Community Safety Challenges - Research Proposal Example

Table of contents 1.0 Introduction 2 2.0 Background information and statement of the problem 2 3.0 Objectives and goals 4 4.0 Hypothesis for testing 5 5.0 Significance of community safety studies 5 6.0 Theoretical framework on community safety 6 7.0 Review of literature 7 8.0 Economic costs of fire 7 9.0 Research methodology 8 10.0 Data collection methods 9 11.0 Results of the comparative studies 10 12.0 Discussion of the results 10 13.0 Recommendations 10 14.0 Strategic objective 11 15.0 Conclusion 12 1.0 Introduction Community safety is quite a very imperative issue within the society. This is considering the fact that all age groups are found within the community. These are young children, youths, middle aged people and also the very old. All these play a very important role within the society and therefore need to be safeguarded against any possible dangers. This subject has been handled by various stakeholders throughout history. There are many areas within the community that can be quite unsafe if proper measures are not taken into consideration. (Kirk, 2006) This paper has information relating to the background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives and goals of community safety and hypothesis for testing. Other aspects also included in the paper are literature review, economic costs of fire, research methodology, data collection methods and recommendations. All these are related to community safety issues. 2.0 Background information and statement of the problem It seems that there is a very dire problem in multi occupancy high rise buildings that are under construction. These buildings provide overpopulated temporary housing for migrant workers. Analysis shows that the migrant workers are adversely affected due to constant fires within the premises. (Andersen, 1998) It has been noted that some of them get very severe injuries while others lose their lives. This becomes quite prevalent during winter. This is because many of the migrant workers tend to spend more time within the premises during this season. They fully utilize heating and electrical utilities in these seasons. (Crockford, 1986) The fire mostly emanates from the fact that occupants keep on altering electricity supplies so that they can provide many cooking areas within the single dwelling. Research carried out reveals that the occupants simply try to get avenues of connecting many electrical cooking gadgets from the power supplies. (Alexander, 2004) These actions are done without any knowledge of safety measures that have to be taken to avoid short circuits. This generally results in overheating and even short circuiting of electrical wires. Due to these two issues, fires easily start within the premises. Since the buildings are overpopulated, the occupants cannot easily exit from the buildings. Many of the migrant workers end up getting burns or other injuries resulting from being trampled on by other migrants as they try to find their way out. There are no proper measures within the buildings that have been put in place to minimize the risks. This includes lack of gadgets that can be used to detect fires early and also protect the buildings from catching fire easily. (Watts, 2001) There are various factors that have played a very big role in aggravating the entire problem. One of them is the fact that the building is still under construction. The other is that the buildings are overpopulated by the migrant workers; the housing is not suitable to be used for accommodation purposes. 3.0 Objectives and goals Community safety is a global issue that has been widely discussed by various stakeholders. The objectives of this paper are as follows; To find out problems related to community safety within the society To find out how overpopulation in high rise buildings contributes to the detriment of community safety To evaluate how migrant workers staying in high rise buildings contribute to start of fires therein How do unfinished high rise buildings contribute to deterioration of community safety To assesses how lack of fire safety education among stakeholders contributes to fires within the community To ascertain the role the government plays in aggravating the problem 4.0 Hypothesis for testing Hypotheses simply refer to the assumptions made before carrying out any research. In this research related to community safety, various hypotheses were drawn. These will help in accruing relevant information related to the research topic. They include, Fires commonly occur in high rise buildings The high rise buildings are overpopulated Migrant workers staying in high rise buildings contribute a lot to fire breakouts within the buildings. The high rise buildings do not have fire safety measure appliances e.g. alarms and insulated walls Migrant workers and landlords do not have education on fire safety measures The government has not put in place proper regulatory measures and implementation related to fire safety 5.0 Significance of community safety studies Analysis has shown that community safety studies are very essential. One of the factors is considering the fact that most people within the society are ignorant about community safety. With this important knowledge at the finger tips, one is able to educate the entire community on safety issues. (NFPA, 1993) With this knowledge, one can ensure that his or her activities do not play a role in initiating or aggravating fires. Community safety studies also help the learner to be of help during emergencies within the community. This includes emergency cases of drowning, hurricane occurrences and also fire breakouts. Learning community safety studies equips the learner with important information. With this training a graduate will be in a position to get employment from organisations that deal with community safety. This includes non-governmental organisations that deal with educating the entire community on how they can enhance safety within the community. Other organisations include fire rescue services where employees deal with emergency cases of fire breakouts within the community. In this case, employees help in rescuing people, property and also quenching the fire. Through this it is quite obvious that one can be in a position to earn a living and support his or her family. 6.0 Theoretical framework on community safety Various authors have come up with theories on community safety. Analysis of these theories reveals that there are various factors that derail safety within the community. It was noted that ignorance was one of the major factors that contributed to fire out breaks in buildings. According to Darene, (2006), fire safety education is one of the ways that the problem can be solved. In his theory, McDonald, (2007) asserts that ten percent of the reported incidences of fire break outs deaths of occupants have been aggravated by overpopulation in high rise buildings. (Darene, 2006) 7.0 Review of literature According to literature review many people are fond of altering electrical appliances without taking into consideration the risk involved. According to ‘Kirk’s fire investigation’, there are various dangers of altering electrical supplies. In most cases, the person trying to alter an electrical supply does not have knowledge in the field. This is more so in home set up. (Morgan, 2005) This means that he or she has no information about the negative and positive terminal. Due to lack of the information about the live and neutral wires, the person may easily get an electric shock. This can even result in death. This is especially when someone tries to alter an electric supply without switching off the main switch. Another issue is whereby the person fails to connect the wires well and upon use, they simply burst into flames. This can also result in injuries and even death within the premises. There is also the danger of one losing property as it can be burnt. Sometimes in altering the electrical supplies, there is always the risk of using improper materials that are flammable and later on result into fire 8.0 Economic costs of fire Fire outbreaks especially in high rise buildings cause a lot of loss both to property and at times even lives. It is of importance that the owners of the buildings to incur preventive costs before the fire strike. These costs include setting up of fire alarms, building insulated walls, insulated stairways, smoke alarms and exit doors. Occurrences of fire in a building are even more costly both to the owner and the occupants. The destruction of building is a great loss to the owner considering it takes a lot of money and time to construct high rise buildings. The occupants also lose a lot of properties which at times is beyond salvage. (Lentini, 2006) Injuries to the occupants and at worse loss of lives are experienced during fire outbreaks. A lot of money is used in paying hospital bills and also future sustenance of the casualties. At times means of livelihood are discontinued leading to desperation and hopelessness of the victims. In the long run, it is more e economical to incur fire preventive costs in a building than to manage the disaster when it strikes. The preventive measures also include fire education to migrant workers. They should be enlightened on fire safety, preventive measures and also on the costs and impacts of fire occurrences. They should also be updated on new exit routes, new fire fighting equipment and methods. 9.0 Research methodology In any research, research methodology has to be chosen very wisely. This is considering the fact that it plays a very big role in the information collected at the end of the day. In this research, both qualitative and quantitative methods will be incorporated. After all the information has been collected, overall analysis will be carried out using line by line and comparative methods. The two methods will help in drawing relevant conclusions related to the research topic. (Fowler, 1993) 10.0 Data collection methods In this research, both primary and secondary methods will be used. Research assistants will be incorporated in the data collection. Questionnaires will be prepared and handed to the target groups for filling. These are migrant workers and owners of the buildings. Also the general public will be incorporated in this research method since they are also indirectly affected by fire outbreaks. This method is advantageous because the questionnaires can be used for future reference. One on one interview will also be carried out with the target group. From this, the researchers will be able to get information on past experiences during fire outbreaks. Focus groups will also be incorporated during the interviews. These will create a forum to get more accurate information from the respondents. The information will be recorded and later analysed. The research will also incorporate secondary methods in data collection. In this case, books, journals, magazines with fire fighting information will be analysed. This is in consideration to the fact that many authors have written a lot of important information on the topic. (Morgan, 1988) 11.0 Results of the comparative studies The results of the comparative studies reveal that community safety education has not been effectively carried out. This has resulted in many people carrying out risky activities within buildings. These include altering electricity supplies and appliances. Comparative studies also show that the government has not put in place strict regulation related to fire safety. These include regulation that requires landlords to put in place fire preventive measures before allowing people to occupy. These studies have also revealed that it is more economical to include fire safety measures within buildings than to manage the consequences once the fire has occurred. (Rossi, 1983) 12.0 Discussion of the results The results of the research reveals that fifty percent of the injuries incurred during a fire break out in high rise buildings are as a result of suffocation of the victims as they attempt to escape. Seventy percent of the victims who die are children aged five years and below. This is because many times they are trampled on as occupants seek safety. The research shows that ninety percent of migrant workers staying in high rise buildings have in the past altered electrical supplies. Seventy five percent of them concurred to the fact that they did not know that this was risky .They also asserted that they had not been enlightened on any fire safety information. 13.0 Recommendations In dealing with the problem illustrated above, it was noted that it cannot be solved single handed. Various stakeholders therefore have to be included in solving the problem. First and foremost it is quite imperative that the government puts in place proper regulations that enhance fire safety within buildings. This should also include strict measures that have to be taken against any one who violates the set regulations. The government also needs to ensure that education on fire and community safety is availed to all people staying within the nation. It is also essential that the owners of buildings avoid having so many occupants within the premises. They also have to be educated on measures that they need to take to ensure that the buildings do not easily catch or spread fire. This also includes putting in place smoke and fire alarms so that occupants can be alerted in good time. 14.0 Strategic objective Community safety needs to be a strategic objective. This means that all the relevant organizations have to be accountable for all their actions to minimize fire injuries and deaths. Each and every community has organizations that deal with issues affecting the community. For instance, organizations that help in fire quenching services have to be accountable on the various steps that they take to help reduce injuries and death. In this case, after each fire occurrence the relevant organization that was contacted to quench the fire should give a report. The report should show how the time they were contacted, arrival time and measures taken to quench the fire. This is because it has been noted that fire and rescue service organizations are not giving the required services efficiently and effectively hence resulting in multiple deaths and injuries. The fire service within the community has an important role to play. This includes ensuring that the migrant workers have the relevant information that pertains to their safety. (Morgan, 2005) 15.0 Conclusion Fire breakouts are very common in homes than in any other places. There are various factors that contribute to this. Domestic fires have been common in multi occupancy high rise buildings that are under construction. This is especially where they are overcrowded. This problem has been aggravated by the fact that the occupants who are migrant workers keep on altering electricity supplies so that they can have multiple cooking areas. This result in short circuiting and in other instances fire breakouts. It is evident that these cases have led to multiple injuries and deaths. Various measures need to be taken in order to help solve this problem. It is quite clear that all the stakeholders need to be involved. The government needs to put in place proper regulations that will help minimize cases where fire safety within buildings can compromised. These regulations should ensure that owners of buildings don’t allow tenants within the premises before the buildings are fully completed. This will help solve the problem. Overcrowding in housing premises should also be restricted. Strategies also have to be included where the migrant workers and the entire community are educated on importance of community safety. This includes information on the dangers of altering electrical supplies. Community safety meetings need to be located in areas where the risk of fire breakouts is minimized. The relevant resources should be incorporated in order to enhance stakeholders’ learning. All these when effectively and efficiently implemented, will play a big role in solving the problem of injuries and deaths in multi-occupancy high rise buildings. Read More