform Building By-Laws (of which Selangor and Terengganu have gazetted) however, mandates that a PA system is required for hospitals.
Many hospital patients could be bedridden due to their condition. IEM urges lawmakers to improve the building regulations, so that high-rise hospitals are equipped with occupant evacuation lifts. This type of lift should be fire-rated and allow patients on beds or stretchers to use them to evacuate a multi-storey hospital.
While the Uniform Building By-Laws stipulate the number and width of fire staircases and escape corridors, there are cases here where patients reaching the road level cannot move safely away from the building quickly because of obstructions such as open drains, road curbing, planter boxes and uneven roads.
The building owner must make sure that such obstructions do not impede the egress of a physically-challenged or impaired person.
Hospitals use various types of electrical equipment and instruments. The wiring in an older electrical system may also not have all the required safety features. An important safety feature that should be checked is the proper earth-fault protection. This device is a protection against electrical shock to patients as well as to prevent electrical faults from being an ignition source of fire.
IEM would like to emphasize the importance of systematic, regular maintenance and inspection of all building facilities, equipment and safety devices. It is of paramount importance that all building facilities and safety requirements are inspected and maintained at scheduled intervals, equipment and devices are calibrated and safety systems and procedures comply with requirements and best practices.
We believe that a maintenance audit should be carried out on a periodic basis on all public buildings to ensure the functionality of all the facilities, especially for old and dilapidated buildings.
The institution expresses its heartfelt sympathies to the family members of the victims.
IEM is willing and ready to provide the technical expertise and independent advice to authorities in reviewing the guidelines required to prevent similar accidents from recurring.