Fire Safety Strategy for Anywhere Community Center Building - Report Example

Fire Safety Strategy The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 which was instituted in 2006 replaced numerous fire safety laws. FSO 2005 applies to all non-domestic premises wherein parts of blocks of flats and houses are included. FSO 2005 dictates that the new Anywhere Community Center (ACC) building must conform to all the fire safety regulations presented in the Building Regulations Approved Document B (Volume 2) for buildings other than dwelling houses in order to obtain approval from Statutory Authorities. Below is the detailed fire strategy for ACC building. 1.1 Means of Detection and Warning System Twelve (12) smoke detectors will be installed althroughout the building and will be distributed in the following areas: Infants Room, Youth Room, the hallway directly in front of the comfort rooms, the entrance lounge, store, kitchen, stage room, office, hall, future room, future store, chapel, and oil storage area. All areas will be installed with optical smoke detectors except the oil storage room where the ionization chamber smoke detector will be used. This is because fire emanating from the oil storage room will not produce as much smoke particles than the fire that will spark from the boiler so a smoke detector with a very sensitive sensor will be used in the oil storage area. Mounting of smoke detectors must conform to section 1.9 – 1.18 of Approved Document B. The central monitoring points for the detectors will be placed on two strategic locations inside the building like the far wall of the entrance and on the entrance through the office area so that anyone coming in/out of the ACC building will easily identify which routes to take to safety or which areas needs to be contained. Type A call points will be used and would follow L1 category of fire alarm system. 1.2 Provisions of Means of Escape Inclusion of plans for means of escape is necessary in any building plans. Apparently, only the roofing materials used in constructing ACC building is easily combustible since parts of the roofing like the rafters, boarding, and purlins used softwood materials while the walls used solid and hollow concretes. The building design needs to include at least three points of escape in case of fire. Means of escape will be provided in the Infants room since the distance of travel from the Infants room to the entrance door is more than nine meters prompting the provision of a fire exit point as imposed by Section 2.13a; the chapel area where the means of escape is through another room which according to Section 2.5 needs to have another fire exit point in case the exit point – which is the office area – is in fire; and an egress window will be provided in the balcony area which should strictly follow Section 2.9a and 2.9b. An alternative exit can be placed in the hall area which satisfies Section 2.17a and 2.17-b1 because the maximum travel distance from the farthest distance of the room to the nearest exit is more than 9 meters. The said fire exits will be equipped with self-closing fire doors with fire-screen. Doors on escape routes should be fitted with simply fastening in accordance to Section 5.11. Walls leading to the main exit and the fire exits as well must be fire resistant (using materials that can resist fire for 30 minutes) according to the standard detailed by Section 5.2 to Section 5.4. The walls of ACC buildings that will be reinforced with fire-resistant materials are the walls of the Entrance Lounge and the walls from the walls from the office to the Chapel area. Fire protection for glazing materials found in the building will depend largely and should comply with the provisions on Section 5.7 to Section 5.9 of Approved Document B. Ventilation should also be installed in order to vent smoke particles in case of fire; the installation of which should conform to the provision detailed in Section 2.26. The stairs should be situated on fire-resistant walls which in this case has no problems since inner walls are constructed using concrete hollow blocks. 1.3 Provision of Means of Fire Fighting ACC building should not worry about fire fighting shafts if it can provide with automatic sprinklers because the height of the building is within the acceptable range of FSO 2005 accessible to the range of fire rescue. Sprinklers can be installed in the same areas where smoke detectors are placed to ensure immediate control of the fire. In addition to that, an additional sprinkler should be placed in the hall to accommodate the large area it covers. However, ACC should be equipped with at least three water fire extinguishers, three dry powder fire extinguishers for burning live electrical items, and wet chemical fire extinguishers that should be located in the oil storage room. The three water fire extinguishers as well as dry powder fire extinguishers will be placed on the entrance lounge, in the hall, and in the chapel. Ventilations should be designed and constructed so that the ductwork does not assist the transport of fire and smoke throughout the building by placing exit points of ventilation as further away from the fire exits. In addition to that, the ventilation for the kitchen and the boiler room must be separate from the main vent running through the whole ACC building to prevent the spread of fire from these areas. To supplement the need of the building for trained people during emergency cases, the staff and security guards will be sent for specialized training ranging from fighting small fires to rescue operations. 1.4 Stability of Structure Load-bearing structures of ACC building needs to conform to the FSO standard as detailed in Section 7 of the Approved Document B to (a) minimize the risk of the occupants, (b) reduce the risk to firefighters, and (c) reduce the danger of the people in the vicinity. Section 7 demands that the elements of the structure must comply with the fire resistance standards detailed in the appendix A of Approved Document B. Because the whole structure is a single storey building not more than 5m in height, the materials that will be used in various walls, ceilings, external walls, compartment walls, enclosures, corridors, and fire-resisting store rooms (the boiler and oil storage rooms for ACC), and other non-concrete parts of the structure must have a 30-minute fire resistance. The floors should have a 60-minute fire resisting material as defined by table A1 in appendix A. Since the ACC structure uses concrete tiles for roofing, it is necessary that the roofing materials be reinforced with BROOF class of materials using timber rafters for support with wood-wool slabs or fiber insulating boards in accordance to ACC defined standard. 1.5 Access for Fire Fighting and Fire Fighting Facilities for Fire Service The structural design of the building allows ease in fighting fire whether by the occupants of the building or the local fire fighters. For one thing, there is a lot of headroom for people entering the structure. Smoke and fire can easily miss the head of a tall person with about 2.5 meters from the floor. Two fire hydrants can be placed in the structure, one for each water supply found on the southern part of the structure and on the northern part of the ACC building. The choices for the locations of the fire hydrants are strategic for ease in controlling fire from whichever side of the building. The water supply for the sprinklers can also come from the same source. Fire fighters can enter the vicinity in case of fire through the main doors on the southeastern part of the structure or they can enter through the alternative exits defined in section 1.2 above. 1.6 Internal and External Fire Spread The internal lining of ACC building will be equipped with 30-minute fire resistant materials in order to allow safety evacuation and slow down the rate of spread of the fire paying close attention to the walls in the infant and youth rooms as well as on the entrance hallway leading to the main entry point of the building. The same precaution will be done on the chapel, hall, and stage areas where the main exit point will be on the door towards the east of the office. The proposed fire-fighting installations in 1.3 will also help control and contain the spread of internal fire throughout ACC building. The external walls of the building is made up of 275mm cavity with a 112mm brick wall on the outer part and a 100 mm concrete hollow block walls on the inner part. This is all in accordance to the requirement for the external building spread that would provide adequate resistance from fire from one of the buildings to the other. In addition to that, there is a minimum extra space of 3.18m to the next building with a wide allowance for roofing materials to clear away the closest part of the other building. 1.7 Calculations (a) Population density: Given (Room Area) Hall = 78.18; Chapel =39.09; Stage Room =43.42; Youth Room = 13.09; Infants Room =30.09; Lounge = 43.21; Store & Kitchen = 18.29; Office =17.75 (Floor Space Factor m2/person): Hall = 0.5; Chapel =0.5; Stage Room =0.5; Youth Room = 0.3 Infants Room = 1.0; Lounge = 1.0; Store & Kitchen = 7.0; Office = 1.0 Solution: (b) Number of units of exit widths = 5 mm per person since the ACC structure supports more than 220 persons. To be exact, the width of the exit would be 2.41m. (c) Number of exits required = at least 2 exits. This data is from table 3 from Section 3.8. (d) The limitation on the travel distance is 9 meters according to Section 2.13a. Fire Safety Management Strategy The strategy for fire safety management starts with the identification of the fire hazards, the identification of the affected and at-risk people, and the removal of the hazards and the protection of the people from risk. Once these factors are identified and removed, documentation and further planning typically follows. This part identifies the fire hazards, the at-risk people in case of fire, and protection of person and property from fire for ACC building. 2.1 Identification of Fire Hazards There are three elements that are needed to start a fire – source of ignition, source of fuel, and oxygen for combustion. Possible sources for ignition inside and outside the premise of ACC building are cooking equipments from the kitchen, electrical wirings and light fittings, naked flames that may be left unattended by any of the building occupants, faulty and misused electrical wirings anywhere in the building premise, any sparks coming from the boiler room, and possible obstructions in the building’s ventilation. Ideal sources of fuel for ignition are liquefied petroleum gases that are used for cooking in the kitchen can leave leaks and slightest ignition could start a fire; easily combustible materials such as paper and cloth where contact with hot surfaces and directly on naked flames can start fire. Another fuel that would ignite, transport, and spread fire is the oil contents of the oil storage room. The main source of oxygen for combustion in ACC building is the vents that run throughout the whole structure. 2.2 Identification of People at Risk ACC building aims to cater the needs of the community by including counseling, advice and information, and education services on the proposed building plan. The proposed new ACC building has five major rooms which are Youth room, Infant Room, Chapel, Hall, and a store. People at risk during emergency cases can then be classified into five groups which are the infants housed in the Infants room, the young people that are present in the Youth room in any event of fire, the churchgoers that frequent the structure’s small chapel, people who attend any activity in the hall room when fire starts, and the consumers that frequent the store located inside the building as well as the crew of the whole building. Unattended infants and young children could not keep themselves safe in any event of fire which is why they are considered among the at-risk groups. Young people are usually immature and rash in their decisions during emergency situations which qualify them for at-risk group. People in the hall, stage, and in the chapel – places which are usually crowded, are placed at risk because of potential pandemonium any sounding alarm may cause. Building staff and store crew are at risk in case of fire because they will be assigned to secure the place and get people to safety before being safe themselves. 2.3 Evaluation, Removal, Reduction, and Protection from Risk There are three ways to start fire in ACC building which are by accident, by omission (like un-maintained electrical equipments), or by deliberate act of arson. The first two can be removed or reduced through vigilance of the building staff and crew and communal effort of the people occupying the building at the moment. Arson can be removed or reduced by installing security guards that would discourage bad social elements from starting fire inside or within the premise of the building. Other evaluation, removal, reduction, and protection approaches are those detailed in Section 1.1, Section 1.2, Section 1.3, and Section 1.5 of this paper. Other necessary precautions include restriction or control of use of naked flame, implement non-smoking policy within the premise of the building or designate smoking areas, periodic maintenance of smoke detectors and fire alarm systems as well as checking the functions and performances of fire extinguishers, devise ways to constantly use better performing and safer appliances and electrical equipments, constant maintenance and upgrade of electrical fixtures and lighting fittings, and adapt and keep fire awareness programs such as posters and leaflets in strategic locations so that at-risk people in any event of fire know what to do in emergency situations. 2.4 Recording, Planning, and Instruction The role of building regulations in preventing a fire spread within a building and to other buildings cannot be negated as it plays an important role in setting rules for new constructed buildings. It has been considered that the buildings that are three storied are at a grand risk as compared to other buildings such as one storey or two storeys in terms of fire outbreak (Langdon-Thomas, 1972).  In terms of transforming a building into more storied building, there should be adequate precautionary measures taken according to the building regulations. If the owner of a building takes into consideration all the building regulations and during construction follows them, there are fewer problems in terms of fire outbreak (Read and Morris, 1983). This is the reason why the documentation part of the fire safety management strategy is very important. Documentation process is composed of three parts – recording, planning, and instruction. Recording is the gathering together of the observed evaluations and how the risks are removed from the AAC building, what effective methods are used, and what impacts it has made for the at-risk people that will be using ACC building. Planning phase is the step where ACC contractors, owners, management, and other stakeholders need to sit down to plan for possible approaches to the present fire-safety-related issues at hand. Instruction on the other hand is the implementation of what has been gathered in the recording and what has been decided in the planning stages. 2.5 Conclusion Risk assessment is a job that should be compulsorily done while constructing a building as there are many risks that can effect the building negatively. Out of all the other risks, the spread of fire is the most damaging as people working or living at a place can be affected. There can be dangers of life as well. Fire risk assessment in a workplace is essential to prevent any kind of health or life risk concerning the outbreak of fire. In a workplace, the life of more people is at risk in case of fire (Derek, 1986). Therefore, a full-fledged risk assessment should be done in order to highlight all the probable risks related to outbreak of fire. The evaluation should be done keeping in consideration the health and safety aspects of the people working in a workplace (Shields and Silcock, 1987). By and large, ACC is a safe building for its occupants although there is no guarantee that it is fireproof. Nonetheless, I strongly recommend that construction will be pursued only after the recommendation stated in part 1 will be implemented. REFERENCES Communities and Local Government. The Building Regulations 2000. Approved Document B. 2006 Edition. Butcher, E.G. & Parnell, A.C. (1983). Designing for Fire Safety. John Wiley, Chichester. Derek, J. (1986). Fire Prevention Handbook. Butterworth & Co. Ltd., London. FSE (Fire Safety Engineering). (1995). A Research for the Fire Safety Engineering Design of Buildings. BRE Publications, Watford. GLC (Greater London Council). (1976). Code of Practice Means of Escape in Case of Fire. Greater London Council, London. Langdon-Thomas, G.J. (1972). Fire Safety in Buildings: Principles & Practice. A & C Black Limited, London. Read, R.E.H. & Morris, W.A. (1983). Aspects of Fire Precautions in Buildings. BRE Publications, Watford. Shields, T.J. & Silcock, G.W.H. (1987). Buildings and Fire. Longman Scientific & Technical, New York. The Aqua Group (1984). Fire and Building. Granada Publishing Ltd., London. Part 2: Fire Safety Management Strategy 2.1 Identification of Fire Hazards 2.2 Identification of People at Risk 2.3 Evaluation, Remove, Reduce and Protect from Risk 2.4 Record, Plan and Instruct 3.0 Conclusion 4.0 Bibliography Read More