The fire safety audit is an examination of the buildings / structures and relevant documents to ascertain how the buildings are being managed regarding fire safety. In other words it is aimed to assess the building for compliance with the National Building Code of India, relevant Indian Standards and the legislation passed by various state governments and local bodies, on fire prevention and life safety measures. Safety Audit is a form of risk analysis and evaluation in which a systematic investigation is carried out in order to determine the extent to which the conditions are present that provide for the development and implementation of an effective and efficient safety policy. The main objective of safety audit is to carry out a systematic, critical appraisal of all potential hazards involving personnel, plant services and operation method, and to ensure that safety and health system fully satisfy the legal requirements. Depending on the requirements of the occupancy, the audit can focus attention on various aspects of a safety system such as fire and explosion prevention, protection and emergency management.
SCOPE OF AUDIT
Fire Safety audit is found to be an effective tool for assessing fire safety standards of an organization or occupancy. It helps the people to identify the areas for improvement and evolve an action plan. A comprehensive fire safety audit is a structured and systematic examination of an organization or occupancy to identify the hazards from fire. In other words, the fire safety audits are structured to check current adequacy of components, services and equipment; report of the expected performance, make recommendations for the compliance with the existing building rules, regulations, codes and standards, and the requirement of providing a safe place for living or carry out commercial or industrial activities. It is presumed that a comprehensive fire safety audit can cover various aspects which are related to design, operation and maintenance of the facilities, and even the review of inherent fire hazards associated with the day to day activities in a building. It assesses the building for compliance with the existing building codes, national standards and the building fire safety regulations. In addition to complete building auditing, they can even be tailored to suit a specific fire protection system. The audit findings are generally published in a report which also provides recommendations on how to remedy any non-compliance that were identified. Thus the fire safety audits will allow us to identify any non conformance and or provide recommendations to the client allowing them to attend to these matters and therefore seek to achieve compliance with relevant legislation. It may be remembered here that the fire safety audits are not limited to a desk top review of available documentations or a visual inspection. On the contrary an active system test can also be carried out to ensure all systems operate and interface as designed and included in a fire safety audit report.
OBJECTIVE OF THE AUDIT
- Identify all significant fire hazards.
- Identify the people who are at risk from each hazards.
- Evaluate the existing control measures.
- Determine the additional control measures required.
- Examine the availability of suitable emergency plan detailing responsibility and action of key personnel.
- Review the availability of suitable fire alarm and detection system.
- Review the availability of suitable fire fighting facilities, such as hydrants, sprinklers, extinguishers, etc.
- Evaluate passive fire protection systems provided.
- Evaluate the general awareness of occupants and security personnel on matters relating to fire safety and rescue operations.
- Evaluate the training and instructions on fire safety imparted to the employees and occupants.
- Testing of all fire safety equipment and systems
FIRE SAFETY INSPECTION
Fire safety inspections are a check of all fire safety procedures,
installations and records within building structures to determine compliance
with appropriate legislation and regulation. A fire safety inspection helps to
ensure that the owners and occupiers of buildings are meeting their
responsibilities under the legislation, that buildings are fitted with correct
fire safety installations required by the fire safety standard, and that these
fire safety installations are maintained in an operational condition. Thus,
building occupiers are required to ensure that all fire safety installations in
their building are maintained in accordance with fire safety regulations /
codes prevailed from time to time. The occupiers are also required to keep
records of maintenance of their fire safety installations in the building. The
fire safety inspection will involve an inspection of the building’s fire safety
installations and an inspection of the maintenance records for each of the fire
safety installations in the building.
Normally, the inspection checklist will be completed
during the inspection of the property and the owner / occupier will receive, a
copy of the completed checklist signed by the inspecting officer. If no
problems are found to exit, the inspection is complete. Where it is found that
the building does not comply with legislative requirements or that fire safety
systems have not been correctly maintained, the faults will be noted on the
inspection report together with the action required by the owner / occupier and
the time by which the owner / occupier must have faults corrected. Fire safety
inspection is a visual check of fire safety in a building using a standard fire
safety inspection checklist of legislative requirements. The Directorate of
Maharashtra Fire Safety Services has framed a fire safety checklist for
buildings, which covers many areas such as the ownership, structural details,
active and passive fire protection installations of the building, fire
prevention and awareness measures to be followed, etc.
The checklist recommended by the Directorate of
Maharashtra Fire Services is only a sample and if necessary, it can be extended
to include many other areas. Fire Safety inspections are generally carried out
by the qualified officers of the local fire brigade or an agency authorized by
the local fire brigade or fire safety consultants. For example, in Maharashtra,
fire safety inspections of the buildings are carried out by the ‘Licensed
Agency’, approved by the Directorate of Fire Services.
FIRE SAFETY SURVEY
Fire safety survey, is an assessment of the building
against all legislative requirements, such as, a check of evacuation
instructions given to employees and residents, a check of the records of
maintenance of fire safety installations and an operational test of these fire
safety installations. In other words, a fire safety survey will involve a check
of the structural aspects of the building, such as, travel distances to exits
and emergency escapes, etc. The survey also checks the level of compliance with
the legislative requirements and that all required fire safety systems are
installed, functioning and being correctly maintained. Any deficiencies
detailed in the fire safety survey report must be resolved to the satisfaction
of the inspecting officer within the time frame specified in the report. A
re-inspection should be carried out following the deadline given to rectify any
deficiencies to ensure that all faults have been corrected. The report may also
contain one or more recommendations about fire safety in the building. These
recommendations need not be legislative requirements, but are matters that the
inspecting officer believes will assist the owner / occupier to further improve
fire safety in their building.
After a fire safety survey, a report can be prepared and
issued to the building owner / occupier confirming the findings of the survey,
noting which fire safety system are adequate and highlighting any deficiencies.
Where a deficiency is noted, the owner / occupier should be given a specified
time in which to rectify the problem. The time period given for the owner to
correct the problem may vary depending upon the nature of the problem and the
time likely to be required to rectify it.
CONCLUSION
Fire safety audit is an effective tool for assessing fire
safety standards of an organization or an occupancy. A comprehensive fire
safety audit should address the inherent fire hazardous associated with the day
to day activities in an occupancy and recommend measures to reduce the
potential fire hazards. In spite of bringing stringent fire safety regulations
by many state governments and local bodies, still the numbers of fires in the
country are on the increase, resulting in the loss of many life and property.
An effective building maintenance policy is an essential feature of fire
prevention. However, it is observed, that a large number of occupancies do not
have dedicated maintenance staff and as a result, most of the maintenance
scheduling and documentation is handled by an employee with no experience with
maintenance procedures or legislative requirements. It is also observed that
many of the occupants and owners have not been aware, that many of the fire
safety features of their building had not been maintained in accordance with
the legislative requirements.
Lack of awareness on fire safety norms were observed not
only from the occupants, but also from some agencies who were involved in the
installation and maintenance of fire fighting systems. In Maharashtra, although
a list of “Licensed Agency” has been drawn with a view to ensure that the
installations and maintenance of fire safety systems are to be done as per the
fire safety norms, one doubt, that how many of these agencies are really
capable and sincere in carrying out the work, which can meet the required fire safety
norms. Similarly, when the responsibility of conducting fire safety audit has
been given to the ‘Licensed Agencies’, it is presumed that all these agencies
have the required knowledge and experience in conducting a fire safety audit
without ambiguity. It seems that the enforcement agencies are faced with a
severe shortage of trained and experienced manpower, No doubt, the onus of
ensuring safety from fires, lies with the owners and occupants. However, the
responsibility for certifying the effectiveness of fire safety system in a
building has been entrusted to the ‘Licensed Agency’. Whether this decision can
bring the desired objectives or not, cannot be commended now. Let us hope for
the better.
