Active Fire Safety Measures in the Heritage Timber Buildings in Malaysia

Salleh, Nurul Hamiruddin; Mohtar, Muhammad Alif Wajdi

doi:10.21837/pm.v18i12.741

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Main legislations in Malaysia may, directly and indirectly, relate to design and manage fire safety for buildings in Malaysia as stated by Salleh and Ahmad (2009) (Table 1). Each legislation may consist of different scopes and requirements.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fire Safety in the Design, Management and Use of Buildings-Code of Practice MS 1183:2015 and The Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 Act 586 enforced in Fire risk assessment 2006 mandated the health-care facility. Alternatively, few international codes and guides are published by non-profit organisations such as National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) (Tables 2 and 3), Historic Scotland and Fire Protection Association, which are useful for reference (Salleh and Ahmad, 2009).…”

Section: Regulatory Framework In Malaysiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reference for regulatory requirements regarding the fire safety aspects in the building is The Uniform Building By-Law 1984 which uses by both departments, i.e. Building Department and Fire Services and Rescue Department for statutory satisfaction.Main legislations in Malaysia may, directly and indirectly, relate to design and manage fire safety for buildings in Malaysia as stated bySalleh and Ahmad (2009) (Table…”

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confidence: 99%

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Fire risk assessment of Malaysia public hospital buildings

Salleh

Aras

Norazman

et al. 2023

JFM

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Purpose This paper aims to evaluate the level of compliance of fire safety with the legal requirements in Malaysia government hospital buildings by evaluating via fire risk management. Design/methodology/approach Five government hospitals were selected. These five hospitals were selected due to the location of Penang, which is one of the fast-growing states in Malaysia (Salleh, 2019; Ebekozien, 2019). This state is the second most densely populated state after Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, with an average distribution of 1,490 persons per square km. This higher population caused the higher demand on the health-care services by the public (DOSM, 2016). The observation and building audit processes are as described. Hundreds of photos were taken for qualitative analysis, and all fire safety elements were measured for the descriptive analysis for each hospital. The framework of audit elements is created based on the Life Safety Code: NFPA 101 (2018), UBBL 1984: Part VII (Fire Requirements) and Part VIIII (Fire Alarms, Fire Detection, Fire Extinguishment and Fire Fighting Access). The cross-sectional descriptive evaluation is conducted in the case studies building in accordance with Life Safety Code of NFPA, also known as NFPA 101. To conduct the study, the information needed to assess the fire safety status was extracted from the CFSES software based on the NFPA 101 standard and prepared and compiled by the researcher as a checklist. In the next stage, gathered information was analysed using Computerised Fire Safety Evaluation System (CFSES) software. This method was developed based on the NFPA 101 standard and evaluated the fire risk from four dimensions of containment, extinguishment, people movement and general safety. This software gives the risk assessment results in three areas of fire control, exits and general safety. To assess the fire risk of the commercial buildings after entering the background information (height, age, number of stories, etc.) in the software, the software first calculates the score that the building should obtain in the three aspects of fire control, exit routes and general safety (minimum score required). Findings The utmost zones in the case studies (44.3%) occupied by limited mobility are located at low-rise buildings or at the first floor to third floor of the hospital buildings. Hospitals managements lacked in creating the maximum exit route and egress the occupants to disclosed the building during evacuation, it correlates to the patients' mobility positions strategy to assign their categories that fell on effortless mobilisation. Surveyed hospitals were built with the non-combustible materials, even though four of the case studies were built before 1984. Hospitals were equipped with hazard separations and vertical smoke pores, and in most of the zones, sprinkler system is installed only in the corridors, equipped with communication system and system of communication with fire and relief organisations and has a fire detection and alarm system throughout the building. Results of fire risk assessment on four groups of elements were tested via CFSES revealed from 122 zones of surveyed hospitals; 102 or 84% of zones give the highest failed rate to comply the NFPA 101 requirements in terms of people movement in the building. The high-occupied Penang General Hospital contributed as the highest case study for not complying with the minimum requirements in all dimensions: people movement elements (41 zones), fire containment (31 zones), fire extinguisher (31 zones) and general safety (20). Fire extinguishment (62 zones) recorded the highest numbers of zones that complied with NFPA 101 (2013). The overall results of the fire risk assessment suggested that in terms of the fire control, egress and general safety aspects, the fire risk assessment score was unacceptable (failed) in all hospital buildings studied, and in the three areas mentioned, the general safety, egress/exit routes and fire control were in a worse status in terms of the score obtained in the software. None of the surveyed hospital received the minimum safety score in the three areas mentioned. The involvement of Emergency Response Team is crucial to overcome this egress or fire exit requirement and parameters. Research limitations/implications Several limitations exist in this research that cannot be controlled. Firstly, the occupancy rates only determined during peak hour. Accessibility into hospital compound permitted only during daytime. Secondly, the fire safety audits and fire safety risk management in this research are not being conducted by a professional architect or engineer and as a result must be relied on the direct inspection checklist to create valid results. Thirdly, this research has some limitations which need to be noted but does not affect the robustness of the study’s findings. This study focuses only on five selected public hospitals in one state of the northern region of Malaysia and excluded data gathering from all other parts of Malaysia. The perception of hospital operators regarding fire safety issues from different state hospitals may allow comparisons. Practical implications The findings of this paper should make a key practical contribution to the body of knowledge. In practice, the proposed framework should expand the knowledge of public hospital fire safety management plan concerning the level of fire safety compliance with the requirements in government hospital buildings and develop a fire safety management plan framework for government hospital buildings. Social implications This paper develops an early framework component related to the occupants’ safety which gives the basis for future research in hospital fire safety settings as it imparts early investigation into the consequence of investigating the phenomenon from the operators’ perspective as an attempt to improve public health-care fire safety performance in hospitals. Originality/value This paper has created a few measurement tools that can be applied among public hospital buildings stakeholders to perform the fire safety audit and risk management and rate the performance of Fire Safety Management in public hospitals.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Regulatory Framework In Malaysiamentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Fire risk assessment of Malaysia public hospital buildings

Salleh

Aras

Norazman

et al. 2023

JFM

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“…The two main categories of factors that affect process safety culture are social and organisational. Group norms, task conditions, management styles in safety operation, safety attitudes and channels of interactions, staff cultural diversity, safety implementation, and regulations are examples of organisational factors that happen within the company itself [22,4]. There are external social factors that affect the organisation.…”

Section: Employees Safety Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Process Safety Culture on Employee Safety Motivation in Selected Oil and Gas Industries in Nigeria

Ekong,

Ogunbawo

2023

JSRR

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Multinational oil organisations are often involved in activities that needs adherence to strict safety rules. The decision of managements of oil and gas industries to ensure safety of workers is reflected in their safety culture and safety is a major need of oil workers. The study assessed the impact of process safety culture on employee safety motivation in selected oil and gas industries in Nigeria. Social exchange theory was adopted to underpin the study. The research was descriptive cross-sectional oil fields-based study. Purposive, convenience and quota sampling technique was adopted. The study adopted a well-structured self-administered questionnaire to get he perceptions of the 1,000 plants workers of the selected oil and gas industries on process safety culture of their companies. Data was collected through questionnaires as primary source and journals, e-book, newspapers as secondary source. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as average mean and standard deviation. For the hypothesis testing this research adopted Multicollinearity analysis. Perceived process safety culture was found to significantly affect personnel safety motivation.

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“…In addition to their fundamental role of providing shelter and space for diverse activities, buildings also contribute to a society's culture, heritage, and wealth and have an impact on the natural environment (Agha & Kamara, 2017). In addition, through the artistry and technology used in the building's design and construction, the presence of heritage buildings adds to providing a general peek into the past of a particular community or civilisation (Salleh & Mohtar, 2020). Confucius, however, has a "sacred" status in China.…”

Section: Confucian Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

The Heritage and Narrative of Confucian Courtyard and Architecture in Sustainable Development in Shandong, China

Rong

Bahauddin

2023

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In recent decades, China has witnessed a miracle of rapid urbanisation, and the development of traditional Chinese architecture has faced challenges as well as opportunities. Improper planning has undermined the well-being of residents, and many historic buildings have been demolished. Under the slogan of “high-quality urban development”, the value of traditional architecture is rarely mentioned. Therefore, research into architectural heritage and urban sustainability is necessary. This study focuses on Shandong Province in China, the birthplace of Confucianism and, to a large extent, the long history of Chinese culture. By studying courtyard architecture under the influence of Confucianism, the aim is to reveal the cultural profile of the new urban era while critiquing the problems in the urban planning process. The study adopts a qualitative method based on the researcher's field investigation and data collection, as well as one-on-one interviews with experts, to collate typical cases for analysis. In addition, this study also intervenes from a narrative perspective to facilitate the exploration of the value of architecture. The findings suggest that courtyard architecture embodies Chinese aesthetic and philosophical thinking, has theoretical and practical implications for living environments, communities, and urban development, and brings new insights that can better achieve sustainable goals while expanding the existing knowledge of architecture and courtyards.

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Active Fire Safety Measures in the Heritage Timber Buildings in Malaysia

Cited by 3 publications

References 3 publications

Fire risk assessment of Malaysia public hospital buildings

Fire risk assessment of Malaysia public hospital buildings

Impact of Process Safety Culture on Employee Safety Motivation in Selected Oil and Gas Industries in Nigeria

The Heritage and Narrative of Confucian Courtyard and Architecture in Sustainable Development in Shandong, China

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