Risk Management in a Hotel - Case Study Example

risk management in a hotel By [ name of the author] risk management in a hotel from [name of the organization] [author’s name] [date of fulfillment] Acknowledgment Abstract This paper is about the ways to identify the risk factors that are to be found in a typical 54 storey high-rise hotel building in Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates. The paper is about how the various factors come together in such a situation and what the ways for managing such crisis. As it is a tough job to rescue people from dangerous situations like fire, there needs to have proper discipline and proper amalgamation of team work. This paper is a presentation related to the amount of risk that increases for the guests and all the people who were inside the hotel. Table of Contents Cover sheet 1 Title page 2 Acknowledgment 3 Abstract 4 Table of Contents 5 Executive Summary 6 The report 7 references 17 Executive Summary This paper is a report over an outburst of fire and the related risk factors that are to be found in a typical 54 storey high-rise hotel building in Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates. This paper highlights the risks to both the guests and any fire crews attending a typical bedroom fire above the 20th floor. This is a speculative attempt of finding out all those essential things that are needed for the purpose of such crisis management. Precautions and immediate cooperation can be a solution to get quick rescue proceedings. It is thus a presentation related to the amount of risk that increases for the guests and all the people who are inside the hotel. This paper is a risk assessment in relation to work-based task within fire and rescue operation. The report introduction Name of the building - Al-Fahim Place Hotel Number of the floors - 54 storeys Fully occupied – 2000 guests and 1500 staff members Location - Mussafah Residential There was a huge fire broke in Al-Fahim Place Hotel, Mussafah Residential on the 15th of June, Sunday. As soon as the fire broke in the building it suddenly got spread all over. It was first detected in the 38th floor, where the LPG cylinder got burst. Within a span of 15 minutes the fire spread all over the floors above the 38th floor. It was a huge outburst and whole building soon got chaotic. There was heavy fire damages and huge destruction of goods and property. There were almost 2000 guests present in the hotel and about 1500 staff members working in the various floors. The fire equally spread over the consecutive floors downward. The affect was immense till the 30th floor. The fire very swiftly crossed the 46th floor towards the top and the 35th floor towards the ground. The detailed elaboration has been demonstrated through this graph. Everybody started running out of the building as soon as the LPG cylinder burst. However as it was in the 38th floor people who were in the next consecutive floors got stuck and could not come out of the building. It was a devastating state of life and death for all those who were above the 38th floor. The building suddenly started collapsing and people were unable to move. Figure 1 Floors that were affected immediately after the burst. The investigatory team has declared that there were 100 people who died on the spot and more than 800 are heavily injured. It would have been more if the rescue team would have come little later. The fire broke at about 4.15 pm and with in an hour it was all over the place. The rescue team came within 20 minutes and started spraying water to stop the fire from growing. Soon it was dark and the rescue team started working under heavy lights. In under daylight the task becomes easier but as it started getting dark the task became heavier. Risk factors The effort of saving more people became more difficult and the risk kept on increasing. Everywhere there was a situation of helplessness and nervousness. People were screaming all over for help. The rescue team was saving whomever they got on their way. People who were unable to scream were saved much later. The course many loose their lives and many people were heavily injured. Most of the rescue act was done before 5.30 pm and then due to darkness the process became slower and the loss increase. There were lights all over but the natural daylight is a great support during such crisis. The fire was flowing at a very high speed and for the fire brigade people it was really a tough job to over come. It took more than 2 hours to get control over the fire and then the proper evacuation happened from the floors where fire could not reach. Almost everyone was evacuated from the 48th floor onwards. In general the rescue team works much faster than what it could do on that very day. The biggest hindrance that they were facing is the darkness. All sorts of electrical equipments were disconnected. There was absolute darkness except for the lights bore by the rescue team members. Figure 2 Increase in risks due to darkness Many people were detected as per the sounds they were making but it became very hard to find those who were not in a state to move. Civil protection role There is no doubt that now the authority is going to face numerous legal questions of responsibility and liability. The foremost thing would be the matter related to the protection of the hotel. There will be strict queries regarding the measures related to the prevention and reduction of the hazards associated with fires in the hotel. Being such a huge building the questions will also be regarding the use fireproofing materials and structures in the hotel. The scrutinising team will check the application of things that are more resistant to fire in the making of the building. The fire insurance company will no doubt help the authority with the finance but after an elaborative speculation over the case. There will also be the query over the availability of a reliable fire and water restoration specialist1. The initial effort of fire prevention is to reduce the sources of ignition2. And especially in a place like such a big hotel it was the primary duty of every member to take care of every such thing that can cause fire in the building. It was said that the staff members were of great help. As they were often trained with fire drills and were made aware to deal with such risky situations to a building fire. There was also the availability of passive fire protection and active fire protection systems in the hotel. This is the reason that controlled the damage to a great extent. Without these minimum measures there would have been more losses of life. In this hotel the active fire protection that was used by the staff members immediately after the burst were the fire sprinklers. The damages would have been far more than one can ever imagine. But it was minimised as Al-Fahim Place Hotel was well equipped with the maximized passive fire protected things. All the building materials and furnishings of Al-Fahim Place Hotel are tested for fire-resistance, combustibility and flammability during the construction of the building. Not only that all the elements related to carpeting and plastics used in the rooms and the corridors were also well tested before they were placed in the specified places. The Al-Fahim Place Hotel was also well protected by fireproofing measures. It was having all those measures related to the passive fire protection equipments. More and more materials that were used in the building were more or less equipped with fireproofing measures. It also adopted all those materials and structures that were more resistant to fire Al-Fahim Place Hotel will not legally charged much as it has got the certification listed for all the fireproofing system. Challenges There are many practical challenges that this particular situation faced. The foremost was the of course the way the rescue team dealt the whole scene. There was a common lack of administration and systematic way. Being professionals they were expected to be more proper and determined. The very next thing was that they arrived comparatively quite late. The distance from the fire brigade office to the hotel is hardly 10 minutes. Time From the first time of call until the arrival of fire engine to the location However it is true that during the evening there is immense traffic in that particular road, even than it is considered as a les considerable point. There are certain amounts of mismanagement in the calling system of the fire brigade. There are these numerous amounts of unwanted alarm calls that have been estimated to constitute 28% of the total calls received by the Brigade during that year. Whatever be the reason the brigade needs to be more prompt and has to respond quickly and effectively to those automatic fire detection calls where a real fire has been detected. Added to this there should be the application of cautiousness towards the reduction of the number of occasions when a response is made to an unwanted (non-fire) signal. Alarms The need has arisen for automatic fire alarm systems in every corner. As these alarms are all quite common, they are also very highly effective in response to the life safety patterns and for property protection feature. The use of automatic alarms is a kind of compulsion in commercial and domestic premises. It is the most convenient and the most effective means towards safety protection of life. By means of these alarms the fire brigade could be called faster and the damages can be reduced to a great extent. Recommendation According to the fundamental fire research (ie the investigation of the science of fire) needs to be more adamant and developed towards their responsibilities in order to save more lives. There has to be the assurance for the practical application of fire safety engineering among every professional involved in fire rescue management. Added to this there has to be much awareness towards the implementation of fire safety engineering along with the introduction of a less prescriptive regulatory3. More research works are highly at the verge of emergency In the situations related to the fire safety engineered approaches. The need more scientific and practical interpretations to lessen the risk of human lives. All these are necessary things that must get added to the whole concept of crisis management that arises from the destructions caused by fire. It is also very important that the fire research assets should be supported and sponsored well in physical and financial terms. More and more funds need to be allotted to deal with these sudden situations. There has to be proper work done to overcome all sorts of situations that are lacking in the scientific rigor. Hazard Identification It is very important to keep a strict eye on all those things that can cause harm to life, property, the environment or heritage4. Risk Assessment The need is to make a clear and prompt assessment regarding the likelihood and severity of the harm that might occur. Risk control measures It is very important to identify all the control options that are there. Added to this it is equally important to be prepared for risk control plans and their implementation. Monitoring & reviewing There should be the provision for the establishment of the monitoring and review systems that can upgrade and inform the development of future objectives, practices, procedures and training that are needed. Communication & Consultation A strict application for the development of communication plans is very necessary and it must cover internal and external stakeholders5. conclusion Eventually there is the need for the consideration of the fact that people needs to be more careful and must understand the minimum precautions in every level6. The need is to give the security of life and property. By the application of all these things the graph of the losses would have been something like this and the risk would have been much lower. Figure 3 Floors will be less affected by the application of precautions The losses that causes by fire are often compensated but what about the lives. Fire destructions are always heavy and are drastically harmful. In this same report we can see that the cause would have been handled in a better way by the application of some precautions. The causes to fire need to be taken more care of. As it is the most dangerous accident ever can happen. The best part lies in being conscious and alert. This hotel would not have faced such a tragedy if the recommended things would have followed. The participation of the fire fighters is expected to be more professionally skilled and prompt. Added to this, the factor of darkness was such a situation that was beyond any help. However this also needs to be given some emphasis to save more lives. references Begal, Bill. "Restoration With a Capital E-P-A: A Case Study", Restoration & Remediation, August 23, 2007. http://www.randrmagonline.com/CDA/Archives/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000156172 [retrieved on 19.06.08] Finalised guidance notes, n.d., www.somersetfirebrigade.co.uk/IRMP/irfmp/html/guidance.html [retrieved on 19.06.08] Fire & Life Safety Education, Manitoba Office of the Fire Commissioner, n.d., http://www.firecomm.gov.mb.ca/safety_education_nero_and_ashcan.html#6 [retrieved on 19.06.08] Independent Review of the Fire Service, online press release 20 Sep 2002, Independent review starts into pay and modernisation of the Fire Service [retrieved on 19.06.08] Independent Review of the Fire Service (2002) The Future of the Fire Service: reducing risk, saving lives, available on http://www.irfs.org.uk/ [retrieved on 19.06.08] Peter Checkland,1997, Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Read More