Fire Risk Assessment of the Al Najah Secondary School Building - Example

1-Description of the Building The Building that has been selected by me for the fire risk assessment is the Al Najah Secondary School. This building is located in United Arab Emirates, Ras Al Khimah City. The building is located very near to a fire station so that emergency help can be reached within shortest possible time. This is a single storied building with 49 rooms and this is newly constructed building in 2004. Since the building has been laid out with the educational, recreational, and administrative purposes, therefore the plan of the building should have been initially cleared for all the risks and hazards. This is very essential because the number of innocent students, the teacher’s faculty and administrative staff are too many accommodated in the building. There are smaller and bigger rooms. The court yard is surrounded by class rooms on the both sides. The main entrance is centered by the administration department. The theatre and laboratories lie opposite to the administration block. Further details about the building are given in the following table. Name of item Numeric Description Total area of school 150x 200 meters Administration block 5 rooms (6 x 9) meters each , with 1 deck and 2 medium sofas Academic block 21 classes with 21 desks for students and 1 big desk for teacher and a computer Computer lab 2 labs each provided with 24 sets of computers Science labs 3 with all necessary equipment Other facilities 5 stores((3 x 4) meters, 4 teachers rooms, 1 kitchen , 1doctor’s room, 1 nursing room, 1 counseling room cafeteria, and 6 toilets. Theatre and library 1 each 20x 60 meters Other descriptions Width of each door is 1 meter except for the main entrance and theatre door which is 2 meters Number of occupants 533 students, 43 teachers, 2 managers and 2 social counselors Fire equipment 9 fire boxes , 20 powder extinguishers , 8 carbon dioxide extinguishers, hose reels, smoke detectors More sensitive areas Science lab, kitchen cafeterias, Source; Building plan of Al Najah Secondary School United Arab Emirates, Ras Al Chime City. ( as provided) 2- List of Hazards in the school building There are various hazards attached with the structure and location of the building as it is containing many inmates those are the students and are innocent and less experienced to deal with the hazards. These hazards include the fire incidents, the collapse of certain part of building, the slipping of students on the floor, the electric shock, death and injury etc. a simplified list of hazards is given as below. Place with the hazardous materials Control measures Risk ranking Who might be harmed and how Remarks 1-Science lab / Medical room Nurses room /computer lab acids, bases , chemicals, fire catching equipment, electric shock, Fire alarms , extinguishers , fire powders, sand baskets, water hoses, precaution instructions lists, smoke detectors High ; the materials and fire risk are compounded at a very high magnitude The students, teachers, staff and lab assistants are vulnerable because they have to work with risky materials. This place being very risk prone should be very carefully worked with. The instructions should be followed strictly. 2-Library / books, periodicals, racks, carpets, furniture , fixtures, computers, CDs , electric installations No smoking boards, fire alarm and smoke detectors , fire instructions Both high and medium, the sensitivity is high when caught fire but remains medium if instructions are followed, the papers and wood, plastic materials are highly vulnerable. The students, the librarian and other staff including teachers are at risk if instructions not followed The materials in the library include paper, plastic, wood and electric wiring etc must be deemed very risky. 3-Class rooms/ Teachers room/ Lecture Theatre/ Furniture , fixtures book racks and some combustible materials are present in the class rooms Smoke detectors are installed and instruction about fire safety are displayed on the notice boards of the classes Normal and medium, because the attention of individuals is always considerable and materials are very combustible. Students , teachers and staffs The electric systems have to be separately plugged for power breakage. 4-Administration block/ academic block computers, fixtures, tables, and files, stationary. No smoking, fire extinguishers, water buckets, proper electric wiring, high quality electric installations. Risky but medium, because single wiring system is installed in the rooms. The files and other paper material are highly vulnerable to fire. The administrative staff is highly vulnerable to the fire because the staff has to use the electric appliances in order to carry out the official work. The electric wiring should be properly installed in order to avoid short circuit and proper power breakage should be installed in every room. 5-Kitchen/ Stores/ Cafeteria/ Electric appliances, gas stoves, wooden cabinets, match boxes, wooden utensils, and kitchen towels. Refrigerators, gas appliances, wooden cabinets and containers. Electric appliances should be used with great care so that the risk of short circuit can be avoided. The gas heaters and stoves should be kept at distance from the other items that are highly vulnerable to fire i.e. paper tissues and towels. High risk level due to the continuous use of gas stoves and Matches etc. less use of gas appliances. The maids, chefs and cooks are more vulnerable to fire because they have to spend most of the time in the kitchen. Also the other staff is highly prone to fire because they have to spend almost a whole day in the cafeterias and preparing food items. Match boxes should be replaced with electric lighters so the risk can be minimized. The materials and items placed in the cafeteria are prone to fire. 3-Risk Ranking The risk ranking is done on the basis of likelihood formula and where necessary the probability theory is also employed for the analysis of risk chances of different places of the school building. I have devised the below likelihood formula in order to get a fair idea of the listed risks in various parts and portions of the school building under investigation. Place in the school High=55% and above Medium=40-54/100 Low= less than 40% Risk Ranking ( likelihood X impact) Formula L=likelihood range=1-10 I=impact range=1-10 1-Science lab / Medical room Nurses room /computer lab L= 8 I= 10 ranking= 80/100= 80%very high 2-Library L=5 I=10 ranking = 50/100=50% medium 3-Class rooms/ Teachers room/ Lecture Theatre/ L=5 I= 9 ranking = 45/100=45% medium 4-Administration block/ academic block/ toilets L= 5 I= 8 ranking = 40/100=40% medium 5-Kitchen/ Stores/ Cafeteria/ L= 8 I= 7 ranking = 56/100=56% high The risk ranking is also done on the basis of risk matrix of 5x5 which gives an idea of likelihood like certain, very likely, likely, not likely and not at all. These are shown by the way of different color shades. However it is presumed that the first exercise is more accurate and fair than the second one. 4-PHA (Preliminary Hazard Analysis) Preliminary hazards analysis is done in the following tables for various parts and portions of the building of the school. Comments Impact Rank Frequency Contingency (s) warning devices Effect Possible accident Trigger (s) Hazard location Source of hazard Ref No 1 Safety reviews should be done annually The provisions in these rooms must be carefully handled. Medium low Fire alarm, smoke detectors, first aid box Fire extinguishers, medical aid, water and sand Fire alarms Instruction notices, safety precautions Loss of property Death and injury Explosion and fires Acid burns, fire incidence, poisoning, electric shock Electrical faults Mistakes, errors, careless handling, electric shock High /high The building Open bottles, brittle containers and sharp instruments. Light fittings and lighting equipment Many inflammable chemicals, tinctures, acids, equipment Science lab / Medical room /Nurses room Comments Impact Rank Frequency Contingency (s) warning devices Effect Possible accident Trigger (s) Hazard location Source of hazard Ref No 2 Safety reviews should be done annually Weak arrangement Improvements must be made to avoid fire hazards Medium low Fire extinguishers Practically no safeguards available Fire alarms Available on the boards, the extinguishers in the backyards Fire alarms Not available in the class rooms Loss of property Deaths , injuries , suffocations Loss of property Deaths , injuries Explosion and fires Fire, smoke, suffocation Explosion and fires Fire , smoke, electric shock Electrical faults Mistaken fire lightening Electrical faults Mistakes, carelessness / high / high The building Ovens, cookers, knives , walls There are inflammable plastic and wood ware , open hoses Light fittings and lighting equipment Gas leakage , sharp cutlery , slippery floors, lighters , short circuits Class rooms/ Teachers room/ Lecture Theatre/ Administration Block / toilets Kitchen / cafeteria 5. Trees: A. Event tree The tree analysis are meant to provide a framework for the almost correct assessment of the probability of risks in the events of hazards in the buildings like schools where a large number of inmate like students and teachers are contained. The layout plan of the school building when put across the emergency/ contingency plan gives a fair idea of the event tree analysis of this school building from its inception to completion and elimination of the risks and hazards from the building. When the contingency plan is implemented fully it gives a fair idea of the mechanism that how the events would unfold for the elimination of hazards and risks from the school building under consideration. The event tree is put on the foundations of the two assumptions as (a) the final outcome would determine the nature of the outputs that are ultimately shown in the form of questions A and B. Similarly, the other assumption (b) would ultimately be based on the assumption that the two targeted objectives would be finally determining the nature of the reward as given in the following two figures that can be seen on the next page. As far as the above diagram is concerned, this can be directly applied to the fault tree analysis of the school building. But, before the fault tree analysis is done it is prudent that the events tree analysis should be done accurately on the basis of the above diagram. This means that the above figure has to be put to the test of all chronological activities arranged in such a timely manner that tells about the idea when it was conceived that where the school building has been built and presently serving hundreds of students in that area. The event tree analysis on the basis of above diagram sets questions A and B and asks their answers which have to be recorded on the separate sheet. The set of questions that can be asked for building the event tree in case of this school is 1- Whether there was a need for building secondary school in that area. 2- Whether the number of students was presently available and would cater for the number need in future. 3- Whether the teaching faculty, administration staff would be easily available to meet the needs of the school. 4- Whether the climatic soil and weather survey was done for erecting of school building in this particular area. 5- Whether the proper civil engineers, electrical engineers, fire and safety engineers, insurance experts were available to serve the needs of the building of this school. A set of all the above questions have to be put in the first instance across the opposite questions which say no. the number of yes and no relevance the viability of event tree for the school building. B. Fault tree Since, the school building is located in a hot, humid and dry desert area; this building is prone to some other risks and hazards which are generally not associated with similar buildings in other parts of the world. The desert sands are loose in texture. The storms, cyclones, earthquakes, fire breaks always hit such buildings in very bad velocity, therefore, the fault tree analysis of all the hazards and risks attached with such buildings is very necessary so that right estimates about the loop holes of implementation of the contingency plans with such buildings are made a fair, transparent and trust worthy manner. This exercise tells about the impact of the fire incidence or other hazards on the school building as determined by the reaction time of its implementers. The logical analysis of the failure and success factors is also accurately done by the fault trees. The correct and incorrect answers will deserve the positive or negative marks and would determine the fault tree analysis. Therefore, it can be conclusively said that the fault tree are meant for the correct analysis of the success level of a strategic implementation of the contingency plan for the determination of its success level. The fault tree applied as an example of a hazard in the school under description can be very well gauged in the following diagram. The fault tree analysis would indicate, as clarified in the above diagram that the event tree analysis would refer to and indicate the loop holes and faults which would leave the space for risks and hazards. The fault tree analysis on the basis of above diagram for the school building would enlist all the defects, loop holes and weak points which have been left unattended and not catered for in the event tree analysis. For instance, on the basis of above diagram it can been seen a burglary can happen in the school at night in the lecture theatre room because the open windows are available in the back streets and the miscreants can jump into the schools at night or they can throw any explosives into the schools from the back yard of the building, specially in the presence of no risk and hazard safety system in the school. The fault tree analysis of the above mentioned building of school also indicates that if a fire is caught in any laboratory it may cause a big havoc and panic in the school specially when the teachers and students are not trained on the methods as how to tackle such an event. The fault trees of the school also indicated that the map of the building did not indicate whether the building is earthquake proof and electricity proof or not. C. Success tree The building of the school has already been fully assessed for all the hazards and risks. The risk ranking of different places in the school has been given in the table in annotated form. The risk ranking has also been done therefore; the success tree analysis of the implementation plan of contingencies of the school building would give a fair and accurate idea of having it declared a safe and sound place of business of educational activities in it. This part of event analysis provides for a holistic study of the forward and backward linkages of the total implementation of the contingency plan in the over all picture of the risk assessment of a building like the school building. This is the terminal or final end analysis of the event trees and takes into account all the stake holders and their contribution in the implementation plan of the hazards risks elimination. The success tree is always drawn from the fault tree in a very methodical and procedural manner in order to check the logic of all the above systems. This involves the following three steps. 1) Event tree is drawn from beginning 2) The symbols are substituted 3) Double negatives in the systems are avoided to the maximum Following diagram best explains the success trees and the fault event trees. The above mentioned formula describes step wise and the diagram given above gives a fair idea and helps in understanding the success tree analysis for the implementation of contingency plan in the school to make it a risk and hazard free building. This is very easy to understand that all the events have to be noted, registered, evaluated, monitored and applied in a very logical manner so that the rate of the success of the implementation of contingency plan can be accurately judged for its effectiveness and efficacy. The success tree analysis as said earlier takes into account the joint collaboration, participation, integration and co-operation of their efforts to make the contingency plan successful. As far as the application of above diagram and formula of success tree analysis is concerned it can be said that all the stake holders like administration, teaching faculty, students, their parents, engineers, architects, the electricians, the fire safety engineers, the fire rescue master and community people and leaders have to put their hands together in order to see the success tree analysis in a proper and logical sequel. 6. Mathematical Tree analyze The names, abbreviations, notations and logical icons are used for the mathematical description of these fault trees. The words like, AND, NOT, OR are used to give names to the gates. Various variables are used for the gates. A, B, C arrangements are done for the true, false, true-false, statements. Additions, subtraction and summations are done like the formulas, C= AB, C=A+B-AB, C=1-A, C= 1-AB, C=1-A-B+AB or C= (A+B-AB) (1-AB) where A, B and C are the mega targets for the achievement for the implementation of the emergency plans for the fire incident management in the buildings like the school building in consideration. The mathematical calculations are fully applied in the tree analysis that would ultimately result in the mathematical shapes that would emerge as C=AB where C is the desired results A and B are the variables which have been applied for the completion of the task as on successful basis. 7. Reliability study The reliability study is the opposite of fault trees study that suggests the strong points in the buildings as given in their plans, maps, structures, the durations and durability of the buildings and their materials used in them. We have seen that in the school building the reliability study is giving a good picture. That is why the insurance company has insured the building on a minimal premium. The issues lie only in the electrification. The fences on the roof have to be redone. The bathrooms leakages have to be plugged up. The electric wiring and open switches have to be replaced and redone. The materials used in the laboratories have to be fully secured (Shroff, Arvin V.; Shah, Dhananjay L. 2003). The students and teachers have to under go a short training. The instructions on the fire rescue and safety have to be relocated and contingency plan to be implemented as soon as possible. All these steps would further the reliability level of study to the perfection level. 8. Business continuity plan The business continuity plan in the building suggests a smooth continuation of the educational activity in the building of this school for the future decades without any risk and hazard. The minor changes suggested in the improvement of system in the building as proposed above would ensure safe and sound business continuity in the building of these schools. there is every likelihood that if the contingency plan as suggested is fully implemented in the above building this would certainly give a space for the administration to build more rooms or double the accommodation in the building by building the second floor on the ground floor of the building. The following business continuity plan is suggested in the school building. Business continuity plan of Al Najah Secondary School Activity with timeline Expected delivery Contingency plan implementation End March 2010 Fault tree analysis ( all trees) End June 2001 Upgrading to higher secondary level End December 20010 building another story on ground floor End June 20011 The above table of the business continuity plan for the school, not only clearly tells about all of the ingredients and elements for future expansion, reconstruction, reorganization and improvement in the business continuity of the school. It starts with analysis of the risks as have been done earlier in the above pages and it has been carefully noted that the analysis involves the external and internal examination of the building. It checks with the location of the building, the climatic and weather conditions, includes soil surveys, material testing, and strength of the structure and checks all the specifications of the building whether this building is commensurate with the details in the basic plan of the building. These are all external analysis of the school building. The internal analysis includes checking with the ruggedness, strength, friction of the floors and plasters of walls. Soundness of the electric systems, availability of fire and rescue services and equipment. The availability of instructions on fire and rescue. The internal analysis also checks with the furniture, fixtures, fittings, kitchen appliances, computer labs, libraries, and all the chemical, biological and physical provisions of the building. It also checks with the number and situation of the inmates and their training and conscious level with the hazards and risks involved. After having done analysis of all the above aspects the contingency plans are to be put in place. The solution designs are the set of recommendations that are meant at removing the defects in the building, that need to be looked into, evaluated, monitored and removed. So, that, the sound improvement for the elimination of risks and hazards must be done on a priority basis. In the business continuity plan solution designs are utmost necessary and important. These have to be tailored in a very expert manner. The solution designs can not be made reliable and comprehensive if the risk assessments are not made very seriously. The solution designs recommended in the business continuity plan of the above school building as described above involves the solution designs i.e. refurbishing of the entire building, re-strengthening of the structure, removing all the defects in the electric wiring, and training of the students and teachers to deal with the hazards and risks. The communications with the fire and rescue staff which is already closely located in the school building has to be made very vibrant. All the fire equipment available in the school should be very well replaced and refurbished. Similarly, the contingency plan should be implemented timely and effectively and the implementation should be evaluated successfully as per tree analysis. The testing and acceptance and maintenance should be in a vibrant consequence so the business continuity in the school must remain successful as given in the earlier paragraphs. 9. Insurance The school building is already insured with the premier insurance company of the state and the risk coverage of the building has been done for a period of 30 years from the date of its construction. The insurance company had sent up their surveyors at the time of construction of the building and they had been charged with the responsibility of material inspection. The insurance company had also advised their engineer, surveyors to check whether the concrete, cement and steels work have been completely done in a satisfactory manner or not, .the surveyors had give a good report about the building design and construction. Hence the premium of the insurance is being paid by the schools department in the state. However it is pointed out that the insurance of all the inmates in the building is covered under this insurance policy and they are required to take the short term insurance policies at an immediate basis so as to cover the risk of life and injury on the complete and satisfactory basis. Only the insurance of building is not enough in any manner. The insurance should be complete and full for heath, safety, life and premises of the school and its inmates. The insurance of public buildings in the oil rich countries has already become very good business. Therefore, it is also recommended that the new avenues of insurance of the school building should also be checked out in order to take better advantage of this business for the school. In this connection it is recommended that there are certain international insurance companies which offer free insurance policies on the short term basis for the occupants of bigger buildings like this school. There are instances where the bigger buildings are insured for good premium and the occupants of the buildings are offered free and short term insurance policies. This is because in this oil rich country insurance is already very successful and lucrative business. And the bigger insurance companies at the international level are also responsible for the requirements of the corporate social responsibilities (CSR) including promotion of education, health and environment. On this count the insurance companies can be benefited from the present school administration not only for the risk coverage of the school but also for the short life and injury insurance of the inmates. 10. CBA (cost benefit analysis) The cost benefit analysis on the basis of inaction policy can be detrimental , whereas it is required that the implementation plan in the fault trees and events trees must be implemented for the total risk analysis and elimination of hazards from the building of the schools. This is necessary to see that the CBA for the school is always in the favor of benefits for immediate action for implementation of the contingency plan and out weighs the costs of implementation plan(Jaffin, Bob, 2008). The cost analysis of the contingency plan of improvements in electrification. Plugging up of leakage re-fencing of loops, re-labeling of chemicals in the laboratories, rouging of the floors, provision of new and reliable fire equipments, display of safety instructions, training of students and teachers on hazard tackling etc has been calculated as much lower than the benefits that accrue from the safety of life, health, property, environment, carriers, and over all sound and reliable image of this school in the community, therefore the cost benefit analysis gives a robust, positive picture of the implementation of the above contingency plan as proposed in this report. The cost benefit analysis gives a fair idea of the contingency plan that augments the implementation in the sequel of above risk assessment of the high school building under assessment. 11. Utility: The fault trees, the event trees and success trees are utilized, as said earlier for the accurate estimation of reaction times in the implementation of contingency plans in the buildings for tackling and elimination of hazards and risks (Oakes, William C.; Leone, Les L.; Gunn, Craig J. 2001). Their life and health is also very essential for preservation through a proper risk analysis and a contingency plan. If the proper tree analysis is done and the building is cleared of all the risks and hazards it can be utilized further for many generations to come. The fire alarms systems have to be put in proper order (Buchanan, Sally. 2008). The notice boards have to be prominently displayed with all the safety instructions and fire rescue systems have not only to be revamped but have to be replaced in schools building altogether. The earthling system of the electricity has to be done once again. As indicated in the preliminary hazard analysis all necessary steps have to be taken for saving the building from earth quake , electric short-circuiting, the fire, the accidental injuries etc. all these things have to be done on immediate basis. This is very necessary in order to make the building viable for a better and longer utility. Conclusion; It can, therefore be concluded that, the above analysis has been done for the school building purely on the objective basis for the solid improvement in the existing situation. It is, therefore, highly recommended that the school administration should follow the contingency plan and implement the proposals in the s\essay so that it safe and sound business should continue in future. The tree analysis would certainly help in finding faults and success rates of the implementation of the contingency plan. The cost benefit analysis is very much in the favor of improvement of building by implementation of the contingency plan (Wisner, Ben; P. Balkier, T. Cannon, and I. Davis 2004). Therefore, it is necessary that this building should be put on the business continuity plan with goods insurance coverage so that the business must continue with the promotion of educational activities in this oil rich Middle Eastern country where good level of education is direly needed. The insurance companies should be approached for the implementation of CSR and should contribute to the educational activities by providing the free short term life insurance plans. Sources: 1-Oakes, William C.; Leone, Les L.; Gunn, Craig J. 2001 1st ed; , Engineering Your Future, Great Lakes Press,pp123 ISBN 1-881018-57-1  2-Building plan of Al Najah Secondary School United Arab Emirates, Ras Al Chime City. ( as provided) 3-Shroff, Arvin V.; Shah, Dhananjay L. 2003, pp45-47 1st ed; Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Taylor & Francis 4-Wisner, Ben; P. Balkier, T. Cannon, and I. Davis 2004.pp65 1st ed; At Risk - Natural hazards, people’s vulnerability and disasters. Wiltshire: Rutledge. 5-Alexander, David 2002. pp 235 2nd ed; Principles of Emergency planning and Management. Hardened: Terra Publishing. ISBN 1-903544-10-6.  6-Jaffin, Bob, 2008.pp65 3rd ed; "Emergency Management Training: How to Find the Right Program". Emergency Management Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-11-15. 7-Buchanan, Sally. 2008 pp57ed; 2 "Emergency preparedness." from Paul Banks and Roberta Pipette. Preservation Issues and Planning. Chicago: American Library Association, 2000. 159-165. ISBN 978-0-8389-0776-4 Read More