Who Can Evaluate the Safety of a Hospital Building Just After a Great Earthquake?

Abstract

Introduction:The earthquake-resistant standard of the buildings of Japan is maintained by several levels. After the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake(1995) the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism in Japan classified the earthquake-resistant performance for the base facilities into 3 levels. The hospital manager often selects the middle level of earthquake-resistance. However, 10 hospitals were closed down for the destruction of facilities by the Kumamoto earthquake. Who may evaluate the safety of a hospital after a great earthquake? The purpose of this study is to consider the methods to evaluate the safety of hospital buildings just after a great earthquake.Methods:The damage to hospitals and the measures based on Japanese Law are arranged. Then it is considered who can declare the safety of hospital buildings after a great earthquake.Results:Hospital buildings collapsed in the Hanshin-Awaji Great Earthquake and many hospitals lost a function by a tsunami in the Great East Japan Earthquake. In addition, the glass and the ceilings of the hospital were damaged in the Kumamoto Earthquake. The damage occurred although these many hospitals had an earthquake-resistant standard established in the Building Standard Act of Japan. It is necessary for the experts to judge the safety of the hospital building just after a great earthquake.Discussion:The safety of hospital buildings is the responsibility of the hospital manager. However, there isn’t an expert of building structure employed as staff at a hospital. Thus, the hospital personnel must allow the expert of the building structure to advise a manager. In the future, it is important that the evaluation methods that can judge the damage of a hospital are developed, and the practical training for the hospital personnel are repeated.