Many deaths and many materialistic losses happen every year because of the fires that occur all over the world. Based on this point, it was essential for organizations, institutions, and firms to make fire safety management plans. Fire safety management plan means that plan that is prepared previously before fires in order to fight and extinguish fires properly when they occur.
Fire Safety Policy Statement:
The policy that has been issued by the General Directorate of the Civil Defense. This policy has a comprehensive plan for protecting all types of facilities. It includes apartment, hotel buildings, residential dwellings and villas, dormitory and accommodation as well as business, mercantile, educational, health care, storage, industrial and rehabilitation and temporary buildings. The policy is based on the specification of some heights and widths roads and buildings. In additions, it stipulates some specifications for entrances and exits (TUV, 2015).
Fire Safety Structure Management:
Each individual in the fire safety management has specified tasks. Starting from the vice-chancellor of the organization. This person is responsible for controlling the groups of services and his human resources officers. The mission of the human resources director is the application of the fire safety plan and to ensure the abilities of the individuals to perform duties. Director of the services is responsible for assuring the availability of the resources used for the application of the fire safety plan depending on the estimations of the director of financing. Safety and health advisor are responsible for the provision of the advice regarding fire safety, making all the assessments of fire safety, making sure that all the equipment and supplies of fire safety are existent and control all the assistants of safety and health who are subject to training for fire extinguishing (MMU, 2017).
Evacuation Strategies:
The evacuation strategy is a very important step in any fire management plan. This strategy should be performed by well-trained persons. It should start with making sure that each place has more than one entry and one exit. This is to facilitate the process of evacuation away from any fires. The second thing is that assuring that there are no obstacles in the evacuation tracks. The third thing is that depending on evacuating the old people and children then women first because they have no strength to help themselves. Finally, evacuation.
Emergency Response:
The emergency response is the thing that could either help in extinguishing fires and saving lives or the thing that would lead to more losses in lives and damages to properties. This depends on the way the respondents to emergencies behave. The emergency response should be attainable and fast at the same time. It could be attainable and reachable through hanging a paper with the telephone numbers of all the emergency respondents either in the Ministry of Interior, Civil Defense, medical services providers and people inside the workplace itself. To make sure of the fastness of the emergency response, there could be role-plays in which people could act as if there is a real fire in the place (Furness, n.d.).
Fire Alarm and Detection:
Fire alarms and smoke detectors are some of the most essential equipment in any fire safety management plan. The fire alarm is a device which alerts people through sound and red lights when there is a fire. A fire detector or what is called smoke detector is a small device that is hanged at the ceiling of the place in order to detect any smokes in the place and releases a warning when it smells smokes in the place. This equipment should be installed in any place for fire safety and the Civil Defense stipulates this before giving any license for any organization to run (Miller, 2003).
Sprinklers System:
Sprinkle system consists of a device attached to pipes filled with water and used to extinguish a fire in the case of their occurrence. It is like a network of pipes over the place and between each few meters, there is a sprinkler that sprinkles water to extinguish fires. Sprinkler systems could be installed in all places except that the places where there is an oil activity because water increases oil fires and not extinguish them.
Fire Prevention and Arson Awareness:
Fire prevention depends on two things; the fire extinguishing installed devices and the awareness of the people who shall extinguish the fire. Fire prevention starts at the point of raising the arson awareness. This could be through giving individuals lectures about of types of fires and the best methods dealing with each type. In additions, there should be training on the usage of fire extinguishing equipment. Moreover, the fire-extinguishing officers should make sure that all individuals know the entrances, exits and telephone numbers of the emergency (Kuligowski, 2009).
Routine Procedures for Staff:
Routine procedures for staff are the procedures that made on a regular basis by staff in the cadre of the fire safety management plan. This includes the regular check of all the fire extinguishing equipment and making sure that they all work. In the case that there was a damage of any of the equipment, there should be a fast and urgent maintenance for it. In additions, there should be regular training for all individuals in the place in order to raise their efficiency.
Selection and Control Materials:
Giving a lecture about fires causes, equipment, and methods of fighting is an essential and significant thing. What is more important than this is the materials used in giving this lecture. Selection of materials should be based on international bases such as the materials of countries like the United Kingdom and Canada. There should also be a control about these materials in order to make sure that they are regularly updated from time to time (Barnes, 2001).
Maintenance and Testing of Fire Safety Systems:
Maintenance and testing of fire safety systems should be performed by specialists in order to make sure that devices will not be damaged. It is not a condition to make a maintenance for fire-extinguishing devices only when they stop working. But devices should be checked from time to time. For the matters of testing, there should be a testing for devices primarily when they are installed and each six months at maximum to make sure that they are ok.
Decoration, Alterations, and Extensions:
Decorations of the place are one of the key issues in the fire safety plans. Decorations should be so simple in the place and there should not be any flammable materials on it. If there is something that hinders the way to and out of the place, it should be removed. In such cases, alterations are a necessary. There should also be extensions for water sprinklers, smoke detectors and fire alarms in the place to make it safe (Bennetts, 2007).
Staff Training and Fire Drills:
Staff training and fire drills are key issues in the fire safety management. This is because if there are fire-extinguishing equipment and devices while individuals do not know how to use them or what to do in such cases, the matter shall get worse and losses would be bigger. Individuals should be trained well all the fire-extinguish equipment and devices. They also should be trained on the best methods and the most scientific methods of fighting a fire.
Fire Risk Assessment:
To know how to fight a fire, one should assess it first and know its volume and risks. The assessment of any fire depends on five steps. The first thing is identifying the hazards of the fire. These second thing is determining the people who are in danger. The third thing is evaluating or removing all the risks. The fourth step is recording all the findings and preparing a plan for an emergency. The fifth thing is reviewing then updating the assessment of fire risks from time to time (Gov.UK, n.d.).
Record Keeping:
Record keeping is a very important thing. The records could be categorized as two types. The first type is the records of the previous incidents. This would help in discovering the reasons of the fires the happened in the past and avoid these reasons to prevent fires. The second type is a record of the fire safety management plan and the training materials that could help individuals in their training.
Auditing and Updating of This Manual:
Auditing and updating this manual is the final step. Auditing the manual is essential to make sure that it is devoid of any mistakes. In additions, updating the manual is a necessity because every time, the fire safety laws are updated. In additions, many devices for fire extinguishing are invented.
