Overpopulated Temporary High-Rise Housing of Workers - Assignment Example

Community Safety Overpopulated Temporary High-Rise Housing of Workers Assessing the problem with SARA Methodology Scanning the problem The common problem with overpopulated high-rise temporary housing is the lack of fire safety awareness among workers. Cooking their food in places near highly combustible materials. Tampering electrical supplies and overload appliances. Employer’s disregard of building regulations and ineffective enforcement of laws by concern authorities. Fires injure not only workers but also fire fighters and other responding personnel. Analysis of the problem Ignorance of fire safety and lack of effective fire safety campaigns. Overcrowding resulting to overheating appliances. Insufficient space resulting to cooking outside kitchen or designate areas. Tampering of electrical and gas supply due to insufficient utility outlet. Response Fire detection devices and continuous fire safety education. The use of media to widely and effectively spread fire safety messages. Assessment Effective fire safety education reduced fire incidents and casualties in the UK. Fire safety education focusing on fire detection devices effectively encourages the public to take fire safety seriously. Partnership with various agencies particularly the media positively result to effective dissemination of fire safety messages. 1. Introduction “Fire is often unwanted, unexpected, disastrous and costly, both in terms of human life and business costs” (Perry 2003, p.1). Fire kills more people than all natural disaster combine and it is the third leading cause of accidental death in the home. Many fires are caused by a brief moment of carelessness and preventable thus it is important to be aware of potential fire hazards in the home. Fires in buildings develop differently to fires in the outdoors and the speed at which they spread takes most people completely by surprise. Fires in an overpopulated high-rise temporary housing can be very dangerous and can injure migrant workers, the fire and rescue personnel, and other responders. Moreover, the building may sustain structural damage and employer may lose workers affecting production. The focus of this paper is to investigate fire incidents occurring in overpopulated high-rise temporary housing using the SARA methodology. 2. SARA Methodology and Community Safety In the United Kingdom, the need for a strategic framework to nationalize and institutionalize crime prevention, the focus had moved from ‘crime prevention’ to ‘community safety’. The notion of ‘public safety’ and ‘community safety’ had acquired a powerful resonance because it was deemed more expansive and inclusive framework than ‘crime prevention’, which focused primarily on target-hardening techniques. The concept of community safety embraced consideration of the social aspects of crime, the fear of crime and victim support. Equally important, it facilitated recognition that in many localities there was concern and anger about high levels of non-criminal forms of public disorder and antisocial behaviour. Community safety affirmed that local authorities should act as the strategic body to coordinate all the statutory agencies and ensure that they worked in partnership to stimulate the development of those features of neighbourhood life, which were deemed by residents to be significant inhibiting crime, fear and insecurity, and in building confidence (Hughes et. al. 2002, p.92). Community safety is about protecting people’s right to live in confidence and without fear for their own safety, which covers not only crime but also road and fire safety the provision of play areas and the prevention minor anti-social behaviour (Mooney and Scott 2005, p.191). The SARA methodology (scanning, analysis, response, and assessment) is ideal for problem solving particularly on performance improvement (Walker 2005, p.121). Scanning identifies recurring problems of concerns to the public and the authorities. It prioritizes problems, develop broad goals, and confirm the problem. On the other hand, analysis in SARA is identifying and understanding the events and conditions that precede and accompany the problem. It also identifies the consequences of the problem for the community and determines how frequently the problem occurs and how long it has been occurring. It identify the conditions that give rise to the problem and narrow the scope of the problem as specifically as possible. Similarly, response in SARA is about search for what others with similar problems have done. Brainstorm intervention and choose among the alternative solutions. It outlines the response plan, identifies responsible parties, and states the specific goals for the response plan. Assessment in SARA is determining whether the plan was implemented and whether the goals were attained, and collect qualitative and quantitative data on the outcomes. It identifies any new strategies needed to augment the original plan and conduct ongoing assessment to ensure continued effectiveness (Stevens 2008, p.81). 3. Scanning the Problem Fires in dwelling most often occur because of accidents while cooking. Fire is man’s friend but it can also be his enemy (Herod 2007, p.1). Any fire no matter how small, under the right condition, can become a raging fire consuming every inch of property. “The main causes of fire are ignition of cooking oil, combustion of crumbs and sediment deposits, and duct work fires from a build up of fats and grease” (ODPM 2006, p.4). In an overpopulated high-rise temporary housing for workers, cooking outside the kitchen is very common because of limited space. Workers tend to use the living room and other areas to cook their food disregarding fire hazards surrounding them. The leading causes of residential fires according to Koren and Bisesi (2003, p.401) are due to cooking and heating devices improperly placed or left unattended. Moreover, most of the building used as temporary housing are under construction and lacks the fire safety features thus no early warning or immediate fire suppression is available when the fire actually occurs. Fires in high-rise buildings are inherently hard to deal with because of height and building design. Consequently, fire spread rapidly to other floors consuming everything on its path. Fires in high-rise temporary housing not only caused injuries to workers but put lives of responding fire fighters, emergency personnel, and other agencies at risk. Apparently, the primary problem is workers carelessness and disregard to fire safety regulations. The management of the building is also to blame since they are responsible to worker’s safety and well-being, and to comply with existing laws. The approximate cost of fire resulting to property losses, casualties and business disruption in the United Kingdom is 2.7 billion. The value of property damage by fire was estimated at 1.3 billion in 2004 accounting for 18% of the total cost of fire. There were 395 deaths from fire in 2004 and around 12,300 injuries. The economic value of this human cost was estimated at around 1.1 billion. Around three-quarters of total human costs were suffered in domestic properties, with less than 10% in non-domestic buildings. The value of lost business because of fire was estimated at 43 million in 2004. As a result, fire service response cost are estimated at 1.74 billion in 2004, representing an increase of 31% since 2000 and increase of 2% in 2003 (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister 2006, p.25). 4. Analysis of the Problem Fires damage property and affect the economy. In the United Kingdom alone, billions of pounds are lost because of fire and cooking remains the primary cause of accidental fires in most dwellings (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister 2006, p.5). Safety is more than simply being careful. According to Nazarro (1994, p.249), safety includes knowing what is unsafe and how to avoid the careless actions and inactions that can make an area unsafe. Poor safety practices result from a lack of safety knowledge. Carelessness results from a disregard for that knowledge and both can lead to disaster. Fires are commonly caused by carelessness and most fire start from electrical equipment, heaters, cooking, and careless smoking. (Gillespie 2004, p.73). The increasing frequency of fire incidents in dwellings is due to multiple factors such as overcrowding, lax adherence to fire codes, and ignorance of fire safety protocols (Hogan and Burstein 2007, p.349). In buildings under construction, serious fire damage may occur due to the absence of early warning devices followed by ignorance of procedure of escape when a fire breaks out (Gandert 1992, p.4). The objective of public safety education is to help people learn to prevent fires from occurring and to let them know the right reaction when a fire occurs. When people are aware of things they have to do to prevent, reduce, and eliminate dangers many fires can be prevented. Fire is the third leading cause of accidental fire in the home and the majority of home fires according to Tullier (1999, p.185) started while cooking and usually because of human carelessness and negligence. Misuse of electrical appliances and tampering of electrical supplies also contribute greatly to high incidence of fires particularly in overcrowded high-rise dwellings. “Poor connections are likely places for overheating” (NFPA 2005, p.90) and overloads are over current that are large enough and persistent enough to cause damage and create danger of a fire. Circuit overloading results from undersized cables that are lower than the imposed load and often caused by connecting too much appliances. For instance, the overuse of multi-socket unfused outlet adaptors can create overload problems (Hughes and Ferret p.153). Fire usually occurs when buildings are under construction or alteration thus, there is a need to review the fire risk and evaluate the additional risk to people particularly in those buildings that continue to be occupied. These additional risks can include temporary electrical equipment, blocking of escape routes including external escape routes, introduction of combustibles into an escape route, and absence of fire safety equipment such as automatic fire-detection systems. Items that are put at corridors or stairways that will be used as an escape route are source of fuel, pose an ignition risk, are combustible and likely to increase the fire loading, or spread of fire. These include portable heaters, gas cylinders, cooking appliance, and unenclosed gas pipers and other fittings (Communities and Local Government 2006, p.50). The need for public education is very important particularly on fire safety because of the large population at risk. Individual need to know the risk of fire associated with their homes. However, an education program to prevent fire injuries is to be successful, it must not only educate the persons at risk but also modify their behaviour. This is because education may increase knowledge but does not necessarily lead to behavioural and or lifestyle change (Noji 1997, p.389). 5. Response to the Problem Fire prevention in the past are mostly focused on inspection but it was realized in the late 1940s that public education initiatives were needed to reduce or mitigate the nation’s fire problem. In the 1980s, community fire education seemed to come into its own right when many fire departments creating public education sections within fire prevention. Fire safety education is an important tool in reducing the number of fires, fire fatalities, and injuries. It can be done through schools, the media, open houses, presentations, or involvement in other community activities such a parades, civil involvement, and honour guards at festivals (Barr and Eversole 2003, p.942). Nationally, cooking equipment remains the leading cause of structural fires and fire injuries, smoking is the leading cause of fire deaths, and intentionally set fires generally cause the largest share of property damage (Cote 2004, p.266). Community fire safety programs must be tailored to address specific problems and directed those that have the power to affect change. Tailoring classes and fire safety messages to specific high-risk, target groups, has proven effective since a good citizen will try in every way to avoid being a cause of danger through permitting any of the practices that we have been warned about. He will remove all dangerous conditions that he may find in his home and train himself to recognize dangerous conditions in the community and will use his influence both to have them removed and to educate others to the habits of carefulness. Fire safety education is a lot like sales and a lot like show business. Public fire safety educators must be able to think on their feet and make adjustments to ensure the message is delivered, received, and accepted. Fire safety education is commonly accomplished through the media since it can provide significant amounts of information to the public. However, care should be taken to ensure that the release of information is accurate (Diamantes 2004, p.160). In any event, fire departments or local authorities must have good media relationship since the media provide an avenue for public education in general. It is also important to note the assistance given to reporters covering incident builds relationship and increases media willingness to do stories on prevention and life-safety topics (Birr 1999, p.56). Installing a fire detection device and keep them functioning may increase the chances of stopping a fire before it gets out of hand or of escaping one that has already started. Fire detection devices such as a smoke alarms are the single most important means of preventing residential fire fatalities since they reduce the risk of dying by nearly 50 percent. It is estimated that over 40 percent of residential fires and three-fifths of household fire deaths happen in homes without smoke alarms. Smoke alarms are inexpensive and very easy to install (Tullier 1999, p.185). 6. Assessment of Responses Within the total number of deaths in 2007, 323 occurred in dwelling fires. This total is an 11% fall from the 363 deaths recorder during the previous 12 months. Deaths in other buildings also fell from 37 to 34. In 2007, the number of non-fatal casualties from fires in the United Kingdom fell 4% to 13, 2000 from 13, 800 during 2006. This decrease continues the downward trend in injuries in fires and represents the lowest figure recorded since 1994. There were 10,900 non-fatal casualties in dwelling fires, a fall of 3% from the previous year. Non-fatal casualties in accidental dwelling fires fell by 3% to 9,000, also continuing the downward trend (Communities and Local Government 2008a, p.3). The fire safety campaign, particularly ‘Fire Kills’ in the United Kingdom evidently help reduced fire incidents during the last decade. “Deaths from fire are now at their lowest level” (Directgov 2008, p.1). This accomplishment is the result of national advertising campaign that is focused on fire detection devices and their maintenance. Fire Kills is behind a number of though-provoking, memorable and effective fire safety campaigns including the kitchen fire safety campaign that has reduced injuries in the home by 23 percent. Carefully planned and media supported fire safety education undoubtedly works in eradicating carelessness and promoting fire safety consciousness. It had a real and positive impact on people and fire safety prevention in the home. This type of fires prevention program should continue and expand to reduce fire incidents further up to the point that it is no longer considered a serious threat to life and property. 7. Bibliography Birr Tim. 1999. Public and Media Relations for the Fire Service. PennWell Books, US Communities and Local Government. 2006. Fire Safety Risk Assessment: Sleeping Accommodation. The Stationery Office, UK Communities and Local Government, 2008a, Fire Statistics Monitor, Department for Communities and Local Government, UK Communities and Local Government, 2008b, Fire Statistics: United Kingdom, 2006, Communities and Local Government, UK Cote Arthur E. 2004. Fundamentals of Fire Protection. Jones & Bartlett Publishers, US Diamantes David. 2004. Principles of Fire Prevention. Cengage Learning, US Directgov. 2008. Fire Kills Campaign. Available online at http://www.campaigns.direct.gov.uk/firekills/background-information.html Herod Lori. 2007. Foil Cookery: Cooking Without Pots and Pans. 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