Fire safety management of public buildings: a systematic review of hospital buildings in Asia

Abstract

PurposeThere is increasing recognition amongst healthcare providers on the necessity to improve fire safety management in healthcare facilities. This is possibly not yet satisfactory because of recent fire incidents in Asia. This paper set out to analyse the literature because of the paucity of systematic reviews on fire safety management of public healthcare facilities and proffer preventive measures.Design/methodology/approachThirty related studies were identified with the support of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses via Scopus and Web of Science databases.FindingsInfluencing factors, hindrances to fire safety management and preventive measures for fire-related occurrence in Asian hospital buildings were the three themes that emerged from the reviewed. The factors that influence fire in Asian hospital buildings were categorised into technical, management and legislation factors.Research limitations/implicationsThe recommendations of this paper were based on literature that was systematically reviewed but does not compromise the robustness concerning fire safety management in hospital buildings across Asian countries. Much is needed to be known regarding fire safety in healthcare buildings across Asian countries. This paper recommended exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach as part of the implications for further studies. This will allow in-depth face-to-face interviews and increase the generalisability of future findings concerning fire safety management in hospital buildings across Asian countries to a larger population.Practical implicationsAs part of the practical implications, this paper recommends fire safety management plan as one of the practical possible measures for addressing technical, management and legislation factors. Also recommended is training and fire safety education of healthcare staff in collaboration with safety firefighters to address major issues that may arise from management factors. The government should upgrade the safety technology equipment in healthcare facilities as part of measures to mitigate issues concerning technical and legislation factors. Also, the identified factors are part of the theoretical contributions to the advancement of knowledge and this brings to the front burners new opening.Originality/valueThis is probably the first systematic review paper on fire safety hospital buildings in Asia.

An assessment of fire safety measures in healthcare facilities in Nigeria

“…Evidence from Table 2 shows that fire extinguisher is the most common firefighting equipment available in hospitals. Findings agree with Abdulsalam et al (2016) and Salleh et al (2020) and found that amongst the fire prevention/fighting equipment available in health facilities, a fire extinguisher was ranked highest. Findings show that about one-quarter of the hospital facilities have a schedule for fire safety drills/training for the staffers and organised once a year via the Health Institution Fire Disaster Management Plan.…”

“…This is to protect the lives of users and properties during fire occurrence. Findings agree with Olanrewaju and Abdul-Aziz (2014), Ebekozien (2020), and Salleh et al (2020). They affirmed that hospitals are vital infrastructure that should always remain harmless and operational.…”

“…Most of the hospital buildings are constructed to last for many years and provide “temporary” residential and functional operations to many healthcare seekers. Because of the long timespan, hospital facilities are subjected to natural and man-made hazards (Salleh et al , 2020). This can cause a fractional or full collapse of the hospital building (Waseem et al , 2011).…”

Value-Based Building Maintenance Practices for Public Hospitals in Malaysia

“…Recent research trends have dealt with customer satisfaction and service quality [25,26], and performance [27]. Fire safety issues in Asia [10], and automated maintenance systems [28], were investigated. The value-based approach is limited to the aspect of value-adding facilities management in the UK [29].…”

“…An audit in Cuban hospitals also identified mismanagement of maintenance activities by staff in the maintenance department as the root cause of subsequent maintenance problems [9]. More recently, fire safety concerns in hospitals were raised where various fire incidents in Asia and globally were reported and maintenance of firefighting appliances were among the issues mentioned [10,11].…”