Risk Analysis of High Rise Buildings in Abu Dhabi - Case Study Example

Name Report (Risk Management) 15 June 2008 Risk Analysis of High Rise Buildings in Abu Dhabi 1.0 Executive Summary An aerial view of Abu Dhabi reveals a sprawling, modern city with a number of high rise and mid rise buildings that house offices, hotels, malls, hospitals, government and non government organisations and what not. However, the things were always not as posh in this desert city as the modern maps reveal. At one time Abu Dhabi was a mediocre Arab city, which though being of cultural and political importance had little to boast in terms of urban infrastructure. Then came the oil boom and with it came status and opulence. Soon the town planners felt a dire need for modern sky scrapers to house offices and businesses. Further diversification of economy led to rapid growth in all the sectors. Today Abu Dhabi is a modern metropolitan city of immense business importance and relevance. Almost all the major brands and corporate firms have their offices in this important business hub of the Middle East. The aim of this report is to identify and analyse the risk factors in a high rise building at Abu Dhabi so as to facilitate the conception of an Integrated Risk Management Plan that could serve as a blue print for other similar structures. Initial urban development and construction activities in Abu Dhabi were conducted with scant consideration for risk identification and neutralization. However, as the caravan of development moved ahead, Abu Dhabi became a vital cosmopolitan centre of trade and business. Town authorities felt a dire need for assimilating the latest safety measures in all the high rise buildings. This an astute team comprising of experienced risk analysts and well qualified fire and rescue personnel was constituted to analyse the risk factors in a typical high rise building at Abu Dhabi. Table of Contents 1.0 Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 2.0 Introduction 4 3.0 Special Features of the Selected Building 5 4.0 Risk Factors in the Given Building 6 4.1 Number of Floors 6 4.2 Travel Distance 9 4.3 Telephone and Electrical Shafts 9 4.4 Stairways 9 4.5 Storage 9 4.6 Falling Debris 10 4.7 Traffic 10 4.8 Staff 10 5.0 Conclusion 10 6.0 Recommendations 10 Works Cited 12 2.0 Introduction Identification of risk factors assumes special importance when it comes to high rise buildings. Though every fire is a major calamity that may often cost dearly in terms of life and financial assets, fires in the high rise buildings more then often prove to be very difficult to deal with and mostly pose a tough challenge to the fire and rescue professionals (CNN, 2008). It definitely makes sense to identify the risk factors in the high rise buildings well in advance and to eliminate and neutralize them so as to avoid any major conflagration or disaster in the future. As it was practically not possible to scrutinize the risk factors in all the high rise buildings in Abu Dhabi, so a typical high rise building being used as a hotel was selected to serve as a sample for the similar structures for the purpose of risk identification. Integrated Risk Management Plans do have a special importance in the fire and rescue services. Such plans not only help in tackling major disasters and calamities, but their major relevance lies in the fact that they help in avoiding such disasters by identifying all the primary risk factors well in advance. It has been seen that many a times, the reasons and causes that cause major conflagrations in the high rise buildings are often found within them or in their vicinity. The interesting thing is that it costs much less to identify and eliminate these risk factors, when compared to the actual losses incurred due to fire disasters. Thus the main purpose of this report is to identify most of the risk factors in a high rise building at Abu Dhabi so as to make pragmatic recommendations for their removal. 3.0 Special Features of the Selected Building Millennium Hotel is a five star hotel housed in a typical high rise building constructed during the dawn of economic growth in Abu Dhabi. This hotel is situated at one corner of the Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammad Street and is 54 storeys high. On the right side of the Millennium Hotel is located the Al Hosn Palace while Rehman Plaza is placed to the left of it. The backyard of this five star hotel faces the Cultural Foundation Building. The exist to this hotel opens up to Itihad Square. Any major fire in this hotel could prove to be really disastrous in the sense that it can not only lead to a massive loss of human life but the Al Hosn Palace and Cultural Foundation Building placed adjacent to this hotel are monuments of immense historical and cultural importance. Any fire in this hotel could jeopardize the safety of priceless and rare artefacts, texts and antiques placed in these monuments. The construction on this hotel began in 1997. Though all the relevant guidelines and statutes were adhered to during its construction, yet this hotel does have major safety flaws and lacunas. During the time of its construction, the safety guidelines chalked out by the town planners were not that evolved and seemed pathetic when compared to Western standards. The framework of this hotel is made of heavy duty construction steel coated with a fire proof material. The facade of this high rise building is covered with aluminium panels that are not of fire resistant quality. The glass panes fitted in these panels project outwards and are extremely susceptible to high temperatures. The kitchen of this hotel is located on the 48th floor and also serves as a storage area for grocery and provisions. 4.0 Risk Factors in the Given Building A careful survey and scrutiny of this hotel revealed many hidden and obvious risk factors located both inside and outside of this high rise building. These factors though appeared to be minor had the potential to start or aggravate a fire disaster and definitely need to be dealt with on a priority basis. Some of the risk factors traced in the given high rise building were: 4.1 Number of Floors The biggest challenge that the fire and rescue professionals could come across in the event of a fire in this high rise building was to find out a way to rescue all the guests occupying the upper floors in this hotel (Osho Fact Sheet, 2003). The mere number of floors in this hotel seemed threatening when considering the poor fire proof installations in this building. It was found that not all the floors were equipped with fire escapes and many of them lacked fire extinguishers. The HVAC and electrical shafts on all the floors were also not properly sealed that could aid the horizontal and vertical spread of smoke and flames in the event of a fire. Infact a qualitative and quantitative risk analysis of this high rise building revealed that the guests trapped and the fire fighters operating on the upper floors faced a significant risk to their lives. Graph X reveals that the in case of the guests staying above the 25th floor, the risk to their lives was considerably enhanced owing to the reasons mentioned above. High Risk Low 10 20 25 30 40 50 60 Floors (X) Night High Risk Day Low 10 20 30 40 50 55 60 Floors (Y) A careful analysis of the graph Y shows that not only the guest staying beyond the 25th floor faced an enhanced risk, but this risk was manifold enhanced during the night time as compared to the day time. This is because during the night time most of the rooms are occupied and the guests being asleep could not show a prompt and appropriate response in the event of any major conflagration. This risk was enhanced to the extent of being lethal for the guest staying on or above the 50th floor during the night. High Risk Low 10 20 30 40 50 55 60 Floors (Z) As per the graph Z, the unrealistically high number of floors in this building posed a major threat to the fire fighters operating on the upper floors. Infact, this risk analysis revealed that the fire fighters operating on the top most floors faced a major risk to their lives. This risk was manifold multiplied in case of a fire on the intermediate floors. 4.2 Travel Distance The nearest fire station to this building is located at a distance of 30 KM. thus it is quite obvious that the fire and rescue services would not be able to execute a timely response in case a fire breaks in this high rise building. 4.3 Telephone and Electrical Shafts The telephone and electrical shafts in this building not only run through its three stairways but are not properly sealed with the fire proof valves. The telephone and electrical wires running through these shafts have many joints and are not made of fire proof insulation. Thus they can not only start a major fire owing to any short circuit but the unsealed shafts could also accelerate the vertical and horizontal spread of smoke and flames (Gurnell, 2007). 4.4 Stairways One of the stairways opening to the left of this building was found to be blocked by the construction and repair accessories. Also all the stairways had telephone and electrical shafts running over them that should ideally be placed in the elevator shafts. This could turn these stairways into virtual traps in the event of a fire and could inhibit the escape and movement of both the guests and the fire fighters. 4.5 Storage The analysts discovered that vast amounts of alcohol, animal and vegetable fats, and edible oils were stored in the kitchen area that lied on an intermediate floor. Also the storage rooms located on the respective floors stored highly inflammable materials like bleaches, old newspapers and magazines, room fresheners and insecticides. These inflammable substances could prove to be a potent source of fuel to aggravate a fire. 4.6 Falling Debris The aluminium panels fixed on the façade of this building and the glass installed in the window panes was not found to be of fire resistant quality. These materials could turn into falling debris and shrapnel in case of a fire and could jeopardize the safety of both the guests and fire fighters (NFPA, 1990). 4.7 Traffic This high rise building being placed in a highly constricted street that accommodates dense traffic all the time could hamper the fire fighting operations (NFPA, 2008). The response of the fire fighters could also get threateningly delayed because of dense traffic. 4.8 Staff A random interview conducted on a number of staff members revealed that most of the staff of this hotel was not aware of proper steps to be taken in case a fire breaks out. Also they were not subjected to any kind of fire drills during their tenure in this hotel (Koo, 2003). Obviously this would leave the guest in this hotel to the mercy of personal initiative or fate in case a fire breaks out. 5.0 Conclusion These findings definitely led to the conclusion that there hardly existed a fire safety policy in this high rise building and the revealed risk factors could threaten the safety of the staff, guests and fire and rescue personnel any time. Thus an Integrated Risk Management Plan definitely needs to be drafted on a priority basis. 6.0 Recommendations All the floors should be provided with fire escapes. Fire extinguishers should be installed on all the floors and these must be serviced on a regular basis. All the unsealed telephone and electrical shafts should be plugged with a fire proof material. The electrical wirings should be changed or the joints in them should be taped with a fire proof insulator. A well equipped fire station should be established in the vicinity of this neighbourhood. Telephone and electrical shafts should be shifted from the stairways to the elevator shafts. The obstacles in the stairways should be removed. The outside aluminium and glass panels should be replaced by fire proof materials. The staff should be regularly subjected to mock fire drills (United States Fire Administration, 1991). The inflammable substances stored in the kitchen and the respective floors should be shifted to a safe storage area. Works Cited Chicago high rise fire injuries 37. 7 December 2004. CNN.com . 16 June 2008 Evacuating High Rise Building. 26 January 2003. OSHO FACT SHEET. 16 June 2008 Gurnell.P. 2007. High Rise Fire Risk. The Daily Telegraph. 16 June 2008 High Rise Building Fire. 23 February 1990. NFPA. 16 June 2008 Koo.L.T. 2003. Old High Rise Buildings. Questia. 16 June 2008 United States Fire Administration. National Fire Data Centre. High rise Office Building Fire, 1991 Read More