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Maintenance Of Fire Safety Equipment (Complete Guide)

March 7, 2022 Paul Tyrrell

maintenance of fire safety equipment essay

Fire equipment maintenance is one of the key steps of any business in the fire protection industry, but can require mountains of paperwork and the correct planning to be undertaken. Whether you are starting a fire protection business or looking to improve your current workflow, maintaining your fire safety equipment will be high on your list.

In this guide we will dive into the top tips for fire safety systems, read below to learn more.

Table of Contents

What is fire safety equipment?

Fire protection equipment is used to alert, prevent and protect from the fire hazards. The three main fire asset management types can be broken into:

Fire and smoke alarms and detectors
Fire extinguishers and suppressors
Emergency/exit lights and signs

Why is it important for safety and fire fighting equipment to be inspected frequently?

Installing fire protection equipment on commercial premises is not the last step when it comes to being able to meet safety standards. Part of fire dispatching and fire risk assessment involves an annual or monthly check to ensure that all equipment is operating smoothly.

1. Ensure protection equipment is in working order

Equipment checks are important to ensure that nothing is broken or out of place in case of a fire or emergency. Services for fire equipment can gauge from a visual inspection to a thorough check and service completed by a competent person or technician. With the help of fire protection software , you can easily ensure that your equipment is in working order.

2. Make sure exits are easy to access

Fire doors and exits should be checked regularly as a part of your fire maintenance reporting .in case of emergency it’s vital that your exits are clear and emergency lights are easily displayed. The difference between a clear exit and a blocked exit could be at the cost of lives. Regular inspections are important to ensure that the correct signs are displayed and exits are clear.

3. Ensure your keeping up to current regulations

Necessary maintenance is also important to ensure that your assets are keeping up to current regulations and safety codes. Part of the fire assets include documentation such as annual fire statement guide s. Codes will vary from region to region and you should consult your local fire brigade or government body to find out the standards in your local area.

Frequency of Fire Safety Maintenance

For your fire statements, you will need to submit documentation every six to twelve months, depending on your local standards. For a fire service technician, the frequency of your fire equipment servicing will generally look like:

Six monthly check for fire alarms, smoke detectors, and emergency lights
Annual check for hoses, fire hydrants, and fire extinguishers
As required for escape routes and exits
As required for fire drills

For inhouse checks, best practice requires weekly checks such as visual inspections.

Best Maintenance Practices You Should Know

Do you struggle with asset defect management ? Here are the best practices for fire maintenance and fire safety standards that you should know:

1. Ensure your fire extinguishers are maintained

Fire extinguisher maintenance as a part of your equipment maintenance guide is vital to make sure you keep up to date with current regulations and use protection practices for commercial sites. A visual inspection of fire extinguishers on site should be completely weekly to ensure that they are in correct working order and waiting where they should be. For your annual check you should fully service your fire extinguishers in accordance with regulations.

2. Check fire alarm systems

Next you should inspect your fire alarm systems. Fire alarms should be tested weekly and thoroughly serviced or tested at least every six months. At this six monthly service it is recommended that any repairs be completed and a new assessment of the site, including the need for more alarms.

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3. Inspect emergency lighting systems

The next best practices for fire field service management include; emergency lighting, sprinkler systems, exit doors, signs and fire drills. This type of system testing should ideally be completed every six months, or more depending on the amount of people occupying the building. In case of a fire when all other fire protection systems fail, emergency lighting and exits can help save lives and reduce injuries.

4. Perform fire risk assessments

Fire assessment can help identify potential hazards such as frayed wires or other fire safety equipment that could pose potential hazards. This should be completed with every maintenance check and be included in all job reports or log books along with other maintenance checks. Part of your fire assessment will include creating steps in order to evaluate and assess fire hazards.

Key takeaways

The best practices for your fire protection include:

Ensure protection equipment is in working order
Make sure exits are easy to access
Ensure your keeping up to current regulations

When it comes to field service maintenance, automation software can help cut wasted time from your workflow and boost your productivity without the added hard work. While there are a wide range of software solutions available on the market, not all solutions will have the flexibility and customization that is available with FieldInsight. For those in the fire protection industry, FieldInsight provides End-to-End software solutions.

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Maintenance and Servicing of Fire Safety Equipment

Fire safety is critical for every home, office, or industrial facility. Fire safety equipment prevents and mitigates fires, but its effectiveness depends on proper maintenance and servicing. This article will explore the significance of regular fire system maintenance in simple terms, highlighting key steps and considerations.

I. Understanding Fire Safety Equipment

Before delving into the maintenance aspect, it's essential to understand the types of fire safety equipment commonly found in buildings:

Fire Alarms : These early warning systems detect smoke or heat and sound the alarm to alert occupants.
Fire Extinguishers : Portable devices designed to extinguish small fires by releasing an extinguishing agent.
Sprinkler Systems : Automatic systems that release water or other fire-suppressing agents to control or extinguish fires.
Smoke Detectors: Devices that detect the presence of smoke and trigger alarms.
Fire Doors: Specially designed doors that help contain the spread of fire and smoke.

II. The Importance of Regular Maintenance

Now, let's explore why maintaining this fire safety equipment is so crucial:

Ensures Proper Functionality: Regular maintenance ensures all fire safety equipment functions as intended. Malfunctioning equipment can lead to delayed response times or failure during an emergency.

Prolong Equipment Lifespan: Fire safety equipment has a limited lifespan like any other machinery. Proper maintenance can extend their longevity, saving you money in the long run.

Compliance with Regulations: Many jurisdictions have strict regulations regarding fire safety equipment. Regular maintenance helps you comply with these requirements, avoiding legal issues and penalties.

Prevents False Alarms: Neglected equipment can trigger false alarms, causing unnecessary panic and disruptions. Proper maintenance reduces the risk of false alarms.

III. Steps for Fire System Maintenance

Now that we understand the importance of fire system maintenance, let's discuss the key steps involved:

Regular Inspection: Conduct routine visual inspections of fire safety equipment to identify any visible issues, such as damage or corrosion. Examine fire extinguishers for visible damage too. Ensure the pressure gauge is in the green zone.
Testing and Calibration: Periodically test and calibrate fire alarms, smoke detectors, and sprinkler systems to ensure they respond accurately to potential fire hazards.
Battery Replacement: Replace batteries in smoke detectors and other battery-powered devices according to the manufacturer's recommendations.
Sprinkler System Maintenance: If your building has a sprinkler system, it should be inspected and tested regularly by a professional to ensure it functions correctly.
Fire Door Maintenance: Fire doors should close automatically and latch securely. Regular checks can identify issues with door closers or seals that need attention.
Documentation: Keep detailed records of all maintenance and servicing activities. This documentation is essential for compliance and helps track the history of your equipment.

IV. Frequency of Maintenance

The frequency of maintenance depends on the type of equipment and local regulations. Here are some general guidelines:

Fire Alarms and Smoke Detectors: Monthly visual inspections, with professional testing and calibration annually.
Fire Extinguishers: Inspected monthly, with a professional inspection and servicing annually.
Sprinkler Systems: Professional inspection and testing quarterly or as per local regulations.
Fire Doors: Annual inspection and maintenance by a professional.
Documentation: Maintain a log of all inspections, tests, and servicing activities for each piece of equipment.

V. When to Seek Professional Help

Some routine inspections can be performed by designated personnel, involving professionals for in-depth servicing and repairs. Seek professional assistance in the following situations:

When any equipment shows signs of damage or malfunction.
For annual or quarterly inspections and testing, as required by local regulations.
When you lack the necessary expertise or equipment to perform servicing and testing.

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Fire Safety Equipment Maintenance: A Comprehensive Guide

Fire safety is a critical aspect of property management, and properly maintaining fire safety equipment, including fire fighting systems, is paramount to ensuring its effectiveness. In this comprehensive guide, we explore the importance of regular maintenance for various fire safety equipment such as fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, fire alarm systems, emergency lighting, and fire fighting systems. Fire fighting system maintenance is a crucial component of this overall strategy, encompassing routine inspections, testing, and repairs to guarantee the optimal functionality of these life-saving tools. We provide insights into creating a robust maintenance plan that addresses the unique requirements of each equipment type, fostering a proactive approach to fire safety in any property.

The Essentials of Fire Safety Equipment

Before delving into maintenance specifics, let’s highlight the key fire safety equipment commonly found in buildings:

1. Fire Extinguishers

Fire extinguishers are the first line of defense in combating small fires. Regular checks ensure they are fully charged and functional when needed.

2. Smoke Detectors

Smoke detectors play a crucial role in early fire detection. Regular testing and battery replacements are essential to guarantee their reliability.

3. Fire Alarm Systems

Fire alarm systems alert occupants in the event of a fire. Routine inspections, including testing alarm signals, are necessary to maintain their effectiveness.

4. Emergency Lighting

Emergency lighting guides occupants to safety during power outages. Regular testing ensures these lights illuminate as intended during emergencies.

5. Fire Sprinkler Systems

As discussed in a previous article, fire fighting sprinkler systems are vital for fire suppression. Regular inspections and testing prevent malfunctions.

Creating a Maintenance Schedule

1. monthly checks.

Perform monthly visual checks on fire extinguishers, emergency lighting, and smoke detectors. Ensure that indicators are green, batteries are functional, and there is no visible damage.

2. Quarterly Inspections

Every quarter, conduct more thorough inspections. This includes checking pressure gauges on fire extinguishers, testing alarm signals, and inspecting the condition of emergency exits.

3. Annual Maintenance

Annually, enlist professional services for a comprehensive inspection of all fire safety equipment. This includes a detailed examination of fire sprinkler systems, and fire alarm panels, and the replacement of any worn-out parts.

Importance of Professional Inspections

While regular checks by property owners or facility managers are crucial, professional inspections provide an additional layer of assurance. Certified technicians can identify potential issues that may go unnoticed during routine checks, ensuring that the equipment is in optimal condition.

Benefits of Regular Maintenance

1. reliability in emergencies.

Regular maintenance enhances the reliability of fire safety equipment when it matters most. Malfunctions during a fire can have severe consequences, making preventive measures essential.

2. Compliance with Regulations

Adhering to local fire safety regulations is mandatory. Regular maintenance ensures that your property meets the required standards, avoiding legal complications.

3. Prolonged Equipment Lifespan

Routine maintenance extends the lifespan of fire safety equipment, saving costs on premature replacements and ensuring long-term functionality.

In conclusion, the proper maintenance of fire safety equipment is a crucial aspect of overall fire safety. Establishing a comprehensive maintenance schedule, including regular checks and professional inspections, is vital for ensuring the reliability and effectiveness of these life-saving tools. By prioritizing maintenance, you not only protect your property and its occupants but also contribute to a safer community. Stay proactive, stay safe.

Inspection, Testing, Maintenance: How to Keep Fire Safety Systems Safe

Maintenance and engineering managers and occupants all depend on the facility’s fire and life safety systems to keep the people, property and contents safe. These systems, while very dependable, require ongoing attention if they are to perform as designed in the event of an emergency.

Postmortems on systems that have failed to operate properly during an emergency typically point to lack of attention and maintenance — alarms that have been silenced, smoke detectors that are clogged with dirt and even something as simple as failing to reopen a valve after working on the system. All are simple but potentially deadly mistakes that managers can avoid through proper maintenance procedures.

NFPA 72, the National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code , spells out what managers must do in terms of inspection and testing to ensure their systems are functioning properly and are in compliance. System manufacturers typically have a checklist of tasks system owners are expected to do and the frequency with which they must do it.

Local codes and the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) might have additional requirements. But in all cases, managers should consider requirements from NFPA 72, system manufacturer recommendations, and AHJ requirements to be the minimum level of compliance. The particular characteristics of the facility and its fire and life safety needs also might require additional activities.

Information presented here is just an overview of some of the important inspection, testing and maintenance activities system owners must perform on fire and life safety systems. For more detailed information, consult NFPA 72.

The three basic parts of any program designed to keep fire and life safety systems operating properly are inspection, testing and maintenance.

Inspections

Inspecting the operation of a fire and life safety system that appears to be operating normally typically is not high on any front-line technician’s to do list. But like all building systems, these systems deteriorate over time. Batteries fail. Components corrode. Indicator lights burn out. Dirt accumulates in smoke detectors and sprinkler heads. Performing regularly scheduled inspections, conducting the required tests and keeping up with maintenance tasks are the only way to keep systems operating reliably.

Inspections also are critical in identifying where changes have been made to the facility and its operations — changes that might need modifications to the existing systems or installation of additional fire and life safety equipment.

New or modified systems

Inspections and tests must be performed by factory-trained and certified personnel for the type of system being tested — personnel employed by a nationally recognized and certified organization or by personnel registered or certified by the local authority.

The inspecting and testing program starts with the acceptance testing of all new system installations. NFPA 72 spells out the requirements that owners must adhere to in conducting those tests. Unfortunately, managers can be under a great deal of pressure to accept the system, since testing is basically the last step in the construction process. Contractors want to move on, and occupants want to move in. But before they can do so, the system must pass the acceptance test.

Acceptance testing for new systems includes verifying all fire alarm initiating devices and notification devices, including pull stations, smoke detectors, heat detectors and alarm notification devices. Interfaces with other building systems, such as elevators and HVAC equipment, also must be verified. Once completed, the inspector must complete a detailed sign-off report and provide it to the owner or manager before the space can be occupied.

When acceptance testing is complete, a complete inventory of all installed components, such as smoke detectors, pull stations and horns will be part of the final report. This inventory is essential in ensuring that all system components are properly inspected, tested and maintained over the system’s life. This inventory also serves as the basis for future inspections and tests.

When modifications are made to an existing system, the requirements are similar. According to NFPA 72, modifications include adding or removing any system component, modifying or repairing system hardware or wiring, or modifying or upgrading system software. Additionally, the inspector also must test 10 percent of initiating devices in the system up to a maximum of 50 devices. The inspector also must test any added components, wiring or software, as well as those that might be impacted by the changes.

When system modifications are completed, the inventory of installed components must be updated to reflect additions to the system, as well as components that have been removed.

Scheduled inspections

Once acceptance testing on the system is complete, managers must implement an ongoing inspection and testing program. Specific items must be inspected or tested weekly, monthly, semi-annually or annually. While specific inspection and testing activities depend on the type of system installed, some common activities exist.

Each week, technicians should check to see that central panels and other control equipment are in normal operating condition. This step includes a visual inspection of trouble lamps, system power lamps, fuses and building system interfaces, including elevator recall, sprinkler system activation, fire pumps, HVAC systems, smoke control systems, and kitchen hood suppression systems.

All system batteries must be visually inspected monthly for leaks and corrosion. Terminals must be inspected for tightness and corrosion, and additional inspections, including load testing, must be performed for certain types of batteries.

Depending on the type of battery installed in the system, semi-annual inspections and tests include additional activities for batteries that function as secondary power sources for alarm systems, including load voltage tests, discharge tests, and specific gravity tests. Alarm transmission equipment that automatically notifies the fire department when the system goes into alarm must be visually inspected semi-annually.

Annual inspections and tests

The entire fire alarm system must be inspected and tested once each year. Tests are to include all central control equipment, remote annunciators, initiating devices, alarm notification devices, and all interfaces with other building equipment. Batteries and battery chargers must be inspected and tested.

Smoke detectors have their own testing requirements. Battery powered detectors must have their batteries replaced annually and must be tested for sensitivity as specified by the manufacturer. Hardwired smoke detectors must be tested one year after installation. After that, the test should be repeated in two years. If the detector is found to be within its manufacturer's specified sensitivity range after the first two year test, the period of time between tests can be extended to every five years.

The annual inspection goes just beyond the system's installed components. Those performing the inspection must look for changes within the facility that might impact the operation of the system, including changes to space configurations and occupancy. For example, newly installed equipment or furniture might obstruct the operation of devices such as smoke detectors or sprinklers. All such problems must be identified so necessary changes to the system can be implemented.

Maintenance

Weekly, monthly, semi-annual and annual inspections and tests identify issues within the system that need correction. While they are necessary and required steps, managers should consider them the minimum level of maintenance for the system. Components corrode, wear, and go out of calibration. Dust and dirt accumulate on components, such as smoke detectors, that could interfere with their operation.

Maintenance begins with a quick response to a failure within the system. When visual inspections or testing identify a fault, it is essential to make repairs as quickly as possible. Technicians should not make temporary repairs or bypasses of a fault on an emergency basis only. Follow-up with permanent repairs must not be delayed.

Maintenance requirements increase as the system ages. Components have a finite life span, even if they continue to pass inspection. Eventually, many components will have to be replaced if the system is to keep operating reliably. While portions of the system, such as sprinkler piping, have a long service life, most fire alarm systems have a rated system life of 15-25 years. Beyond that point, maintenance costs can increase dramatically. Managers also might have difficulty obtaining replacement parts or software upgrades because manufactures might no longer support that particular system.

Documentation

When a system passes the acceptance test, the inspector must turn over a number of documents to the owner or manager. Besides detailed results of the acceptance test, these documents must include:

• operator instruction manuals

• maintenance manuals that detail component maintenance tasks and frequencies

• detailed testing procedures broken out by required frequencies

• troubleshooting steps.

It is essential that managers document all activities related to inspection, testing and maintenance of the entire system. From the acceptance test to even the most minor repair, all of these activities must be logged and filed. While NFPA 72 requires that records be kept only until the next annual inspection, managers would be wise to retain all reports. By doing so, they can trace back through the data to track recurring issues and maintenance costs — important information when facing repair or replace decisions.

James Piper. P.E., is a national consultant based in Bowie, Md. He has more than 35 years of experience with facilities maintenance, engineering and management issues.

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School Education /

Essay on Fire Safety in 200 and 500+ words in English for Students

Updated on
Apr 19, 2024

Fire is a powerful force that, when uncontrolled, can cause huge destruction to lives as well as to property. However, with fire awareness and preventive measures, many fire-related accidents can be avoided. In this essay on fire safety, we will gather information related to fire, its scientific behavior, and, most importantly, fire management and prevention.

Table of Contents

1 Essay on Fire Safety 200 Words
2 Essay on Fire Safety in 500+ Words
3 The Science of Fire
4 The Behavior and Spread of Fire
5.1 1. Fire-Resistant Building Materials
5.2 2. Fire Detection and Alarm System
5.3 3. Clear Emergency Egress Routes:
5.4 4. Effective Fire Suppression Systems:
5.5 5. Comprehensive Fire Safety Plans and Training
6 Fire Prevention and Safety Act of 2005
7 Conclusion

Essay on Fire Safety 200 Words

Fire can be dangerous. They spread quickly and cause property damage. More importantly, it can injure and even kill people. That is why it is so important to know about the safety of fire.

There are some simple steps that one can take to prevent fires from happening in the first place. As a first measure, one should never play with matches, lighters, burning, or anything that supports fire to burn. Further, keep flammable materials like paper, gasoline, and propane away from the sources of heat. If in any case, you see an unattended fire or flame, tell any of your elders right away.
If you are outside and see any fire breaking out, dial either the national emergency number 112, the police number 100, or the fire helpline number 101.

Apart from these dials, it will be helpful if people install working smoke alarms in homes to test them monthly. It is also suggested to develop and practice a fire escape plan in two ways, either at home or.

At school, it is suggested to practice all fire drills. Students should listen to the instructions from their teachers and should learn how to exit the building rapidly. Learn how to stay calm but move quickly to save yourself as well as your friends and teachers.

Fire can be terrifying, but if planned well and quickly necessary actions are taken, many lives can be saved. Learn and practice fire safety from the fire routine at school as well as at home. Being prepared can keep you safe if a fire occurs ever.

Also Read: Essay on Deforestation: 100 Words, 300 Words

Essay on Fire Safety in 500+ Words

Fire protection is all about keeping ourselves and our loved ones secure from the dangers of fire. Fire can happen everywhere, whether at home, in the classroom, or even outside the home. To keep ourselves and others secure, it is important to know how to stay safe from the chemical technique of combustion.

Understanding the fundamentals of safety, like a way to spot the danger of fire and how to use it in emergencies, can save lives and protect property as well. Also, keeping watch on the guidelines of the government will further assist us in becoming fire-safety protection heroes.

The Science of Fire

Fire is a chemical reaction that involves fuel, heat, and oxygen. Combining the three elements results as releasing of heat, light, and various reaction products. Further, fire requires a continuous supply of all three components to keep burning. Removing any one of them helps extinguish the fire.

The Behavior and Spread of Fire

Fire spreads rapidly by transferring heat to nearby combustible materials through conduction, convection, and radiation. The speed and direction also play an important role in the spread of fire, depending on other factors such as the type of fuel, the wind, and the layout of the building. Understanding the behavior of the fire helps in taking precautionary measures to fight against it.

Fire Management and Prevention

Apart from self-awareness, fire management and prevention also help in staying safe from hazardous chemical reactions. Let us delve into the important management measures and anticipate fire.

1. Fire-Resistant Building Materials

Using fire-resistant materials in construction, such as concrete, steel, and treated wood, can help slow the spread of fire. These materials have a higher combustion point and are less likely to catch a strong fire.

2. Fire Detection and Alarm System

Early detection is important for fire detection. Fire safety devices such as smoke detectors and fire alarms help in the detection of fire instantly. These precautionary indicators should go through regular testing and maintenance to ensure the proper functioning of the safety measure device.

3. Clear Emergency Egress Routes:

Buildings must have marked and unobstructed exit routes to enable fast exits during emergencies. Exit signs, emergency lighting such as emergency escape lighting, standby lighting, and fire evacuation plans assistance help in locating and using these routes efficiently.

4. Effective Fire Suppression Systems:

Automatic sprinkler systems, fire extinguishers, and standpipe systems play an important role in suppressing fire units until one gets professional help. Regular inspections and maintenance ensure these system’s operations work smoothly.

5. Comprehensive Fire Safety Plans and Training

Developing and implementing fire safety plans, conducting regular fire drills, and providing fire safety training to get safe from the fire are essential. These measures promote awareness, preparedness, and appropriate responses during emergencies.

Fire Prevention and Safety Act of 2005

Apart from fire management and prevention, the Fire Prevention and Fire Safety Act of 2005 is a vital law that ensures the protection of all of us. It works alongside other regulations like the Environment Protection Act 1986 and the Explosive Act and Rules to ensure that our surroundings are secure from the danger of fire. This act is constantly updated to stay powerful and deal with new challenges. By following these laws and policies, we will create a safer environment, reduce the threat of fire, and protect lives and property.

Safety from fire is the core responsibility of all of us. Understanding the science of fire and implementing proactive measures such as installing prevention systems, educating ourselves, and other safety practices helps the destruction caused by fire accidents. It should be remembered that a little prevention today can prevent a big disaster of tomorrow.

Also Read: Essay On Covid-19: 100, 200 and 300 Words

Ans: The importance of fire safety cannot be exaggerated. Fire can cause immense damage to property, injuries, and even loss of life. Implementing the proper fire safety measures can help prevent fires from occurring in the first place.

Ans: Fire safety refers to the measures and practices that aim to prevent fires, as well as strategies for minimising the risk and impact of fires.

Ans: The 5 fire safety rules include the following: 1. Keep the flammable materials away from heat sources. 2. Never leave the cooking unattended. 3. Install and maintain smoke detectors or alarms. 4. Have a fire protection plan and practice it at regular intervals. 5. Practice the safety of electricity.

Deepika Joshi

Deepika Joshi is an experienced content writer with educational and informative content expertise. She has hands-on experience in Education, Study Abroad and EdTech SaaS. Her strengths lie in conducting thorough research and analysis to provide accurate and up-to-date information to readers. She enjoys staying updated on new skills and knowledge, particularly in the education domain. In her free time, she loves to read articles, and blogs related to her field to expand her expertise further. In her personal life, she loves creative writing and aspires to connect with innovative people who have fresh ideas to offer.

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Technology to Streamline Fire Safety Equipment Inspection and Maintenance

Building information modeling and augmented reality provide a seamless, integrated process for updating and maintaining essential fire safety equipment.

By Caitlyn Caggia, Alex Saad-Falcon
Apr 01, 2021

Building information modeling (BIM) and augmented reality (AR) enhance the design, development, maintenance and operations of any building project. According to OSHA, the level of information available as emergency personnel arrive at a site is a critical factor in a successful fire response. As the amount of available information increases, the likelihood of a successful rescue increases. This same principle also holds true for preventative fire safety maintenance. BIM and AR increase the efficiency and thoroughness of fire safety equipment inspection by showing detailed building designs and maintenance information at the inspectors’ fingertips.

What is BIM?

Originally invented in the late 1970s, building information modeling (BIM) has gained much more traction recently in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry.1 BIM provides a one-stop shop for all information about a building design in a single model. This model can be used by legal teams, clients, architects, contractors, suppliers, engineers, construction managers, interior designers and site personnel to create designs, evaluate plans, and assess maintenance needs. BIM models are n-dimensional, as they include a 3D structure model in addition to HVAC, electric, plumbing, structural load modeling, emergency systems and other specialized models

While computer-aided design (CAD) has been a long-standing tool in AEC, CAD provides limited views of the building process in comparison to BIM.2 CAD is meant to digitize existing drawings and is often exported as 2D snapshots to share across the full building development team. Dependencies between objects and features are clearly articulated in BIM to realize the full implications of even a minor change across all systems. For example, if a designer wants to move this window 6 inches to the left, the structural engineers would need to move that beam, which changes the fire hazard potential of the area, and so on. The documentation of these dependencies is usable throughout the entire building project lifecycle, including planning, design, construction, maintenance, operation and decommissioning of a building.

BIM provides a comprehensive system view that enables unprecedented opportunity to streamline building development.3 Cost estimation is automated by BIM tools based on current design choices. Cross-system optimization promotes green building design—as energy usage can be minimized—and improves quality, reliability and durability across the lifetime of the project. As a single source of information for all building plans, BIM eliminates the need to reconcile multiple conflicting models as changes are made in independent teams. BIM also provides an audit trail with built-in change management. Many permits, regulations and legal considerations can be automatically checked within the model and updated with each change. Critical emergency response information, including fire safety equipment, is logged in context of all other building features.

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This article originally appeared in the April 1, 2021 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.

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Fire Safety

Understanding Fire Safety

Learn the best ways to manage and ensure fire safety in any establishment.

two firefighters being trained on fire safety

What is Fire Safety?

Fire safety refers to the set of precautions, procedures, and measures taken to prevent fires, minimize the risk of fire-related accidents, and ensure the safety of individuals and property in the event of a fire. It involves a combination of awareness, preparedness, and proper safety practices to prevent fires from occurring and mitigate their impact if they do happen.

According to the US National Safety Council (NSC) , the leading causes of home fires and injuries are cooking and heating. Thus, fire safety at home should be prioritized by practicing safety tips and protocols when using electrical appliances, cooking equipment, and others that may be fire hazards.

In addition, 2021 data from the US Fire Administration states that 116,500 non-residential building fires led to 1,025 injuries and 115 deaths. This is just one reason to implement fire safety in the workplace and mitigate the negative business impacts of fire-related incidents.

Moreover, fire safety is of paramount importance for the following reasons:

Preserving life – Implementing measures helps protect individuals from harm and ensures their well-being.
Protecting property – By following fire safety protocols, there’s minimal risk of property loss and destruction, potentially saving valuable assets and investments.
Preventing financial losses – Adequate measures reduce the risk of fire-related damages, avoiding financial burdens associated with property damage, repairs , and insurance claims.
Safeguarding the environment – Since fires can release toxic gases and pollutants and destroy natural habitats, fire safety practices can prevent such incidents and minimize harm to the environment .
Ensuring business continuity – By safeguarding the workplace against fires, businesses can protect their employees, maintain productivity, and avoid costly downtime.
Complying with regulations – Many jurisdictions have specific codes and regulations that must be followed. Adhering to these ensures legal compliance and helps avoid penalties or legal consequences.
Promoting public safety – By prioritizing fire safety, communities can create a safer environment for everyone, reducing the overall risk of fire-related accidents and emergencies.

Standards and Regulations

Property owners, managers, and occupants must be familiar with the applicable standards and regulations in their jurisdiction. Compliance helps create a safer environment, reduces the risk of fires, and ensures the protection of lives and property.

Here are some examples of fire safety agencies and codes in different countries:

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
England and Wales – Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO)
Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
New South Wales (NSW) Department of Planning
Safe Work Australia

What are the Different Stages of a Fire?

To effectively carry out safety steps and protocols, you must be familiar with the four main phases of fire and what you can do during each stage. Here’s an overview:

Incipient stage – The fire is small and localized at this stage, often limited to the materials or area of origin, and smoke production is usually minimal. If detected and addressed promptly, fires in the incipient stage can be easily extinguished.
Growth stage – The flames become larger, and the fire starts to intensify as it consumes more fuel and generates more heat. Hence, it’s essential to take immediate action to control its spread and prevent it from reaching the fully developed stage.
Fully developed stage – At this most dangerous and destructive phase of a fire, structural elements may be compromised, and there is a high risk of flashover (a sudden ignition of combustible gases and materials in the environment). Firefighting efforts should prioritize evacuation during this stage.
Decay stage – The flames start to weaken, and the heat output and smoke production decrease. However, pockets of heat and hidden fire may still exist, making it important to fully extinguish the fire and ensure it does not reignite.

Fire Hazards to Look Out For

Apart from being aware of the various stages of a fire, it’s also crucial to know the fire hazards to look out for. This can help organizations and individuals take proactive measures and create an effective fire safety system.

The following are some common examples of fire hazards in residential, workplace, or public settings:

Electrical hazards – faulty wiring, overloaded circuits, damaged electrical cords, and malfunctioning electrical equipment
Cooking-related hazards – grease buildup, unattended cooking, and misuse of cooking appliances
Heating sources – improper use of heating devices such as portable heaters, fireplaces, and wood-burning stoves
Flammable liquids and chemicals – gasoline, paint thinners, and solvents
Smoking – careless disposal of cigarette butts and smoking materials
Open flames – unattended candles, incense, and open flames
Flammable materials – paper, cardboard, textiles, and flammable gasses

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Fire Safety Strategies

Strategies for Implementing Fire Safety

Implementing effective fire safety tips and strategies is crucial to minimize the risk of fires and ensure the safety of individuals and properties. Here are some steps you can take:

Use a fire safety checklist — A checklist can help you systematically assess and address potential fire hazards within your premises.
Fire alarms
Fire extinguishers (of different classes )
Smoke detectors and alarms
Sprinkler systems
Emergency lights
Fire escape ladders
Fire-resistant clothing and gear
Create a fire safety plan — Develop a thorough and easy-to-communicate fire safety and emergency response plan that includes detailed evacuation routes, clearly marked emergency exits, and designated assembly points.
Conduct fire drills — Regular fire drills help evaluate the effectiveness of your procedures and identify points for improvement.
Educate and train — Effective and regular fire safety training helps prepare individuals to prevent, respond to, and mitigate fire incidents with the knowledge, skills, and confidence necessary to handle fire emergencies.
Collaborate with authorities — Work closely with local fire departments, fire inspectors, and authorities to ensure compliance with fire safety regulations. You can also seek their guidance for safety assessments, inspections, and obtaining necessary permits.

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What to Do During a Fire

During a fire, it’s crucial to act quickly and stick to proper procedures. To guide you, here are some fire safety rules and tips to follow:

Alert others – This can be done by activating the nearest fire alarm or shouting “Fire!” to notify people in the vicinity. The sooner everyone is aware of the danger, the faster they can take appropriate actions.
Evacuate safely – Follow the designated evacuation routes. Feel doors for heat before opening them, and if a door feels hot, do not open it as it may indicate fire on the other side.
Crawl low if necessary – Stay close to the ground where the air is less toxic, and crawl on your hands and knees to avoid inhaling smoke and toxic gases.
Close doors behind you – This helps slow the spread of fire and smoke and protect escape routes, buying time for others to evacuate safely.
Use stairs, not elevators – Always use stairwells for evacuation, especially in multi-story buildings, as elevators may malfunction during a fire or take you to a floor affected by it.
Stay calm – Try to remain calm and focused. Encourage others to do the same.
Follow emergency protocols – If you are in a public place, follow the instructions and emergency protocols provided by the staff or emergency personnel.
Help those in need – If you encounter anyone unable to evacuate on their own, assist them if it’s safe to do so. Alert firefighters or emergency responders about their location as soon as possible.
Do not re-enter the building – Once you have safely evacuated, do not re-enter the building for any reason until the authorities have declared it safe to do so. Since fire conditions can change rapidly, it’s best to wait for professional guidance.
Call emergency services – Dial your local government’s emergency services number as soon as you’re in a safe location and provide them with accurate information about the fire, your location, and any individuals who may still be inside.

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FAQs About Fire Safety

How do you conduct a fire risk assessment.

Conducting a fire risk assessment is an important process to identify potential fire hazards, evaluate the level of risk, and implement appropriate fire safety measures. Here are the general steps involved in this process:

Use a fire risk assessment checklist to ensure everything is well accounted for.
Identify and document fire hazards in the area or premises.
Evaluate existing fire safety measures to assess their effectiveness and compliance with fire safety standards and regulations.
Assess the likelihood of a fire and its potential consequences.
Document the findings of the fire risk assessment, areas of improvement, and recommended actions.
Take appropriate actions to address the identified deficiencies and mitigate the risks.

Who is responsible for managing fire safety plans in an organization?

All employers are responsible for developing, implementing, and managing fire safety plans. It’s ideal for safety professionals to be consulted for this in order to be truly prepared. Moreover all employees must follow fire safety plans and assist others in doing so.

Are there specific fire safety measures for different industries?

Yes, different industries may have specific fire safety measures tailored to their unique operations, processes, and potential fire hazards. Here are a few examples:

Hospitality – fire-resistant construction materials, sprinkler systems, automatic fire suppression systems in kitchen areas
Manufacturing – proper storage and handling of flammable substances, adequate ventilation and extraction systems, installation of fire detection and suppression systems
Retail – fire-resistant storage areas for flammable products, staff training on fire prevention and emergency response

What should you not do during a fire incident?

During a fire incident, you must not:

panic since you may have a hard time thinking clearly and making rational decisions;
waste time trying to gather personal belongings or valuables;
block emergency exits or routes;
ignore fire alarms or warnings;
fight the fire if not trained; and
hide or remain in a locked room.

Patricia Guevara

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Fire Safety: Key Principles and Measures Essay

To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
As a template for you assignment

Introduction

Principles of fire safety, importance of following fire safety measures.

Fire safety is a state of protection of an individual, property, and society from fires. It includes a set of measures aimed at securing property values and people from the risk and likelihood of hazardous fire situations, including the consequences of a fire. Special conditions of a social and technical nature, established for the purpose of ensuring safety, are critical aspects to comply with both at the organizational level and at home. The importance of fire safety lies in an opportunity to protect against unforeseen situations and prevent casualties or loss of property as a result of careless handling of fire or flammable objects.

The principles of fire safety established within the framework of both an individual organization and society as a whole are regulated by the relevant supervisory authorities. According to McNay et al. (2019), these rules “are a result of a consensus between rule givers (i.e. regulators) and rules takers (i.e. operators, designers)” (p. 102859). In the context of responsibility for safety, special training is carried out regularly in organizations of different profiles. Its main goals are to convey to employees the basic requirements of behavior, study the fire hazard of technological processes of production and equipment, introduce fire protection means, and identify people’s actions in case of a fire (McNay et al., 2019). At the same time, even when delegating responsibilities, control measures are competencies of heads and administrators. This means that some individual parties are responsible for the safety of property and people, which explains the accuracy and regularity of relevant training briefings. Therefore, special regulatory rules exist for both workers and citizens and for those who supervise the appropriate observance of fire safety standards.

One of the key reasons explaining the urgent need and importance of following fire safety measures is the high risks associated with neglecting these rules. In addition to the elementary standards, certain principles require specialized knowledge, for instance, when working with electrical appliances. Kodur et al. (2019) emphasize the importance of educating the population at the present stage of development when the mass of electrical appliances assembled in multi-storey buildings increases the risks of hazardous fire situations. With the appropriate knowledge of how to act in case of a fire and what steps to take to help others, people are safer. Therefore, Kodur et al. (2019) argue that “developing cost-effective fire suppression systems and rational fire design approaches, characterizing new materials and developing performance-based codes” are crucial tasks to introduce (p. 1). Otherwise, numerous human casualties are inevitable, and examples from world practice, when weak measures were taken to ensure all the required security standards, prove this. Thus, control over adherence to the existing regulations, the identification of responsible parties, and an adequate resource base are important conditions for integrated fire safety.

The need to prevent potential casualties and critical property damage is the primary reason for following fire safety norms based on the existing legal regulations. Responsible persons in enterprises are to conduct regular training briefings and allocate material resources aimed at creating a secure environment for work. In everyday life, citizens’ safety standards include keeping people aware of potential threats and how to avoid them. Adequate fire safety is the key to saving lives and helping those in need if necessary.

Kodur, V., Kumar, P., & Rafi, M. M. (2019). Fire hazard in buildings: review, assessment and strategies for improving fire safety. PSU Research Review , 4 (1), 1-23. Web.

McNay, J., Puisa, R., & Vassalos, D. (2019). Analysis of effectiveness of fire safety in machinery spaces. Fire Safety Journal , 108 , 102859. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2022, October 21). Fire Safety: Key Principles and Measures. https://ivypanda.com/essays/fire-safety-key-principles-and-measures/

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Bibliography

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Fire hazard in buildings: review, assessment and strategies for improving fire safety

PSU Research Review

ISSN : 2399-1747

Article publication date: 25 September 2019

Issue publication date: 27 April 2020

The current fire protection measures in buildings do not account for all contemporary fire hazard issues, which has made fire safety a growing concern. Therefore, this paper aims to present a critical review of current fire protection measures and their applicability to address current challenges relating to fire hazards in buildings.

Design/methodology/approach

To overcome fire hazards in buildings, impact of fire hazards is also reviewed to set the context for fire protection measures. Based on the review, an integrated framework for mitigation of fire hazards is proposed. The proposed framework involves enhancement of fire safety in four key areas: fire protection features in buildings, regulation and enforcement, consumer awareness and technology and resources advancement. Detailed strategies on improving fire safety in buildings in these four key areas are presented, and future research and training needs are identified.

Current fire protection measures lead to an unquantified level of fire safety in buildings, provide minimal strategies to mitigate fire hazard and do not account for contemporary fire hazard issues. Implementing key measures that include reliable fire protection systems, proper regulation and enforcement of building code provisions, enhancement of public awareness and proper use of technology and resources is key to mitigating fire hazard in buildings. Major research and training required to improve fire safety in buildings include developing cost-effective fire suppression systems and rational fire design approaches, characterizing new materials and developing performance-based codes.

Practical implications

The proposed framework encompasses both prevention and management of fire hazard. To demonstrate the applicability of this framework in improving fire safety in buildings, major limitations of current fire protection measures are identified, and detailed strategies are provided to address these limitations using proposed fire safety framework.

Social implications

Fire represents a severe hazard in both developing and developed countries and poses significant threat to life, structure, property and environment. The proposed framework has social implications as it addresses some of the current challenges relating to fire hazard in buildings and will enhance overall fire safety.

Originality/value

The novelty of proposed framework lies in encompassing both prevention and management of fire hazard. This is unlike current fire safety improvement strategies, which focus only on improving fire protection features in buildings (i.e. managing impact of fire hazard) using performance-based codes. To demonstrate the applicability of this framework in improving fire safety in buildings, major limitations of current fire protection measures are identified and detailed strategies are provided to address these limitations using proposed fire safety framework. Special emphasis is given to cost-effectiveness of proposed strategies, and research and training needs for further enhancing building fire safety are identified.

Fire hazard
Framework for fire design
Strategies for fire safety
Fire protection engineering

Kodur, V. , Kumar, P. and Rafi, M.M. (2020), "Fire hazard in buildings: review, assessment and strategies for improving fire safety", PSU Research Review , Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1108/PRR-12-2018-0033

Emerald Publishing Limited

Published in PSU Research Review: An International Journal . Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

1. Introduction

Buildings constitute majority of built infrastructure and play a pivotal role in socio-economic development of a country. Most of the buildings are designed to last for several decades and provide residential and functional operations to large number of inhabitants throughout their design life. During this long time-span, buildings are subjected to several natural (earthquake, hurricane, tsunamis etc.) and manmade (fire, explosion etc.) hazards which can cause partial or complete collapse of the building, and incapacitation of building operations. Such destruction or incapacitation in the event of a hazard can jeopardize the life safety of inhabitants and can cause significant direct and indirect monetary losses. Hence, buildings are designed to withstand actions from numerous anticipated hazards to ensure life and structural safety during their design life, and fire represents one such extreme hazard that can occur in buildings.

Fire hazard in buildings can be defined as the potential of accidental or intentional fire to threaten life, structural, and property safety in a building. With rapid development across the globe, fire hazard in buildings have undergone significant transformation in terms of severity and versatility and have become a growing concern in recent years. In the past two decades (1993-2015), a total of 86.4 million fire incidents have caused more than one million fire deaths ( Brushlinsky et al. , 2017 ), and total annual loss from global fire hazard accounts for about 1 per cent of the world GDP ( Bulletin, 2014 ) (approximately US$857.9bn [ GDP, 2018 ]). On an average, 3.8 million fires caused 44,300 fire deaths every year in both developed and developing countries across the globe ( Brushlinsky et al. , 2017 ). Between 2010-2014, maximum number of fires (600,000-1,500,000 per year) and the second highest number of fire deaths (1,000-10,000 per year) in the world occurred in a developed country such as USA ( Brushlinsky et al. , 2016 ). Whereas, developing countries such as India and Pakistan suffered highest number of fire causalities (10,000-25,000 per year) and second highest number of fires (100,000-600,000 per year) ( Brushlinsky et al. , 2016 ). Therefore, to mitigate these adverse effects of fire hazard, it is important to provide necessary fire safety in buildings.

Fire safety can be defined as the set of practices to prevent or avert occurrence of fire and manage growth and effects of accidental or intentional fires while keeping resulting losses to an acceptable level. Currently, fire safety in buildings is provided through following provisions recommended by building codes of practice. While specifications and strategies for ensuring fire safety in buildings vary from one code of practice to other, most of them are based on prescriptive based approach and are derived from similar fire safety principles. In prescriptive based approaches, fire safety in buildings is provided using a combination of active and passive fire protection systems. Active fire protection systems (sprinklers, heat and smoke detectors etc.) are designed to detect and control or extinguish fire in its initial stage and are more important from life safety perspective. Whereas, passive fire protection systems (structural and non-structural building components) are designed to ensure structural stability during fire exposure and to contain fire spread. Their main goal is to allow ample time for firefighting and rescue operations, and to minimize monetary losses.

This traditional approach of ensuring fire safety have several limitations in addressing contemporary fire hazard challenges (discussed in detail in Section 4) and provide limited guidelines on prevention of fire hazard itself. Major limitations of active fire protection systems include poor performance and functional reliability, and high cost of installation and maintenance -which often becomes a big concern in developing countries with limited monetary resources. On the other hand, passive fire protection focusses on fire performance of individual structural members and building components instead of holistic fire safety in building; which leads to an unquantified fire safety in building. Moreover, prescriptive approach of ensuring fire safety is not well integrated with actual building design process, and often fire design is done with the main goal of obtaining approval from fire safety regulatory bodies ( Maluk et al. , 2017 ). Therefore, in developing countries with poor regulation and enforcement environments, often no or inadequate fire safety provisions are provided in buildings.

To address these challenges, this study proposes a new integrated framework (see Figure 1 ) of fire protection features in buildings, regulation and enforcement, consumer awareness, and technology and resources advancement to improve fire safety in buildings. Unlike current fire safety improvement strategies, which focus only on improving fire protection features in buildings (i.e. managing impact of fire hazard), the novelty of proposed framework lies in encompassing both prevention and management of fire hazard. To demonstrate the applicability of this framework in improving fire safety in buildings, major limitations of current fire protection measures are identified, and detailed strategies are provided to address these limitations using proposed fire safety framework. Special emphasis is given to cost-effectiveness of proposed strategies, and research and training needs to further enhance building fire safety are identified.

2. Impact of fire hazard

Buildings contain several direct and indirect sources that contribute to fire hazard; and in the event of a fire there is significant risk to life, structure, property and environment from the initial development stages of fire itself.

2.1 Sources of fire hazard

Fire hazard constitute of all factors present in a building that can cause ignition (start fire), aggravate fire severity, incapacitate building fire safety provisions, and hinder escape or firefighting operations. Based on available statistics it is suggested that cooking is the leading cause of fire in both residential and non-residential buildings ( USFA, 2016 ). Other sources of ignition in buildings include all live flames, heaters and hot surfaces, electrical malfunction, fireworks, and arson and vandalism. After ignition, fire severity can be aggravated by several factors such as large quantity of combustible household materials; improper storage of tools, rubbish, equipment, and volatile flammable materials (liquid petroleum gas, paints, ammunition etc.); materials producing toxic smoke on combustion; and combustible building components such as composite panels and timber. Also, use of open architecture (glass partitions, false ceiling etc.), large windows, and poor fire compartmentation design can cause rapid fire growth and spread by providing constant supply of oxygen to fire. All of the factors discussed above have a direct impact on starting fire or increasing its severity, and a comprehensive review of all such factors can be found in the literature ( Buchanan and Abu, 2017 ; Drysdale, 2011 ).

On the other hand, fire safety in building can be threatened by indirect factors as well; which can incapacitate building fire protection measures, and hinder fire escape and firefighting operations. Some of these factors include poor regulation and enforcement of building codes (no or inadequate fire safety provisions in buildings), lack of common and civic sense (disabling or not using smoke detectors, ignoring fire alarm, vandalism etc.), lack of resources for maintenance of active fire systems (insufficient water for sprinklers, expired fire extinguishers etc.), and damage to fire safety provisions from other hazards (earthquakes, hurricanes etc.). These factors can lead to insufficient fire safety provisions within a building and significantly increase risk to life, structural, and property safety in the event of a fire; thus, contribute to fire hazard.

Another source of fire hazard, especially in populated areas close to wildlands, is one arising from forest fires (wildfires). Due to increase in human encroachment on the wildland urban interface, number of buildings and people living in the fire prone wildland is increasing significantly in recent years. This has made wildfires (resulting primarily from arson and lightning) a major source of fire hazard in wildland urban areas across the globe. In USA alone, an average of 66,903 wildfires occurred every between 2009-2018 which burned an average of 6.9 million acres and caused an average of US$1.8bn for firefighting costs ( NICC, 2018 ; Cost, 2018 ). In 2018, a total of 25,790 structures were destroyed by wildfires including 18,137 residences, 6,927 minor structures, and 229 commercial/mixed residential structures; which is highest number of structures lost to wildfires since 1999, and almost double of previous highest of 12,306 in 2017 ( NICC, 2018 ). In Canada, about 8,000 wildfires occur every year and are responsible for burning of 6.1 million acres per year ( CWFIS, 2018 ). Similar trends in building fire hazard from wildfires can be found across the globe as well.

2.2 Development of building fire

The full uninterrupted development process of a building fire inside a typical room is illustrated in Figure 2 through temperature-time evolution. The temperature-time evolution depends on a wide range of variables (fuel load, ventilation, compartmentation characteristics etc.), therefore, there is significant variation in fire dynamics of each fire. A comprehensive discussion on fire development and its characterization can be found elsewhere in the literature ( Buchanan and Abu, 2017 ). In general, growth of fire in a compartment is categorized into two distinct phases; namely pre-flashover fires and post-flashover fires ( Figure 2 ). In pre-flashover phase, the duration from smoldering (flameless combustion) to ignition (combustion with flames) is defined as incipient stage, and duration from ignition to flashover (rapid increase in temperatures) is defined as growth stage of fire. Whereas, in post flashover phase, duration for which temperatures keep increasing from combustion is defined as burning stage, and subsequent cooling is defined as decay stage of fire. Pre-flashover phase is important from life safety perspective, and post-flashover phase is important from structural safety perspective. Detailed impact of fire hazard in pre and post-flashover phases is discussed below.

2.3 Impact on life safety

There is significant risk to life safety in both pre and post-flashover phases of building fires, and on an average about 44,300 fire deaths have occurred every year between 1993 and 2015 ( Brushlinsky et al. , 2017 ). During pre-flashover phase of fire, combustion generates several toxic gases which are extremely deleterious to humans and inhalation (even in small quantities) can be fatal within minutes ( Nelson, 1998 ; Alarie, 2002 ). Most common among these are carbon monoxide (generated from incomplete combustion), hydrogen cyanide (generated from burning plastics), and phosgene gas (generated from burning vinyl-based household materials). The smoke generated from combustion also contains small soot particles and toxic vapor which can cause irritation to eyes and digestive system. It is due to this high toxicity of smoke (toxic gases, soot particles and vapor) that more fire deaths occur from smoke than burning itself ( NFPA, 2018 ). Also, smoke and hot gases obscure and hinder escape routes from building during fire, which further increases risk to life safety from inhalation of toxic gases and burning.

Other threats to life safety are from reducing oxygen levels in room from combustion and inhaling hot air. Humans undergo impaired judgement and coordination when oxygen levels in room fall to 17 per cent from normal 21 per cent; headache, dizziness, nausea, and fatigue at 12 per cent; unconsciousness at 9 per cent; and respiratory arrest, cardiac arrest, and even death when oxygen levels fall to 6 per cent ( NFPA, 2018 ). Also, inhaling hot gases can burn respiratory tract, and one breath of hot air can even lead to death. During post-flashover phase, the concentration of toxic smoke is very high and fire temperatures are untenable for humans and can lead to certain death, thus, all life safety operations are usually targeted towards pre-flashover phase of fire. Apart from toxic smoke and burning, biggest risk to life safety during post-flashover phase is partial or complete collapse of structure which can inhibit firefighting operations and kill trapped inhabitants under collapsed debris. Therefore, fire represents significant threat to life safety even when it is not fully developed, and every minute is critical in evacuating inhabitants during building fires.

2.4 Impact on structural safety

During fully developed stage, fire temperatures can reach above 1,000°C which can cause significant degradation in strength and stiffness properties of structural materials (concrete, steel, wood, etc.) ( Kodur, 2014 ). This material degradation can incapacitate structural members to carry designed structural loads, and lead to partial or complete collapse of building during or after fire. Also, material degradation has strong potential to cause permanent structural damage which can cause premature failure of building under other natural hazards for which it was originally designed for; thus, endangering structural safety. A detailed review on impact of fire on structural safety can be referred to literature ( Buchanan and Abu, 2017 ).

2.5 Impact on property safety

One of the biggest impact of fire hazard is on property safety and it causes direct and indirect losses of billions of dollars in both developed and developing countries across the globe ( Brushlinsky et al. , 2017 ). Even if building withstands fire without life losses, aftermath of almost every fire involves monetary losses magnitude of which depends on severity of fire. Direct losses from fire hazard include loss of property from burning, sprinkler operation, firefighting operations (damage to property from water of fire brigade, breaking of doors and windows etc.), falling debris from partial or complete collapse of structure; and structural damage and cost of repair. Whereas, indirect losses include loss of use during time required for repairs, loss from temporary or permanent relocation, loss from demolishing structure, increase in insurance costs, environmental contamination etc.

2.6 Impact on environmental safety

Fire hazard generates several environmental pollutants from combustion, firefighting operations, and spillage from containers of hazardous materials due to damage from fire. Most common fire pollutants include metals, particulates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, chlorinate dioxins and furans, and brominated dioxins and furans, polychlorinated biphenyls and polyfluorinated compounds ( Martin et al. , 2016 ). During fire, transmission of these pollutants occurs to environment through fire plume (air contamination), from firefighting water runoff (water contamination), and deposited air and water contaminants (land contamination); thus, causing environmental pollution. The magnitude of environmental pollution depends on the exposure duration, transmission medium, and susceptibility of receiving atmospheric, aquatic and terrestrial environments; and a detailed study on effect of fire on environment can be referred to the literature ( Martin et al. , 2016 ).

3. Review of current fire protection measures

Most of the current fire protection measures are prescriptive and based on similar fire safety principles. Therefore, these provisions can be grouped under four generic categories as: general strategy for fire safety, building codes and standards, safety provisions within building, and firefighting operations.

3.1 General strategy for fire safety

The first line and foremost strategy to tackle fire hazards is prevention of fire occurrence. Because it is not always possible to prevent fire, impact of fire should be managed by either managing fire itself or by managing exposed persons and the property. The usual strategy for managing persons is to evacuate exposed persons from the building by causing movement of people through a safe fire escape route. For people to evacuate safely, it is important that these requirements are met simultaneously: fire is detected in incipient or growth stage (earlier the better), occupants are notified using fire alarm and a safe fire escape route exists in the building. However, in case of high rise buildings, it is not possible to evacuate people through a safe fire escape passage in the time bound. Therefore, defend-in-place strategy is adopted by providing safe refuge on certain levels of building, which are then evacuated by firefighting department. This allows firefighters to target evacuation operations to these specific refuge areas only and save precious time which can be a factor of life and death in fire situations.

To manage fire and its impact, general strategy is to control the available fuel for combustion and use suppression by using various fire protection features installed in a building. Many building codes and standards specify a permissible limit of the available fuel load in a building (given as energy floor density in MJ/m 2 ), so that in case of ignition, fire growth is controlled by limited fuel supply. The fire severity corresponding to this limited fuel load is taken into consideration in the building design to withstand this certain level of fire severity. Therefore, the limit on the available combustible fuel load inside a building is dependent on the fire resistance requirement of the building and vice versa.

The other effective method of controlling fire is through suppression using automated or manual fire protection provisions. In case of automatic fire suppression systems, it is essential that both fire detection equipment and fire suppression equipment work simultaneously. The automatic provisions for fire suppression include automated sprinklers, condensed aerosol fire suppression systems, and gaseous fire suppression systems. On the other hand, manual fire suppression refers to manual fire extinguisher systems or standpipe systems. The suppression of fire depends upon early detection, functional reliability, and performance reliability of fire protection measures.

The last defense (for controlling fire and to manage its impact) is through compartmentation and structural stability. The structural stability is important as it helps in localizing fire, allows the firefighting operations to continue safely and prevent property losses arising from total collapse of structure. To ensure structural stability, it is important to control the fire spread inside building and to keep it to a localized zone only. This can be achieved by using fire compartmentation which contains the fire to a local area only and does not allow further movement of fire inside the building. Another possibility for controlling fire movement is by using fire venting which provides increased ventilation to fire affected zone only and exhausts the available fuel.

3.2 Building codes and standards

Detailed provisions in building codes are specified to avert the occurrence of fire, manage its impact, and to ensure life and structural safety while keeping property and life losses to a minimum. Building codes and standards provide guidelines for both design and assessment of fire resistance of structural members and assemblies. In case of building fire design, codes specify function of building elements under fire exposure, permissible limit of fuel load density, required fire ratings for building elements, recommendations on type of materials, minimum member dimensions to achieve required fire rating, and guidelines for evacuation strategies. These recommendations vary with type of occupancy such as hospital, commercial buildings, and residential buildings etc. Generally, for public buildings such as hospitals and nursing homes (where risk to life safety is higher and indirect monetary losses are very high), building codes and standards recommend much conservative solutions with high factor of safety.

To assess fire safety of a structural member or assembly, building codes and standards use three main fire safety criteria as per function of a building member. These include: stability criterion (R) which is the ability to withstand applied loads during fire exposure; integrity criterion (E) which is the ability to prevent fire propagation due to formation of cracks and fissures; and insulation criterion (I) which is the ability to insulate the unexposed faces during fire exposure. Considering these fire safety criteria, the fire resistance assessment can be carried out by prescriptive approach or advanced analysis ( Buchanan and Abu, 2017 ). In prescriptive based approach, fire resistance assessment is carried out by correlating member specifications (dimensions, clear cover, aggregate type) to fire safety criteria using data from standard fire tests. Whereas, in case of advanced analysis methods, building codes and standards provide parametric fire curves to be used in the fire resistance assessment, and recommend material properties at elevated temperatures to be used in the analysis while fire safety criteria remains same ( Eurocode 2, 2004 ).

3.3 Fire safety provisions within a building

The fire safety provisions provided within a building are grouped under two main categories as active and passive fire protection systems. The active fire protection systems (sprinklers, smoke detectors, fire extinguishers etc.) refer to the control of fire by taking some action using an automated device or by a person. On the other hand, passive fire protection systems refer to the fire protection measures which are built in within the building itself, and do not require any operation by people or automated controls (for example fire ratings of structural and non-structural members or assemblies).

In the incipient stage of fire, fire extinguishers are used to contain the fire while they still can. If the fire goes into growth phase, the priority is to evacuate people out of the building as inhalation of toxic gases from fire can be fatal within minutes ( Nelson, 1998 ; Alarie, 2002 ). In this stage, the fire management falls to automated or manual active fire protection systems. It should be noted that the timing for onset of all automated fire protection systems is crucial as any delay in fire alarm directly endangers life safety and reduces chances of containing fire once it grows in intensity. Therefore, ideally all evacuation process should be completed before fire gets out of control of active fire protection systems. Time available for escape can be related to the fire growth period as: (1) t d + t s + t r s ≤ t u where t d is the time elapsed from ignition to fire detection, t s is the delay between detection and start of escape activity, t rs is the time to move to a place of relative safety and t u is the time (from ignition) for the fire to produce untenable conditions.

After flashover, the fire temperatures can reach as high as 1,000°C and the resulting thermal expansion and degradation in material properties pose a serious threat to structural safety. During this phase of fire, the main target of passive fire protection systems is to contain the spread of fire while ensuring structural stability. To do so, it is important that all structural and non-structural members satisfy the fire safety criterion of Section 3.2 for the required duration of fire exposure. These passive fire protection systems allow safe firefighting operations, safe evacuation operations, and mitigate property losses.

3.4 Firefighting

If the fire is not extinguished through active fire protection systems, extinguishing or controlling fire as well as ensuring life safety comes down to the role of firefighting department. The time required by the firefighting department to reach the site and begin firefighting operations play a key role in firefighting and is known as response time. The firefighting department is equipped with specialized equipment to provide alternate entries into a building, and to perform rescue operations even in most inaccessible places. In some countries, firefighting department also has the legal powers to inspect and enforce building owners to comply with building fire safety provisions as specified in codes and standards. This allows for better enforcement of the fire safety provisions, and a continuous monitoring of the same helps in improving fire safety.

4. Assessment of current fire protection measures

Current fire protection measures have several limitations in addressing contemporary fire hazard challenges.

4.1 Adverse conditions/features in modern buildings

modern buildings having high fuel (fire) load which is hard to limit;

highly combustible nature of room contents – due to more plastic and cellulose based materials in modern houses;

open space architecture and use of too much glass (which is poor for fire compartmentation);

use of new construction materials with poor fire performance; and

longer response times for firefighting – due to adverse traffic conditions, narrow lanes and irregularly planned cities.

Due to enhanced standard of living, there is abundant carbon rich fuel (for example wood furniture, stationary, clothes, and other flammable items) in most of the modern buildings. Such high intensity of fuel load plays a key role in faster fire propagation, shorter flashover time, and rapid changes in fire dynamics. A full scale experimental study aimed at characterizing fire development in modern and legacy rooms concluded that flashover point can occur as fast as within 5 min of fire in modern rooms, and after 29 min in case of legacy rooms ( Kerber, 2012 ). The development of room temperatures in case of legacy and modern rooms of this study is shown in Figure 3 . It can be clearly observed from Figure 3 that temperature rises rapidly for relatively shorter duration in case of all modern room fires, thus, represent increased fire severity.

Further, modern buildings are designed with open architecture glazing with transparent glass windows and false ceilings to facilitate larger open office spaces for comfort and aesthetics. These open spaces, false ceilings, and large openings do not provide required compartmentation for fire safety. Thus, the probability of fire spread from one floor to another via large openings increases as compared to normal buildings, as glass windows and false ceiling are prone to failure at high temperatures. Breaking of such large sized windows can provide immense supply of oxygen to fire, thus, aggravating the fire severity as well. Therefore, combination of high fuel load density and open architecture create ideal conditions for intense and rapid-fire spread in modern buildings.

In recent years, new construction materials are being developed to achieve high performance in terms of strength, stiffness, ductility and cost. Examples include, ultra-high-performance concrete with 6-8 times greater compressive strength than that of conventional concrete; high performance steel; and fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) which are non-corrosive, extremely lightweight, and stronger than steel. These new materials are often used in high rise buildings and have better strength and stiffness than conventional construction materials at normal temperatures. However, most of these materials undergo rapid degradation in structural properties (usually faster than conventional materials) at elevated temperatures which leads to lower fire resistance ( Kodur, 2014 ; Firmo et al. , 2015 ). Also, modern buildings consist of large quantities of plastic and vinyl-based materials which have high combustion toxicity, and therefore, increase risk to life safety.

Further, due to narrow streets, high traffic volume, and irregularly planned cities the response time for firefighting operations is significantly longer in most of the developing countries. This longer response time along with extreme reduction in flashover time in modern buildings [5 min vs 29 min ( Kerber, 2012 )] provides insufficient time for evacuation and firefighting operations, and significantly exacerbates the risk to life and structural safety. However, the current adopted fire safety provisions based on prescriptive based approach do not account for these factors.

4.2 Limitations of current building code provisions

In case of defining structural fires, most of the building codes and standards use standard fire curves ( Figure 2 ) ( ISO 834-1, 2012 ; Eurocode 1, 2004 ; ASTM E119-18, 2018 ). These standard fires are highly conservative and do not represent realistic fire scenario in building. No consideration is provided to fuel loads, ventilation openings, progressive burning, or localized fires; which play a key role in characterizing temperatures in post-flashover stage.

In case of active fire protection systems, prescriptive codes have limited guidelines on providing acceptable limits for functional and performance reliability of new/existing fire protection systems, and they lack a framework to assess the same. Further, there is a lack of rational provisions to standardize the qualitative and quantitative requirements of fire protection systems such as sprinklers, smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, fire safety escape routes etc. For example, Figure 4 ( Hagiwara and Tanaka, 1994 ) illustrates that for a similar number of inhabitants, the required width for fire escape stairway is significantly different in building codes of different countries. Due to these factors, most of the building codes and standards have significant differences in terms of the active fire safety provisions in buildings.

For passive fire protection systems, fire resistance of desired structural member or assembly is assessed under standard fire exposure at service load levels, simplified end restrains, and simplified failure criterion. The resulting fire resistance is extended to other members of different dimensions based on simplified correlations of experimental fire resistance with member dimensions, concrete cover to reinforcement, type of aggregate etc. These provisions are provided in the form of prescriptive guidelines to obtain desired fire resistance of structural or non-structural members. Most of these prescriptive guidelines offer very limited to no commentary on the accepted fire safety provisions which makes the comparison between such codal fire safety provisions very difficult. Also, there is significant variation in the predicted fire ratings of different codes for same member ( Kodur and Hatinger, 2011 ).

Further, this traditional approach of evaluating fire resistance is often overly conservative and do not account for specific conditions in buildings such as varying fuel load, realistic fire and loading scenarios, compartmentation characteristics, member interactions, continuity, restraint conditions etc. Therefore, the experimental studies based on this conventional approach provide unrealistic response of the structural systems under fire scenario and should not be used to predict actual response of structures under fire. Also, no consideration is provided to the adverse effect of performance specific problems of new constituent materials (for e.g. spalling in high strength concrete), toxicity, and degradation in their corresponding material properties at elevated temperatures in fire resistance predictions.

4.3 Reliability of fire protection systems

Reliability of active fire protection systems is not 100 per cent and this inhibits fire detection in its growth stage, risks safe evacuation of inhabitants, and decreases the chances of extinguishing or controlling fire in its growth phase. On the other hand, improper functioning of active fire protection systems such as false alarms can cause disbelief in the fire alarm, unnecessary panic, and valuable property damage (for e.g. water damage to sensitive furniture and paintings due to sprinklers).

Between 2012 and 2016, smoke alarms failed to operate for an average of 25,700 home fires per year which caused an average of 440 deaths and 1,440 injuries annually ( Ahrens, 2019 ). Whereas, a comprehensive review on effectiveness of sprinklers indicate that general sprinkler system effectiveness in controlling fire ranges from 70.1 to 99.5 per cent ( Frank et al. , 2013 ). These variations can be different in different countries; however, there is significant lack of reliable statistical data, experimental, and analytical studies. Therefore, it can be argued that there is significant amount of uncertainty associated with the functioning of active fire protection systems.

In case of passive fire protection systems, the major reliability constrains lie in the holistic fire performance of the structure. Passive fire protection is often focused on individual elements, and it is assumed that if individual elements satisfy required fire resistance criteria, these elements will satisfy fire safety criteria in building assembly as well. However, it may not be the case always, as restrains to thermal expansion, continuity, load transfer mechanisms and redundancy in structural system inside building may enhance or aggravate fire resistance of the building components; which makes it difficult to assess passive fire resistance of the building assembly.

Other reliability constrains with passive fire protection systems lie in the use of thermal insulation materials. These insulation materials are used to enhance the fire resistance of new or existing structural elements, and there is significant variation associated with the performance of the same. This variation is primarily due to uncertainty in the adhesion of insulation material with structural element, varying thickness (in case of spray applied insulation systems), and due to lack of reliable high temperature material properties. It has been demonstrated by experimental and numerical studies that fire insulation undergoes significant delamination under dynamic loading, and it can significantly accelerate failure of the structural element under subsequent fire exposure in post-earthquake fire scenario ( Arablouei and Kodur, 2016 ).

4.4 Limitations of firefighting

average response time;

quality and quantity of available resources (including firefighters) for firefighting; and

compliance effectiveness of fire safety regulations.

The response time is defined as the minimum time taken by the firefighting department to reach the fire site and start firefighting operation, after receiving the notification of fire incident. Shorter response time provide many advantages to life safety, as the chances of complete evacuation and quenching or controlling fire are higher in the initial stages of the fire. However, the average response time vary from few minutes to few hours in different countries. This high variation in average response time from country to country can be attributed to its dependence on high number of factors such as topology of area, firefighting equipment, traffic conditions, civic sense etc.

The second influencing factor on firefighting is the quality and quantity of available firefighting resources. For example, the fire brigade has a limit to the maximum height up to which firefighting operations can be performed, amount of water it can carry etc. Therefore, even if the response time of fire brigade is short, firefighting may not be effective. Moreover, the standards of training for firefighters vary significantly from one country to another, and some countries do not even have trained firefighters at all ( Brushlinsky et al. , 2017 ). It should be noted that firefighting involves working in intense stress environments with high risk to life safety, and therefore, lack of proper training has direct impact on firefighting effectiveness.

Another important role of firefighting department is to inspect the compliance efficacy of fire safety regulations in buildings. However, many developing countries have no such provisions in firefighting department at all. Moreover, due to high initial setup and maintenance costs, firefighting department in many developing countries of the world struggle with quality and quantity of firefighting resources ( Rafi et al. , 2012 ), and sometimes firefighting department is not present at all.

4.5 Excessive cost of installation and maintenance

One of the major drawbacks of the fire protection measures is the high cost of installation and maintenance. Based on average percentage cost distribution of fire hazard for 16 countries from 2008 to 2010, it is observed that providing fire protection measures in buildings is the most expensive measure with a huge 39.6 per cent contribution to total fire hazard costs ( Brushlinsky et al. , 2016 ). Also, it should be noted that the direct and indirect costs contribute to only 22.4 per cent of the total fire hazard costs, and the rest 77.6 per cent of costs come from the cost of fire protection measures, fire insurance, and cost of fire service. It means that the cost of fire protection measures is significantly higher than the actual direct or indirect losses resulting from fire hazard, which clearly demonstrate the need for economically effective fire protection systems. The active fire protection systems such as sprinklers require constant maintenance and water resources as well, both of which may not be feasible in developing countries with limited water resources. This high cost of fire protection is the primary reason for moderate to no fire protection measures within buildings in developing countries.

4.6 Poor compliance of fire safety regulations

Even though number of fires in developed countries is significantly high than developing countries, still the death rate in developed countries is much lower than developing countries with lower number of fire incidents ( Brushlinsky et al. , 2016 ). One of the main attributes for this anomaly is the variation with respect to compliance effectiveness, degree to which fire safety provisions are implemented, of fire safety regulations in specified building codes and standards of each country. This is very important from fire safety perspective as the level of fire safety prescribed in codes and standards will not matter if it is not followed and implemented properly in the buildings. In developed countries (such as USA and Canada), specific provisions for measuring the code compliance effectiveness exist ( Park, 2008 ). However, this may not be the case in many developing countries where fire safety regulations are always a major challenge due to lack of enforcing mechanism/awareness, resources and poor regulating environments. Such lack of effective measures of enforcing fire safety regulations can lead to inadequate fire safety provisions in buildings which results in high life and property losses.

4.7 Lack of consumer education and awareness

To identify major source of structure fires, the leading causes of fire in residential and non-residential buildings of USA has been analyzed ( USFA, 2016 ), as maximum number of fires in the world occur in USA and there is a scarcity of reliable global statistical data on fire hazard. Trends in leading causes of fires in residential and non-residential buildings are shown in Figure 5 . It can be observed from Figure 5 that cooking is the leading cause of fire in both residential and non-residential building fires. Further, as cooking is more frequent in residential buildings, numbers of fires from cooking in residential buildings (about 160,000) are higher as compared to non-residential buildings (about 25,000). Apart from cooking, the other leading causes of fire include heating, electrical malfunction, carelessness, open flame and arson. However, it can be clearly observed from Figure 5 that relative to cooking, these leading causes contribute much smaller portion in fire hazard for both residential and non-residential buildings. These leading causes of fires can be addressed by increasing the consumer awareness about the fire hazards. Nevertheless, the current scenario clearly represents a lack of the same. It should be noted that these leading causes of fire in USA may not necessarily represent global fire scenario, however, it certainly illustrates the impact of consumer awareness on fire hazard.

5. Strategies for improved fire safety

One of the biggest limitations of existing fire protection strategies lies in not providing a holistic framework to mitigate fire hazard. Most of the building codes focus on management of fire hazard using active and passive fire protection features in buildings together with some emphasis on prevention, regulation, and enforcement. These protection strategies were mainly developed for fire scenarios and construction practices of the 1960s and 1970s and do not take into consideration contemporary fire hazard challenges discussed in Section 4.

Similar trend is followed by recent strategies on improving fire safety in buildings as they lack a holistic framework and only focus on one aspect of fire safety in buildings such as: fire safety design, research needs, or the human behavior. Maluk et al. (2017) presented a study on exploring the potential benefits of integrating fire safety with building design process, as fire safety is perceived as an additional constraint in the current design practice rather than a design parameter. Gehandler (2017) proposed a theoretical framework to change traditional linear decision based fire safety design to an iterative deterministic decision based process. Kobes et al. (2010) studied the impact of human behavior on evacuation response under fire conditions, and concluded that more studies are required to properly understand the psychonomics related to fire safety. While these studies present an excellent case for improving one aspect of fire safety, they do not provide a comprehensive strategy to mitigate fire hazard itself.

Also, most of the newly developed strategies to improve fire safety are specific to type of building, location, and socio-economic conditions for which they are originally developed ( Chien and Wu, 2008 ; Chen et al. , 2012 ; Cowlard et al. , 2013 ; Navitas, 2014 ; Nimlyat et al. , 2017 ); which makes it difficult to extrapolate their results to global fire hazard. Therefore, an integrated framework encompassing prevention and management of fire hazard is proposed (illustrated in Figure 1 ), and its applicability in improving above limitations of existing fire safety strategies is demonstrated below. Further, special emphasis is given to the applicability of these strategies specific to place of application in both developing and developed countries.

5.1 Improving fire protection features in buildings

As discussed in Section 4, several adverse conditions exist in modern structures from fire safety perspective and this is not fully addressed in current fire protection provisions laid out in building codes. Due to several socio-economic differences, addressing these limitations require different strategies for developed and developing countries. In developing countries, cost is a major criterion for incorporating fire safety provisions; therefore, in place of costly fire safety strategies, alternate strategies should be developed to provide similar level of fire safety. Therefore, to avoid rapid growth of fire and to localize its impact in developing countries, it is proposed to use fire compartment concept (less use of glass and open spaces, limiting fuel load etc.) in building design. In case it is not possible to change building architecture, additional exit paths should be strategically located in building to improve egress timing, and thus, improve life safety. In all existing buildings, where it is not possible to provide additional fire exits, illuminating paint and additional exit signs can be provided along with temporary exit paths in terms of emergency ladders and staircases. Also, in all irregularly planned cities, reserved parking spots should be provided for firefighting vehicles in building sites along with maintaining active water mains, fire extinguishers, and a separate water tank to reduce initial start time of firefighting operations.

In developed countries, use of open architecture with high content of combustible fuel load should be justified using installation of reliable active fire protection systems, or realistic simulation of egress and fire resistance using advanced analysis procedures. Instead of relying on standardized prescriptive procedure to assess fire safety in buildings, it is preferable to use performance based fire design. Also, before using any new construction materials in buildings, it should be made mandatory to assess its performance under fire exposure.

On the other hand, one of the biggest limitations of building codes in practice is lack of uniform criteria for classification of structures. This can be fixed in both developing and developed countries by classifying buildings for fire hazard based on building design characteristics, potential of fire hazard, significance of building, and impact of fire hazard. Kodur and Naser (2013) have developed a framework to assess the importance and risk factor for design of bridges against fire hazard by assigning weightage factors to key characteristics of bridges. Similar approach can be applied to classify buildings into four categories as critical, high-risk, moderate-risk and low-risk. Other researchers have developed risk based analysis models to quantify fire risk in buildings as well ( Xin and Huang, 2013 ), and a set of guidelines to identify critical structures can be defined in the national codes as per common consensus. This will promote uniform fire safety throughout country, and ease of classification as well.

Further, this risk-based classification should be integrated with building design using performance-based codes and standards to make building codes more effective in evaluating realistic fire performance of building. The provision of fire safety in each risk-based category should be justified on the account of classified risk, and special emphasis should be given to the use of cost-effective alternate strategies to attain desired level of fire performance. For example, only critical structures should be designed with highest factor of safety for worse possible fire scenarios. In high to low risk buildings, designers should be allowed to benefit from realistic fire scenario, loading, continuity, and actual restraint conditions which can lead to a less conservative and more integrated design.

5.2 Regulation and enforcement

Regulation and enforcement are one of the leading problems in developing countries which is often overlooked by current fire safety strategies. There should be a legal provision of severe fines/penalties which can be implemented using an appropriate mechanism. Such provisions do not exist in several developing countries, and according to authors is one of the leading causes of fire hazard in developing countries. For example, often the offset distances between buildings are not followed in most of the developing countries, and that leads to easy migration of fire from one building to other. Required active and passive fire protection measures are often compromised in building due to monetary constrains or from reluctance due to unawareness. In all such cases, the regulatory guidelines should be more stringent with higher fines in all such cases when occupants endanger the safety of others in the vicinity. Fire warden should be assigned to carry out annual inspections in all residential and commercial buildings for up keeping of fire protection features. Inspections should aim at ensuring fire loads to be below permissible limits, performance and functional reliability of fire protection features such as active water mains, functional fire extinguishers, unobstructed fire escape etc.

Also, in developed countries, regulation authorities should benefit from newly developed cognitive infrastructure, where active and passive fire safety measures in building are monitored continuously using automated sensors, to check for fire safety regulation and enforcement automatically ( Naser and Kodur, 2018 ). This concept can be of great importance in high rise buildings, where all fire safety provisions can be monitored using automated sensors instead of doing it manually. Not only this will save significant time but will also increase safety through continuous monitoring of fire safety provisions instead of annual inspections.

5.3 Common and civic sense

Common/civic sense and public awareness is one of the most neglected cause of fire hazard and is the leading cause of fires in both developing and developed countries across the globe. Common sense includes keeping ignition source and fuel source away from each other, keeping household items with high potential of ignition away from the reach of children, proper dispose of inflammables, use of fire extinguishers, or taking other necessary precautions to avoid accidental fires. Civic sense or public awareness includes knowledge of fire escape routes and extinguishers, giving right of way to firefighter or other emergency vehicles, proper use of inflammatory substances (lighters, cigarettes, candles, etc.) in buildings, and understanding impact of fire hazard and individual responsibility in mitigating it.

Most of the fires can be easily prevented using common sense and public awareness in day to day life if properly implemented. Also, people can play a key role in reducing response time of firefighting operations by giving right of way to firefighters on roads, which can significantly improve firefighting operations. This common and civic sense among public can be greatly influenced in both developed and developing countries using consumer education for improving fire safety in buildings. Occupants should be provided basic knowledge of available fire escape routes, fire safety symbols, location of fire extinguishers, places of assembly in case of fire, and fire alarm. To ensure new occupants are familiar with emergency fire response, regular evacuation drills should be organized. In case of high rise/critical buildings where there is high risk to life safety, refuge floors (places of assembly in case of fire) should be provided and fire wardens should be designated on selected floors to prevent fire hazard. This awareness about fire safety in buildings should be disseminated using media, and mandatory fire safety curriculum in educational system.

5.4 Technology and resources

reduction of response time;

developing new firefighting resources;

proper design and planning; and

learning from experience to update building codes.

Shorter response time is key to controlling fires as it is easier to control fire in its incipient or growth stage. In addition, shorter response time increases the chances of safe evacuation from building. Therefore, firefighters should be provided with adequate equipment and training to execute emergency fire drill with high efficiency. In developing countries, where number of professional firefighters is very less and it is not possible to provide required firefighting equipment due to monetary constrains, volunteer firefighters should be trained to ensure ample workforce for firefighting operations. These volunteers can further disseminate information about fire hazards to increase public awareness.

In developed countries, research should focus on developing new fire resistant materials and harnessing emerging technological advances for mitigation of fire hazard. For example, recent study by Olawoyin (2018) argued that nanotechnology, can be the future of developing fire resistant materials if it is tested and applied properly. However, there are several knowledge gaps in this field that need to be addressed. Çakiroğlu and Gökoğlu (2019) used virtual-reality to teach basic fire safety behavioral skills to a group of ten primary school students, and concluded that virtual reality significantly enhanced the fire safety behavioral skills of students in real life. Similar studies should be pursued by developed countries to further enhance the field of fire safety. Whereas, in case of developing countries, research focus should be on finding new cost-effective alternatives to traditional automated and manual firefighting equipment.

Other important resource allocation in both developing and developed countries should be in proper design and planning. Firefighting department should maintain the building plan records of critical buildings classified in very high-risk category to properly assess the evacuation and firefighting operations in case of a fire. To further reduce response time in developing countries with irregularly planned cities, special emphasis should be given to the strategic location of firefighting department to ensure similar response time for all covered areas.

Also, it is important to periodically update the building codes based on experiences from previous disasters, new innovations in materials, design changes, and contemporary fire hazard issues. For example, if the recent trends in fire hazard represent a decay or increase in its severity, fire safety in buildings should be adjusted accordingly. The fire performance of new construction materials should be characterized and used in the fire design process. The impact of change in building design, due to modernization, should be assessed on fire safety, and contemporary fire hazard issues resulting from design, socio-economic growth and other factors should be identified. Updating building codes regularly for all these factors will allow them to evolve and improve along with fire hazard, and thus, increase their effectiveness.

6. Research and training needs

Major research and training needs to improve fire safety in buildings can be identified as: cost-effective active fire protection systems, rational fire design approaches, characterization of new materials, performance-based design guidelines, and fire hazard from wildfires.

6.1 Cost-effective fire suppression systems

Currently, most of the fire suppression systems (sprinklers, active mains, automated aerosol fire suppression systems etc.) have high installation and maintenance costs. For example, according to an NFPA estimate sprinklers cost about $14.5 per m 2 ($1.35 per ft 2 mean cost) in new construction ( NFPA, 2013 ). Therefore, for a standard house with 204.3 m 2 (2,200 ft 2 ) area total cost of installation alone is US$2,962 (approximately INR 200,000). This cost of installation is too high for developing countries with limited financial resources and low household incomes. Also, sprinklers incur additional costs in terms of maintenance as they require water main supply which is not easy to provide in developing countries with limited water resources. Therefore, there is a strong need to come with alternative cost-effective fire suppression systems.

6.2 Rational fire design approaches

Rational fire design approaches use advanced numerical models and focus on tracing realistic behavior of structural components under fire exposure. While some validated numerical models exist in literature ( Kodur and Kumar, 2018 ; Kumar and Kodur, 2017 ; Kumar and Srivastava, 2017 ; Kumar and Srivastava, 2018 ), still, there is a lack of a framework for undertaking rational fire design of structures. The absence of well-defined rational design framework and validated numerical models for fire resistance assessment is constraining designers to create cost effective and rational designs. This is limiting the versatility of structural products and creating a hindrance in using their full potential in building applications. Therefore, research efforts should be focused on developing a generic framework for undertaking rational fire design of structures. The availability of such framework will lead to innovative and cost-effective design of structures while ensuring better degree of fire safety as compared to current prescriptive approaches. Also, such an approach will allow fabricators to assess the fire resistance of structural members and assemblies before undertaking expensive and time-consuming fire tests in laboratories.

6.3 Characterization of new materials for fire performance

With new advancement in construction materials, there is a strong need to characterize and establish their fire performance under various fire design scenarios. Often, new materials bring new challenges to fire design process, which are widely overlooked by current prescriptive based approaches such as spalling of concrete, rapid strength degradation of FRP composites etc. Therefore, to ensure good fire performance of new construction materials, their behavior under fire conditions should be characterized prior to use in buildings. Most of the current research efforts are focused on characterizing strength degradation of new materials, however, there are limited studies on determining toxicity and combustibility of material. High toxicity can increase risk to life safety, whereas, high combustibility aggravates fire severity by causing rapid fire growth and spread. Therefore, research efforts should characterize all three fire safety aspects viz. toxicity, combustibility, and strength degradation; and then make informed decisions on the use of new materials in buildings.

6.4 Development of performance-based codes

While prescriptive based codes state how to construct a building, performance-based codes state how a building should perform under a wide range of conditions. Therefore, to develop performance-based codes for fire design it is important to define acceptable levels of performance for life, structural, property, and environmental safety. For life safety, code should provide acceptable limits for toxicity, combustibility, and egress parameters to ensure life safety during fire exposure. For structural safety, the performance parameters include structural response parameters under fire exposure such as deflection, integrity, insulation and residual strength. Performance-based codes should also provide guidelines to limit or minimize property losses under fire exposure by providing guidelines on detection and evaluation of residual strength of fire exposed structures (i.e. whether structure is reparable or not). Also, to minimize impact of fire hazard on environment, performance-based codes should provide acceptable limits for firefighting operations, and other factors influencing pollution. The availability of performance-based codes will not only allow a better understanding of fire design but will also lead to uniform fire safety provisions.

6.5 Fire hazard from wildfires

With the continuously changing habitat for humans it is important to account for all new factors that can contribute to the fire hazard. Wildfires represent one such example which have resulted from recent excessive human encroachment in wildlands. Recent trends in the number of wildfires occurred and burned area is illustrated in Figure 6 . It can be observed from Figure 6 that higher number of wildfires in a particular year do not necessarily mean higher area burned as the impact of wildfire depends on available fuel and weather conditions. Therefore, even small number of wildfires can be very dangerous to built infrastructure if they transform into conflagrations. Also, there is currently very limited data in the literature on key differences in fire response of structure subjected to wildfires and building fires from within. As buildings are usually designed for a fire resistance of 2-4 h only, it is not possible or economical to design buildings to withstand wildfires which can last as long as few days to few weeks. Therefore, more focus should be on rapid evacuation instead of providing passive fire resistance. Also, there is a strong need to study the behavior of buildings subjected to wildfires as there is a scarcity of studies on the same in literature.

7. Conclusions

Fire represents a severe hazard in both developing and developed countries and poses significant threat to life, structure, property, and environmental safety.

Current fire protection measures lead to an unquantified level of fire safety in buildings, provide minimal strategies to mitigate fire hazard, and do not account for contemporary fire hazard issues.

Implementing key measures that include improving fire protection features in buildings, proper regulation and enforcement of building code provisions, enhancing public awareness, and proper use of technology and resources are key to mitigating fire hazard in buildings.

Major research and training needs required to improve fire safety in buildings include developing cost-effective fire suppression systems, rational fire design approaches, characterizing new materials, developing performance-based codes, and understanding fire hazard from wildfires.

Integrated framework to implement strategies for improving fire safety in buildings

Uninterrupted building fire development process inside a typical room

Development of room temperatures in legacy and modern building fires

Required stair width for fire escape as per various building codes

Leading causes of fire in buildings from 2003 to 2016 in USA in (a) residential and (b) non-residential buildings

Annual wildfires and acres of land burned in USA from 1999 to 2018

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the support of United States Agency for International Development (through Pakistan-US Science and Technology Cooperative Program grant PGA-2000003665) and Michigan State University for undertaking this research. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the institutions.

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Essay on Fire Safety

Students are often asked to write an essay on Fire Safety in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Fire Safety

Introduction.

Fire safety is crucial to safeguard our lives and property. It involves taking measures to prevent fires and learning how to react if a fire occurs.

Importance of Fire Safety

Fire can cause severe damage. It can destroy homes, forests, and even take lives. Hence, fire safety is essential to protect us and our environment.

Fire Safety Measures

Fire safety measures include installing smoke alarms, having fire extinguishers, and planning fire escape routes. Regular checks ensure these tools are working.

Fire Drills

Fire drills help us prepare for emergencies. They teach us how to evacuate safely during a fire.

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250 Words Essay on Fire Safety

Fire safety is a critical aspect of our daily lives, often overlooked until a disaster occurs. It encompasses practices aimed at reducing the destruction caused by fire, thereby safeguarding lives and property.

The Importance of Fire Safety

Fire safety is paramount because fires can cause irreversible damage in a matter of minutes. They can lead to loss of lives, destruction of property, and emotional trauma. By understanding and implementing fire safety measures, we can prevent these calamities.

Fire safety measures include both preventative actions and responses to fire outbreaks. Preventative measures involve regular checks on electrical wiring, proper storage of flammable materials, and installation of smoke detectors. On the other hand, response measures include evacuation plans, use of fire extinguishers, and emergency call systems.

The Role of Technology

Technological advancements have significantly improved fire safety. Fire detection systems, for instance, can now detect smoke, heat, and even carbon monoxide. These systems provide early warning, allowing for prompt evacuation and fire control.

In conclusion, fire safety is an essential aspect of our lives that we should prioritize. By understanding the importance of fire safety and implementing appropriate measures, we can significantly reduce the risk of fire-related incidents. Technological advancements have further enhanced our ability to prevent and respond to fires, making our environments safer.

500 Words Essay on Fire Safety

Introduction to fire safety.

Fire safety is a crucial concern in every environment, particularly in residential and commercial buildings. It involves practices aimed at reducing the destruction caused by fire or completely preventing fire breakouts. Understanding fire safety is paramount for everyone, as it is not only about preventing property damage, but also about ensuring the safety of lives.

The Science of Fire

Grasping the basic science of fire is necessary to understand fire safety. Fire occurs when oxygen combines with fuel in the presence of heat, creating the fire triangle. Fuel can be any combustible material, while heat can come from various sources like electrical appliances or open flames. By controlling these elements, we can significantly reduce the risk of fire.

There are several measures that can be taken to ensure fire safety. Installing fire alarms and smoke detectors is a primary step, providing early warning signals. Regular maintenance and checks of these devices are also essential to ensure their functionality. Fire extinguishers should be available and easily accessible, and individuals should be trained on how to use them.

Fire Safety Planning

Developing a well-thought-out fire safety plan is another critical component. This plan should include clear evacuation routes, assembly points, and procedures for contacting the fire department. Regular fire drills should be conducted to familiarize everyone with the plan and ensure its effectiveness.

The Role of Building Design

Building design can significantly influence fire safety. Buildings should be designed with fire-resistant materials and incorporate fire doors and escape routes. Fire safety considerations should be integrated into the initial design stage of a building, rather than as an afterthought.

Fire Safety Regulations

Fire safety is everyone’s responsibility. Understanding the science of fire, implementing safety measures, planning, and adhering to regulations are all integral to maintaining a safe environment. By investing time and resources into fire safety, we can significantly reduce the risk of fire and its devastating consequences. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us, especially as future leaders and decision-makers, to prioritize fire safety and ensure it is integrated into all aspects of our lives.

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Why is Fire Safety Important?

Published: Tuesday, Oct 12, 2021

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Fire safety is important and necessary in the workplace in order to prevent and protect against the destruction caused by fire. Fire safety reduces the risk of injury and building damage that fires can cause. Developing and implementing fire safety protocols in the workplace is not only required by law but it is crucial to everyone’s safety that may be in the building during a fire emergency.

Fire safety is important in order to:

Reduce the risk of injury to employees and customers

Reduce damage to facility/building

Protect against possible fines

Protect against losing customers’ trust

Protect employee jobs that would be lost due to extensive building damage

Fire Safety in the Workplace

The importance of fire safety in the workplace be overlooked. Due to the number of workplaces surrounded by ingredients and materials that will quickly ignite a fire, it is necessary for fire safety to be discussed.

Discussions regarding fire safety foster an understanding of fire hazards and the three necessary ingredients to ignite a fire – heat, fuel and oxygen . After educating employees on these ingredients and hazards, hazards become more easily visible around the workplace and are more likely to be handled, reducing the overall risk of fire.

Educating employees is important in the overall goal of fire safety in the workplace but another important measure is to devise a fire prevention plan . This prevention plan will provide a specific description of each employees’ responsibilities in identifying combustible materials, existing fire hazards and heat-producing equipment. It is a necessary piece to preventing workplace fires.

Fire safety preparation, education and prevention is a small price to pay versus the alternative losses that fire bring. The risk for businesses is high when employees and customers alike are at risk.

Implementing a Fire Prevention Plan

The first step in implementing a fire prevention plan is to educate workers. Employees must be able to take necessary action to prevent fires, successfully use a fire extinguisher and understand their role and responsibilities when responding to an emergency.

Employees must thoroughly understand the current regulations and training requirements. Each year, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and the NFPA (National Fire Protection Agency) require certain fire prevention training be completed by all employees.

Fire Emergency Response Team

In addition to a fire prevention plan, an emergency response team is critical in leading and directing others to safety. A fire emergency response team is a group of individuals each with an understanding of emergency procedures, fire safety and the evacuation plan . Each team member has a protocol to follow in case of a fire emergency and understands their own roles and duties necessary to get everyone to safety.

Preventative Maintenance

Proper housekeeping techniques, maintaining emergency and exit lighting, and enlisting the help of a licensed and certified fire protection company are all part of preventative maintenance. Keeping a clean workplace, free of hazards, will greatly reduce the likelihood for a workplace fire.

Additional preventative measures include:

Properly serviced machinery

Storing chemicals

Immediate clean up of chemical spills, oil or any other combustible materials.

Free and clear hallways and fire exits

Trash is properly contained

Sprinklers and extinguishers are free and clear of blockage

The NFPA outlines a frequency of visits for fire protection companies to follow. These frequent visits by a licensed and certified fire protection company will handle inspections, safety testing and any repairs needed to fire protection equipment.

A maintenance plan for equipment that may not be required by NFPA is still recommended. Equipment and fixtures like, exit signs and emergency backup generators, need to be tested and maintained to ensure each will function effectively during an emergency.

The Importance of Fire Safety

With the risks and losses that result from a fire, it is evident that fire safety protects against such devastation. Fire safety is important to protect and prevent. Through proper fire safety in the workplace, implementing a fire prevention plan, assigning an emergency response team and putting preventative measures in place, workplace employees, customers and the structure itself can all be protected

For information on uniforms that can aid in workplace fire safety and as part of a fire prevention plan, contact Alsco .

https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/fire.html . American Red Cross.

https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Publications-and-media/Press-Room/Reporters-Guide-to-Fire-and-NFPA/Key-Fire-Safety-Tips . National Fire Protection Association.

https://www.osha.gov/fire-safety . Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

https://www.usfa.fema.gov/stories/workplace_safety/ . U.S. Fire Administration.

https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/OSHA3527.pdf . Occupational Safety and Health Administration: Fire Safety.

https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/prevention/flammable_general.html . Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety

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The Digital Transformation in Fire Safety Engineering over the Past Decade Through Building Information Modelling: A Review

Published: 23 September 2022
Volume 58 , pages 3317–3351, ( 2022 )

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Ada Malagnino ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9317-1105 1 ,
Angelo Corallo 2 ,
Mariangela Lazoi 2 &
Giorgio Zavarise 3

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Building information modelling (BIM) is widely considered to be leading the digital transformation of the AEC industry because of its data management capabilities among different stakeholders and across the building life-cycle. Fire safety engineering (FSE) is one of the disciplines that has been excluded for a long time from integrated approaches such as BIM, even though ensuring fire safety is a fundamental aspect of building performance. This paper presents a systematic literature review of BIM–FSE integration methodologies to highlight its potentialities for building life-cycle management and the digital transformation of the AEC domain. The findings show that the majority of BIM–FSE applications are focused on fire and evacuation simulations, followed by detection, monitoring and real-time emergency management. Technologies that are often involved in BIM-based fire safety solutions are CFD-based technologies, game- augmented and virtual reality, and the internet of things. Native formats are the most used for data sharing, while open standards still lack adequate data structures for FSE applications. The review highlights the benefits, embedded potentialities and limitations of the BIM–FSE integration in a decade of research studies. Future research directions for the digital transformation of FSE through BIM are proposed in a research agenda.

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Internet of Things and Digital Twin in Fire Safety Management

Fire Safety with the Application of BIM for Historic Buildings: Systematic Review

A Critical Overview of BIM (Building Information Modeling) and DT (Digital Twin): Challenges and Potentialities in Energy and Sustainability of Buildings

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Artificial Intelligence

Abbreviations

Architecture, engineering and construction

Building information modelling

Industry foundation classes

Model view definition

Fire safety engineering

Heating, ventilation, air conditioning

Fire dynamics simulator

Computational fluid dynamics

Geographical information system

Agent based modelling

Internet of Things

Augmented and virtual reality

Mechanical, electrical, plumbing

Virtual reality

Business process modelling and notation

Facility management

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Malagnino, A., Corallo, A., Lazoi, M. et al. The Digital Transformation in Fire Safety Engineering over the Past Decade Through Building Information Modelling: A Review. Fire Technol 58 , 3317–3351 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-022-01313-3

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Fire Safety Essay for Students

Fires occur in homes and workplaces occasionally and can be deadly if not handled correctly. In this fire safety essay , we will understand some simple tips on how to stay safe when there is a fire in the home or business premises. Follow the precautions and reduce the risk of injury or death considerably.

A short essay on fire safety is an important topic that children should be mindful of, especially as it relates to climate change and holiday celebrations. As you likely know, fires can happen in many unexpected places, from homes to industrial areas to public spaces like parks and trails. The best way to avoid a fire is by following some simple safety guidelines. Poorly controlled temperatures can lead to dangerous conditions. This includes things like newspapers , leaves, debris, etc. If there is a fire in your building, know where the nearest exit is. In case of an emergency, use the emergency exit to help others and yourself avoid any injuries.

Fire safety in the home, fire safety in the workplace, tips for staying safe from fire.

Fire safety is key in ensuring one’s family and home are safe. Here are a few tips to help keep you and your loved ones safe from fire. BYJU’S fire safety essay in English teaches children how to be safe from the fire.

Always use proper cooking techniques, including never leaving food on the stovetop unattended. Keep all flammable materials, such as candles and cigarettes, away from open flames. Clear any obstacles in the path of a fire, like curtains or furniture. Install smoke alarms and test them monthly. Never leave children or pets alone in a burning building.

Fire safety is a top priority for any business. A fire in a workplace can cause significant damage and loss of life. There are several steps that companies can take to ensure fire safety in the workplace. A few tips for fire safety in the workplace provided are here in the fire safety essay.

Employees’ education about fire safety is a must. Make sure everyone understands the risks associated with fires in the workplace and how to prevent them from occurring. It is also crucial to teach the employees how to react if they notice a fire and remind them never to try to put out a fire themselves.

Have a plan for emergencies. Make sure one has a plan for responding to fires in the workplace. Include information on how to evacuate the building, where to go if injured, and what to do if they encounter fire while on their way out. Make sure the facilities are up to code. Ensure the buildings meet all applicable safety standards, including those related to fire prevention. For instance, fire extinguishers are to be installed in all rooms, and they should be accessible to all employees in the event of a fire. This will help reduce the chance of a significant blaze happening in the facilities. Keep flammable materials, such as cigarettes and candles, away from ignition sources.

If one lives or works in a fire environment, it is vital to be aware of the dangers involved and take precautions to stay safe. Below are a few tips provided in BYJU’S English essay on fire safety to help people stay safe when working or living in a fire environment .

Firstly, stay informed about the latest fire safety guidelines. Know the signs of fires, how to extinguish them safely, and what supplies a person should have on hand in case of an emergency. Regularly check the news and fire safety websites for updates on new fire safety guidelines.

Next, be aware of one’s surroundings. If there is any indication that a fire might be nearby, immediately leave the area and call for help. If a person cannot leave immediately, try to evacuate as quickly as possible by climbing up any available stairs or exiting through a window. Keep a safe distance from open flames. Do not try to put out a burning object with one’s hands; use water or a bucket instead. If one needs to put out a burning thing, use water sparingly and avoid contact with the flames. Wear protective clothing such as long pants, sleeves, gloves, and eye protection if necessary.

Fire is one of the most dangerous hazards in any place. It is vital to have a fire plan and know how to put it into action if there is one, and we have briefly explained it in this fire safety essay in English. For more kids learning activities, such as worksheets , poems , and stories , visit BYJU’S website.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is fire safety.

Fire safety is a term used to describe the consideration and prevention of fire risk. It can be defined as the measures taken to protect lives and property from unwanted damage or destruction due to an uncontrolled fire. Fire safety involves education, awareness, preventative maintenance, and equipment installation.

Why is fire safety important?

Fire safety is essential to stay safe from fire accidents. In the event of a fire, it is crucial that you can evacuate quickly. For this reason, fire alarms are usually installed in businesses so they can sound when there is an emergency.

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Addressing 4 common challenges in building fire audits: Solutions and best practices

Aug 25, 2024

Fire audits play a critical role in ensuring building safety by assessing fire prevention measures, readiness for emergencies, and compliance with fire safety regulations . These audits are essential for identifying potential risks and vulnerabilities that could lead to fire incidents, ensuring that adequate measures are in place to protect occupants and property.

However, conducting effective fire audits comes with its own set of challenges that building managers and safety professionals must address. Addressing these challenges requires proactive measures and best practices.

Challenge 1: Lack of comprehensive fire safety documentation

One of the primary challenges in building fire audits is the absence of comprehensive fire safety documentation. This challenge stems from the historical reliance on manual record-keeping methods, which can lead to fragmented or incomplete information about fire safety systems, evacuation procedures, and emergency contacts. Without thorough documentation, auditors may struggle to assess the adequacy of fire safety measures and formulate effective response strategies in the event of a fire.

Thorough documentation ensures that all relevant information, including building layouts, fire suppression systems, and maintenance records, is readily accessible to auditors and emergency responders. Comprehensive documentation not only facilitates compliance with regulatory requirements but also supports informed decision-making during audits and emergency situations.

To improve documentation practices, building managers can implement several best practices:

Digitizing records:

Enhances accessibility
Reduces risk of information loss
Facilitates easier retrieval during audits

Regular audits of documentation:

Ensure accuracy and completeness
Identify gaps for improvement
Enhance readiness for fire audits

Training staff on proper documentation protocols:

Ensures consistent and standardized practices
Improves understanding of documentation importance
Promotes adherence to regulatory requirements

Maintaining detailed logs of inspections and maintenance activities:

Provides a record of compliance with safety protocols
Enables proactive maintenance scheduling
Supports historical reference and trend analysis

By prioritizing these practices, organizations can enhance the effectiveness of fire audits and ensure a proactive approach to building safety management.

Challenge 2: Inadequate safety training measures for staff

Inadequate safety training for staff poses a significant challenge in building fire audits. Many organizations fail to prioritize comprehensive training programs that equip personnel with the necessary knowledge and skills to respond effectively to fire emergencies. This lack of training can lead to delays in evacuation procedures, improper use of fire safety equipment, and overall confusion during critical moments, compromising the safety of occupants and the effectiveness of fire audits.

Well-trained personnel are essential for ensuring swift and organized responses to fire incidents. They are better equipped to handle emergency situations, evacuate occupants safely, and implement fire suppression measures as needed. Additionally, trained staff can assist auditors by providing accurate information about fire safety protocols and demonstrating proficiency in using fire safety equipment, enhancing the overall audit process.

To address the challenge of inadequate safety training, organizations can implement several strategies:

Conducting regular fire drills and simulations:

Familiarizes staff with emergency procedures
Reinforces proper evacuation protocols
Tests effectiveness of response strategies

Offering comprehensive training modules:

Covers fire prevention, detection, and response techniques
Prepares employees for different fire scenarios
Enhances overall emergency preparedness

Providing access to online training resources and refresher courses:

Maintains staff readiness
Updates employees on new safety protocols and equipment
Allows flexibility in learning schedules

By investing in ongoing training initiatives, organizations can enhance staff preparedness, improve audit outcomes, and ultimately strengthen overall building fire safety measures.

Challenge 3: Equipment maintenance issues

Equipment maintenance issues pose significant challenges in building fire audits. Over time, fire safety equipment such as fire alarms, sprinkler systems, and extinguishers can deteriorate due to wear and tear, environmental factors, or lack of regular inspection and maintenance. This can lead to unreliable performance during fire emergencies, compromising the safety of building occupants and the effectiveness of fire audits.

The consequences of poor fire safety equipment maintenance can be severe. Malfunctioning fire alarms may fail to detect fires promptly, delaying evacuation efforts and increasing the risk of injury or death. Ineffective sprinkler systems might not activate or distribute water properly, allowing fires to spread unchecked and causing extensive property damage. Additionally, improperly maintained fire extinguishers may fail to function when needed, depriving occupants and responders of a crucial firefighting tool.

To address equipment maintenance challenges effectively, building managers should adopt best practices that prioritize regular inspections and proactive maintenance:

Implementing scheduled maintenance routines:

Ensures equipment is inspected, tested, and serviced regularly
Follows manufacturer guidelines and regulatory requirements
Prevents equipment failures during emergencies

Keeping detailed records of maintenance activities:

Tracks equipment performance over time
Identifies potential issues early
Provides a history of maintenance for audits and compliance

Training maintenance personnel on proper inspection techniques:

Ensures thorough evaluations of fire safety equipment
Enhances effectiveness of maintenance procedures
Facilitates timely repairs or replacements

By investing in proactive maintenance practices , organizations can enhance the reliability and performance of fire safety equipment, thereby improving overall building safety and audit outcomes.

Challenge 4: Compliance with evolving fire safety regulatory standards

Ensuring compliance with evolving fire safety regulatory standards presents a significant challenge for building fire audits. Regulatory requirements for fire safety are constantly updated to reflect new technologies, best practices, and lessons learned from past incidents. This dynamic landscape can make it challenging for organizations to stay informed and adhere to the latest standards, leading to potential gaps in compliance during fire audits.

Regulatory compliance in fire safety is crucial as it establishes minimum requirements for building design, construction, and maintenance to mitigate fire risks and ensure occupant safety. Non-compliance can result in legal liabilities, fines, and even closure of facilities in extreme cases. Moreover, adhering to regulatory standards enhances public trust and confidence in building safety measures, demonstrating a commitment to protecting occupants and property from fire hazards.

To address compliance challenges effectively, organizations can adopt several strategies:

Staying updated with regulatory changes:

Monitoring updates from local, national, and international fire safety authorities
Ensuring awareness of evolving standards and requirements
Adapting policies and procedures accordingly

Engaging with fire safety professionals and consultants:

Seeking expert guidance on regulatory compliance
Obtaining interpretation of complex standards
Enhancing understanding of compliance obligations

Implementing internal auditing processes:

Reviewing compliance against regulatory requirements
Assessing effectiveness of current practices
Identifying areas for improvement and corrective actions

Documenting compliance efforts:

Maintaining accurate records of inspections and certifications
Providing evidence of proactive compliance management
Facilitating transparency during fire audits

By prioritizing regulatory compliance, organizations can enhance fire safety measures, mitigate risks, and ensure the safety and well-being of building occupants.

Getting started: Smarter, more integrated fire safety audits

Proactive fire audits are essential for ensuring the safety and security of occupants and assets. Proactive fire audits prioritize prevention and preparedness, aiming to identify and mitigate fire risks before they escalate. Embracing a proactive approach involves leveraging digital-driven fire safety solutions to address common audit challenges effectively. Fire safety software plays a pivotal role in this process by streamlining documentation processes, enhancing staff training modules, optimizing equipment maintenance schedules, and ensuring compliance with stringent regulatory standards.

By integrating fire safety software, building managers can also schedule regular maintenance checks for fire alarms, sprinkler systems, and other safety equipment. Automated alerts and reminders ensure timely inspections and repairs, reducing the risk of equipment failures during critical situations. Furthermore, these digital solutions facilitate adherence to evolving regulatory requirements, providing real-time updates and compliance reports to streamline audit processes.

Embracing smarter, integrated fire safety audits not only enhances building safety but also fosters a culture of continuous improvement and preparedness in fire prevention efforts. Get started with PlanRadar’s leading fire safety management software to find out more.

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Journal of Materials Chemistry A

Mof-based porous liquids towards a highly stressed and chemically resistant fire-safety polyurea elastomer †.

* Corresponding authors

a National Engineering Research Center of Flame Retardant Materials, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, PR China E-mail: [email protected] , [email protected]

b Centre for Future Materials, University of Southern Queensland, Springfield 4300, Australia

Metal–organic framework (MOF)-based functionalized porous liquids are promising candidates for efficient functional species, owing to their better storage stability, higher dispersibility, and convenient processing properties than solid MOF-based fillers. However, the structural design and synthesis strategy for such porous liquids have been a challenge so far. Herein, a porous flame retardant (UiO-66-NH 2 @PA@OAPS, U@PA@OA) was designed using UiO-66-NH 2 as a precursor, 3-phosphonopropanoic acid (PA) as a flame-retardant ligand, and octa(aminophenyl) polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (OAPS) as a modifier through post-synthesis modification strategies, such as ligand replacement, defect engineering, and surface modification. Later, it was utilized as a rigid guest and polysiloxane was employed as a mobile phase and a hydrophobic component to manufacture functionalized porous liquids (UiO-66-NH 2 @PA@OAPS PLs, U@PA@OA PLs). Advanced U@PA@OA PLs present favorable storage stability as well as compatibility with polyurea components. Impressively, U@PA@OA PLs with a 10 wt% loading (2 wt% U@PA@OA content) in polyurea can improve the limiting oxygen index value of the composites to 26.9% and pass the V-0 rating in the UL-94 test. Moreover, the peak of heat release rate, total heat release, and total smoke production of the polyurea composites are reduced by around 53.7, 36.3, and 34.0%, respectively, compared to neat polyurea. Moreover, the mechanical properties, impact resistance, and chemical resistance of PLs modified polyurea composites are also significantly enhanced. This work not only motivates researchers to design functionalized porous liquids rationally, but it is also expected to expand the application of composites in other potential fields.

Graphical abstract: MOF-based porous liquids towards a highly stressed and chemically resistant fire-safety polyurea elastomer

This article is part of the themed collection: Journal of Materials Chemistry A HOT Papers

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MOF-based porous liquids towards a highly stressed and chemically resistant fire-safety polyurea elastomer

K. Song, K. Zhang, X. Bi, B. Hou, Y. Pan, X. Li, J. He and R. Yang, J. Mater. Chem. A , 2024, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D4TA04677C

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DOI: 10.17323/1814-9545-2017-2-153-166
Corpus ID: 149257587

The Playground as a Phenomenon of Children’s Subculture

Inna Korepanova-Kotliar , M. Sokolova
Published 2017
Psychology, Education, Sociology
Educational Studies

3 Citations

The city as a factor of socialization of preschoolers: routes of movement and semantic points, playground: just a place to go out or a space for child development, hygienic evaluation of the dislocation and state of recreations for children in the city of saint-petersburg, 6 references, approaches to psycho-pedagogical examination of game playgrounds, risk and safety problem of game environment in studies of foreign psychologies, the attractiveness of street children playgrounds. an empirical study, related papers.

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Maintenance Of Fire Safety Equipment (Complete Guide)

What is fire safety equipment?

Why is it important for safety and fire fighting equipment to be inspected frequently?

1. Ensure protection equipment is in working order

2. Make sure exits are easy to access

3. Ensure your keeping up to current regulations

Frequency of Fire Safety Maintenance

Best Maintenance Practices You Should Know

1. Ensure your fire extinguishers are maintained

2. Check fire alarm systems

3. Inspect emergency lighting systems

4. Perform fire risk assessments

Key takeaways

Maintenance and Servicing of Fire Safety Equipment

I. Understanding Fire Safety Equipment

II. The Importance of Regular Maintenance

III. Steps for Fire System Maintenance

IV. Frequency of Maintenance

V. When to Seek Professional Help

Let's Wind Up

Fire Safety Equipment Maintenance: A Comprehensive Guide

The Essentials of Fire Safety Equipment

1. Fire Extinguishers

2. Smoke Detectors

3. Fire Alarm Systems

4. Emergency Lighting

5. Fire Sprinkler Systems

Creating a Maintenance Schedule

2. Quarterly Inspections

3. Annual Maintenance

Importance of Professional Inspections

Benefits of Regular Maintenance

2. Compliance with Regulations

3. Prolonged Equipment Lifespan

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Inspection, Testing, Maintenance: How to Keep Fire Safety Systems Safe

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Essay on Fire Safety in 200 and 500+ words in English for Students

Essay on Fire Safety 200 Words

Essay on Fire Safety in 500+ Words

The Science of Fire

The Behavior and Spread of Fire

Fire Management and Prevention

1. Fire-Resistant Building Materials

2. Fire Detection and Alarm System

3. Clear Emergency Egress Routes:

4. Effective Fire Suppression Systems:

5. Comprehensive Fire Safety Plans and Training

Fire Prevention and Safety Act of 2005

Deepika Joshi

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