Mitigation of Fire Hazards in Hospital

Abstract

AbstractCurrently, fire safety in any hospital is a major concern and a challenging one as most of the hospitals have many combustible substances, chemicals, and gases, heat-dissipating equipment, and electrical wiring that can lead to a serious fire accident or hazard if appropriate safety measures are not taken into account. Quite a large number of fire-related hazards are caused due to casual approach or carelessness of the people and improper handling of goods and chemical substances. Hospital is one of the fire-prone places if adequate measures are not undertaken seriously. As a result, it is a very difficult and challenging task to evacuate the high dependency unit before the fire spreads in the vicinity.Therefore, it is of utmost importance that hospitals and other healthcare centers must have adequate fire prevention and safety measures in place. Prevention is the key in the case of fire-related hazards, specially in places like hospitals. Every hospital must have a well-planned architectural layout, and there should be ample space for exit ways and well-maintained firefighting equipment to ward off the casualties and damage to assets. By ensuring fire safety management in hospitals, we can prevent fire accidents and save the life of dependable patients. So, the hospital management should ensure that hospital buildings are safe from fire all the times.Preventive measures used in a hospital to turn down the fire outbreak are disparate from the fire safety measures adopted in other places such as schools, offices, and industries. Adequate fire prevention methods must be designed and developed to mitigate the fire hazards including the fixed evacuation points by suitable architectural and layout, proper fire safety plan, fire detection equipment, and regular maintenance of electrical wiring and equipment. In addition, prohibiting smoking inside the premises of the hospital, especially near oxygen cylinders, and fire audit survey will also help to minimize fire accidents or hazards in the hospital territory. These types of preventive measures and safety management will significantly reduce the chances of fire outbreak.KeywordsFire hazardsHospitalMitigationPreventive measuresSafety