Assessment of fire safety management practices in selected high-rise buildings in Abuja

Abstract

Fire causes huge losses every year, typically measured by property loss, human deaths and injuries. The heights of buildings increases the risk of fire disaster for several reasons among which includes: the process of evacuations becomes very difficult and time consuming; the difficulty of fire fighters to access the upper floors in a high-rise building and the conveyance of fire fighting devices especially heavy equipment to upper floors. The study is aimed at assessing fire safety management practices in high rise buildings. The population of the study was drawn from six high-rise buildings in Abuja. Purposive sampling technique was used for the selection of high-rise buildings, while simple random technique was employed for the selection of respondents for questionnaire administration and interview which included occupants and users of the buildings. The study revealed the following: Fire Alarm, Portable Fire Extinguishers, Sprinkler System and Smoke Detectors ranked first, second and third respectively with regards the availability of fire safety equipment in the high-rise buildings under study. Whereas, Fire Exits, Smoke Detectors and Portable Fire Extinguishers ranked first, second and third respectively in terms of functionality of the fire safety equipment in the high-rise buildings; majority of the respondents revealed that they have never attended fire safety trainings which could imply that majority of the respondents could not handle fire safety equipment and also incapable of discerning the required action to take in the event of fire incidents; with regards to the different factors affecting the integration of fire safety equipment in high-rise buildings, size of building ranked first, type of building ranked second and type of occupant/complexity of building ranked third. Based on the findings, recommendations were proffered amongst which include: The functionality of installed basic fire safety equipment should be ensured. Also, regular maintenance of these equipment should be carried out to guarantee the safety of lives and properties in fire situations; Fire safety unit and personnel should be established in high-rise buildings. Occupants and users of these high-rise buildings should be educated and trained in fire life safety practices with regular evacuation drills conducted among others should also be practiced; A preparedness plan should be designed for each building based on its unique features; Qualified professionals should be solely involved in the design and construction of high-rise buildings and also the installation of fire safety equipment.