Analysis of the Fire Community Safety Programs in the UK and Canada - Case Study Example

Literature Review Fire Community Safety Name of the Student: Name of the Instructor: Name of the course: Code of the course: Submission date: 3.0 Literature Review 3.1 Fire Community Safety Fire community safety is a combination of several measures and practices aimed at preventing instances of fire accidents and providing appropriate rescue and response services in instances when the fire disasters occur (Frattaroli, Bergen & Gielen, 2006, p.176). Looking at the several types of risks which individuals, communities and corporates are exposed to, it is important to acknowledge that fire comes among the top items on the list; due to its unpredictability, its high chances of occurring and the adverse effects which it has. For this reason, various measures and programs have been established by various government authorities aimed at ensuring the people have full knowledge about fires and also full knowledge about how to prevent it in addition to dealing with it in case it happens. Moreover, the government authorities have established legislations governing the basic elements aimed at dealing with fire risks; for instance the installation of fire extinguishers in all public places and basic construction measures aimed at preventing fires and also managing fire disasters. A fire community safety program is a program aimed at equipping the community/ people with the basic knowledge about fires and disasters related to it. The integration of all the stakeholders in the community is aimed at ensuring that the community is empowered at the ground level, hence ensuring that the government is able to manage fire disasters from the basic unit of households and other social and community institutions (Smith 2000, p.11). With the knowledge that every country is unique in its own way with respect to its social, environmental and economical aspects, it is important to acknowledge that each government authority should establish and manage a fire community safety program which attends to the specific needs which the specific community has. On this point, it is important that the fire community safety program adopted by a specific country have some degree of sustainability, hence ensuring that the program is able to deal with fire risks now and in the future (London Fire Brigade 2009, p.17). The following research paper aims at studying the fire community safety programs in the United Kingdom and Canada with respect to the program in the United Arab Emirates with an objective of finding elements in the former two countries which the UAE can adopt in its fire safety program. 3.2 Origins Of Fire Community Safety Fire community service has been in existence for as long as human kind has been in existence, although not in a formal setting as it is today. Owing to the many fire disasters which have occurred over time in history government authorities and communities saw it fit to prevent fires on the from the basic unit of the societies which is households with a view of ensuring that the larger safety and prevention measures in a nation are effective. This is due to the fact that boasting of a great fire station, great fire extinguishing equipment and qualified firefighters when the community on which the fires are prone to occur does not have even the slightest knowledge on fires and related disasters, is useless (Childs 2005, p.559). This is because of the fact that the preventive aspect of disasters will not be taken into account. For this reason, owing go the many fire disasters which previously hit several countries in the world lead to the establishment of fire community safety measures which integrated legislative measures aimed at preventing and providing appropriate response to fire related cases. This would mean that the prevention and management of fires would be done from a domestic level up to the national level as opposed to the previous models; hence ensuring that fire prevention and management of fire disasters was done more efficiently ( Gina, Nance, Michael, Espana, Felipe, Joseph 2009 p.194). In order to acknowledge the origins of the fire community safety, an analysis of the fire community safety legislation of the UK will be analyzed below. It will be noted that the legislations are triggered by the occurrence of major fire disasters. One of the major fire disasters in the United Kingdom can be dated back to the 13th century whereby 3000 people lost their lives. This led to the establishment of a legislation governing the construction of alehouses (Fire Net 2012, P.1). The legislation on the fire chimneys followed shortly in the 14th and 15th century. The major legislation was established in the 17th century when the Great London Fire which burnt for 4 day consuming 5/6 of the city occurred. The legislation was contained in the code of building ethics which among other things outlawed the use of other materials except bricks for the construction of walls of all new buildings, the palling of streets and alleys was done in order to ensure that fire spread was controlled in addition to easing fire response measures, a fire society was also established which was to help the community in matters related to fire. Other legislations with respect to community fire safety included the Fire Prevention Act of 1774. In the 19th century, the Edinburg fire engine was constructed. Others include The Towns Improvement Clauses Act of 1847, Burg Police act of 1850. The most recent legislations include the London Building Acts of 1930, factories act of 1937, the licensing act of 1961, Fire Precautions act of 1989 which has undergone several amendments since then, the fire services act of 2003 and the fire and rescue services act of 2004 (Fire Net 2012, p.1). 3.3 Development of Fire Community Safety It can be noted from the discussion of the origins of fire community safety which have been discussed above that the main driving force behind the establishment of a fire community safety legislation is the occurrence of fire disasters. For this reason, it can be noted that the fire safety legislations in the three countries under analysis; UAE, UK and Canada can be traced with respect to the number of fire accidents and disasters which have occurred in the specific countries. Ideally, the fire community safety legislation is meant to govern the basic community practices from construction of houses, installation of safety measures among other measures aimed at ensuring safety against fire (Turton 1989, p.5) 3.5 Fire Community Safety In The United Arab Emirates (UAE) People living in UAE have seen the importance of protecting their citizens from the effects of fire. Fire safety in UAE has not yet been conceptualized as a big risk and therefore the government and the relevant authorities have been slow in enacting policies to govern on fire protection (Grivna, 2012, p. 87). The authorities have not instituted laws or legally binding locally instituted laws to govern on fire protection. UAE has a trail blazing record for its building industry that has seen construction of exquisite buildings that houses tenants and communities (Cote, 2008). As a result, the country has had to rely on international laws such as the International Building Code (IBC) or the Singapore Building Code and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). These laws have not adequately addressed the issue of fire safety in the region. As a result, the authorities in the UAE came up with a draft to implement a local solution through the Ministry of Interior in the department of Civil Defence. This code and law which is referred to as the Fire and Life Safety Code, will be used by building owners and the general public in ensuring that fire protection is guaranteed for everyone. However, the implementation of this law has not been fully implemented and it will time through amendments for the law to be fully operational (Hughes, 2012). Fire protection mechanisms and laws are still taking root in the UAE and this could take some time before a fully fledged authority is implemented to provide fire security. In the meantime, it is the work of private authorities and companies to come up with fire security and protection mechanisms. 3.5 Fire Community Safety in the United Kingdom (UK) Fire safety is an important part sector in the people lives since it ensures security and safety. In the United Kingdom, fire safety is considered an important part of offering security within the society. As a result, the country has been in the forefront of establishing associations, legal framework and laws that guide on the issue of fire security. People and communities in the United Kingdom have a history of having adequate fire security measures (Grice, 2009, p.106). For instance, there are legislations that have been put in place to provide fire security. Some of these laws include the Regulatory Reform for Fire Safety that was legislated and adopted in the year 2006. This piece of legislation replaced around 70 other laws and this law applies to non-domestic premises in England and Wales. Apart from the government’s efforts, the local community has established fire safety organizations such as the Fire Protection Association. These organizations provide training on fire protection and engage members of the community with strategies on ensuring fire security is maintained (Cote, 2008). The fire community safety legislation of the United Kingdom contains such elements as the workplace at which governs the work conditions in which employees are subjected to. The act points out to the specific ways in which the workplace environment should look like, hence upholding the safety of the employees. The legislation also includes the building and construction act which points out on the various measures which should be considered in the construction of residential and commercial houses. The various fire preventive measures such as basic building designs and basic fire response measures such as the basic fire extinguishing equipment are included in the legislation. The Fire Services act of 2004 which has undergone several amendments is the supreme fire community service legislation. The act governs all the aspects relating to fire prevention, rescue services and fire response (UK Government 2012, p.1). 3.6 Fire Community Safety In Canada Fire risk in Canada is taken very seriously by both the Government and the General public. Canadian authorities consider fires to be a great risk to the livelihood and safety of its citizenry. Canada has implemented various measures and legislations various statutes to deal with the risk of fire and it prevention. According to Kenneth (2001) Canada spend around $3.5 billion every year in trying to protect its citizens against the risk of fire (Kenneth 2001). The responsibility to ensure fire safety in building is governed by national and provincial fire codes. The principal regulations that ensure fire safety for tenants and residents of buildings are contained in National Building Code of Canada (NBCC) which is reviewed after every five years (Kenneth 2001). However, the NBBC application to fire protection is subject to approval by provincial government, which is responsible for fire safety in the regions they administer. Canada has adopted a fire safety systems analysis model developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) called the Fire Safety Concepts Tree (Kenneth 2001). The model provides a consistent method of assessing fire risk in various contexts. It also ensures all the scenarios of a fire are covered, with its basic objective being life safety. Life safety ensures all building provide escape or safe locations for people to shelter whenever a fire alarm goes. The Canadian fire community safety legislation has borrowed a lot from the United States fire community safety legislation. After the various fires which affect the United States, the Canadian authorities adopted a lot of legislations as the one indicated above by the National Fire Protection Association of the United States. The legislation has the basic elements as those in the United Kingdom’s legislation discussed earlier. One of the most important events in the Canadian fire community calendar is the fire community week whereby the government gets into contact with the people and educated them on the various aspects which they need to know about fire prevention and response (Wisse 1986, p.117) 3.7 Comparison Of Fire Community Safety Practices In UAE, UK & Canada The UK has been on the forefront in fighting fire through elaborate fire security measures. The community of people living in the United Kingdom is aware of fire security and they have formed organizations and groups to help in ensuring fire security strategies are maintained. On the legislation front, the UK government through the department of communities and the local government support the work of fire and rescue services in different regions in the UK. Furthermore, communities in the UK are involved in drawing up legislation and implementation of these legislations at a community level. For instance, between December 2011 and March 2012, a national fire and rescue framework was undertaken within communities in the United Kingdom (Lee, 2006, p.126). On the other hand, in the UAE fire security is vested under the Ministry of Interior which has yet to establish a department vested with providing fire security. Most of the fire fighting and provision of fire security in the UAE has done in a private level. However, the government is trying to come up with measures to ensure fire security is provided through legislation of a fire and safety code. Most of the fire security measures or activities conducted at the community level have been undertaken through private initiatives. For example, in the emirate of Dubai, the Environment, Health and Safety is in charge of fire safety but the organization has a broad mandate including the environment and health safety. 3.8 Risk Applicable In The United Arab Emirates The UAE is a growing region and thus a lot of potential security and fire risks exist in the society. Some of the risks include the lack of regulations and laws to protect tenants or have buildings enhance fire security. UAE is a large petroleum producer and as a result, most of the residents of the country rely on LPG gas which provides a security risk. The handling, storing or use of LPG is risky and this is one of the biggest risks that people living in UAE face frequently. Moreover, there is a potential fire risk in the oil wells, the oil refineries and the subsequent transportation of petroleum to the end users (Dawoud 2007, p.1). Therefore, the government must put in place measures aimed at ensuring that all the processes pointed to above are safe owing to their high risk of fire. In addition many people in the UAE live in commercial buildings and this portends several risks especially against accidents and fire (Gaad, 2010). While at the same time in case of accidents, most communities in the UAE might not be prepared to fight against fire. Lack of preparedness by communities living in the UAE presents a risk against fire security (Jones, 2008). Accidents are common in commercial and residential buildings and therefore fire risks can cause devastating destruction. Therefore, there is a need for a fire community safety program which ensures that the building and constructions of buildings is governed taking into consideration measures preventing fire accidents for instance establishing basic fire response features to be included in buildings, the type of materials to be used for construction for instance the monitoring the use of oil based materials such as paints. It should also be taken into consideration that the UAE is one of the fastest growing economies in the world; hence the government must put into place measures which are aimed at ensuring that the developments taking place in the country are planned and sustainable (UAE interact 2012, p.1). This is in a bid to avoid such instances as those which were experiences in the great fire of London whereby the planning of the streets and alleys in between buildings was hindrances to the putting out of fire in addition to contributing to the fast spread of fire. Fire risks are hard to predict since they could be caused by many factors such as terrorism liked it happened in the London Subway Bombings. For this reason, it is important that the disaster preparedness and planning plans for the worst case scenario as prescribed by the basic engineering preventive measures. Therefore, the government must take into count other major causes of fire such as insecurity which poses a major threat to industrialized countries. The insecurity in the Middle East region should also be a factor to consider in the fire community safety planning (Damkhi 2007, p.514). Industrial accidents which are likely in an industrialized region like the UAE (Davidson, 2009, p. 56) should also be considered as a potential risk of fire in the country. 3.9 Strategies Which Can Be Adopted In the United Arab Emirates As pointed out earlier, the UAE legislations do not have a lot of emphasis of fire community safety as compared to the legislation in the UK and Canada. This might be due to the fact that UK and Canada are already developed countries, hence have undergone many phases of development which have necessitated them to establish fire community safety measures as opposed to the UAE which is on its development process. Therefore, the UAE may borrow the following fire community safety strategies from the UAE: One of the elements which the UAE government should include in its fire community service is workplace safety legislation. A workplace safety legislation will ensure that all the possible measures against fire are incorporated n the workplaces (Azarof, Nguyen, Do, Gore & Gelb 2011, p.658 ). In the potential risks which have been identified above, it has been seen that one of the most prominent and important industry in the UAE is the petroleum industry. Owing to the high flammability of oil, it is evident that this industry is prone to many fires. Taking a look at some of the major fires which have previously hit the oil industry for instance the Kuwait fire tragedy, it can be acknowledged that an fire instance in the UAE petroleum industries poses a threat to the country’s economy in addition to the huge threat that it poses to the employees in the petroleum industry (Al-Damkhi, Wahab & Al-Khulaifi 2009, p.234). In addition to this, there are other industries in the UAE which would also need to be governed by an appropriate workplace safety act. The government should adopt an act as that used in the UK and Canada. The UAE government should also establish a department which is meant to deal specifically with fire related issues. In so doing, it will be ensured that the specific details which affect fire community safety in the UAE are taken care of. Lastly, the government should incorporate the private sector and the community in fire community safety programs. This will ensure that there a collaborative efforts towards upholding measures aimed at upholding fire community safety. Establishing a program such as the fire safety week in Canada is a good strategy which the UAE government can consider. References Al-Damkhi, Wahab & Al-Khulaifi, 2009. Kuwait’s 1991 Environmental Tragedy: Lessons Learned Disaster Prevention and Management. Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 233-248 Azarof, L., Nguyen, H., Do, T., Gore, R., & Gelb, M., 2011. Results Of A Community-University Partnership To Reduce Deadly Hazards In Hardwood Floor Finishing, J Community Health, Vol.36, No.1, pp.658 – 668 Childs, M., 2005. Beyond Training: New Firefighters And Critical Reflection, Disaster Prevention and Management; Vol.14, No.4; pp.558- 568 Christian, S 2003, A Guide to Fire Safety Engineering, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, New York. Cote, A 2008, Fire Protection Handbook, Jones & Bartlett Learning, Boston: MA. Davidson, C., 2009. Dubai and the United Arab Emirates: Security Threats”, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.1, No.1, pp.56. Dawoud, S., 2007. Fire Protection in the Petroleum Industry, Society of Petroleum Engineers, pp.1-3 Damkhi, A., 2007. Planning To Rescue Kuwait’s Oil Wells: An Environmental Issue, Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 16, No. 4 ;pp. 513 - 521 Fire Net, 2012. History of Fire Safety, Viewed on 20th December 2012 from Frattaroli, S., Bergen, G., & Gielen, A., 2006. Evaluated Community Fire Safety Interventions In The United States: A Review of Current Literature, Journal of Community Health, Vol. 31, No. 3; pp. 176- 199 Gaad, E 2010, Inclusive Education in the Middle East, Penguin Books, London. Grice, A 2009, Fire Risk: Fire Safety Law and Its Practical Application, Springer Publishing Company, London. Grivna, M, El-Sadig M & Loney T .,2012. The legal framework and initiatives for promoting safety in the United Arab Emirates, Journal of Injury. Vol.1, No.1, pp. 87. Gina,D., Nance, M., Michael, L., Espana, G., Felipe,J., & Joseph, f., 2009. Sustainability of an In-Home Fire Prevention Intervention, Journal of Trauma Nursing. Vol. 16, No.4; pp.194- 201 Hughes, P & Ferrett, E 2012, Introduction to Health and Safety in Construction, Cengage: New York, NY. Jones, M 2008, Fire Protection Systems, John Wiley and Sons, Chicago: IL. Kenneth, J 2001, Fire Loss Statistics and Regulatory Framework, Accessed 13th November 2012, http://archive.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/ibp/irc/bsi/87-statistics.html Lee, B. 2006. Emergency Management and Public Security Systems, The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Security, Vol. 126, No.2, pp. 126. London Fire Brigade, 2009. Sustainable Development 2009-2012. pp. 1-13 Nolan, D 2010, Handbook of fire and explosion protection engineering principles: for oil, gas, chemical and related facilities, Taylor & Francis, Boston, MA. Smith, A., 2000. FEMA Urges College Communities to Heighten Focus on Fire Safety, Professional Safety. Vol.45, No.3; p.11. Turton, J., 1989. The Law Of Fire Precautions, Facilities, Vol. 7, No. 5; pp. 5 - 8 Wiese, W., 1986. National Fire Prevention Week: Week of 9 October. Reference Services Review, Vol. 14, No. 4; pp. 117 - 126 UAE interact 2012 UAE’s Economy Continues To Grow Robustly: IIF, Viewed on 20th December 2012 from UK Government, 2012. Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, Legislation. Gov. UK, Viewed on 20th December 2012 from http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/21/part/1 Read More

In order to acknowledge the origins of the fire community safety, an analysis of the fire community safety legislation of the UK will be analyzed below. It will be noted that the legislations are triggered by the occurrence of major fire disasters. One of the major fire disasters in the United Kingdom can be dated back to the 13th century whereby 3000 people lost their lives. This led to the establishment of a legislation governing the construction of alehouses (Fire Net 2012, P.1). The legislation on the fire chimneys followed shortly in the 14th and 15th century.

The major legislation was established in the 17th century when the Great London Fire which burnt for 4 day consuming 5/6 of the city occurred. The legislation was contained in the code of building ethics which among other things outlawed the use of other materials except bricks for the construction of walls of all new buildings, the palling of streets and alleys was done in order to ensure that fire spread was controlled in addition to easing fire response measures, a fire society was also established which was to help the community in matters related to fire.

Other legislations with respect to community fire safety included the Fire Prevention Act of 1774. In the 19th century, the Edinburg fire engine was constructed. Others include The Towns Improvement Clauses Act of 1847, Burg Police act of 1850. The most recent legislations include the London Building Acts of 1930, factories act of 1937, the licensing act of 1961, Fire Precautions act of 1989 which has undergone several amendments since then, the fire services act of 2003 and the fire and rescue services act of 2004 (Fire Net 2012, p.1). 3.

3 Development of Fire Community Safety It can be noted from the discussion of the origins of fire community safety which have been discussed above that the main driving force behind the establishment of a fire community safety legislation is the occurrence of fire disasters. For this reason, it can be noted that the fire safety legislations in the three countries under analysis; UAE, UK and Canada can be traced with respect to the number of fire accidents and disasters which have occurred in the specific countries.

Ideally, the fire community safety legislation is meant to govern the basic community practices from construction of houses, installation of safety measures among other measures aimed at ensuring safety against fire (Turton 1989, p.5) 3.5 Fire Community Safety In The United Arab Emirates (UAE) People living in UAE have seen the importance of protecting their citizens from the effects of fire. Fire safety in UAE has not yet been conceptualized as a big risk and therefore the government and the relevant authorities have been slow in enacting policies to govern on fire protection (Grivna, 2012, p. 87). The authorities have not instituted laws or legally binding locally instituted laws to govern on fire protection.

UAE has a trail blazing record for its building industry that has seen construction of exquisite buildings that houses tenants and communities (Cote, 2008). As a result, the country has had to rely on international laws such as the International Building Code (IBC) or the Singapore Building Code and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). These laws have not adequately addressed the issue of fire safety in the region. As a result, the authorities in the UAE came up with a draft to implement a local solution through the Ministry of Interior in the department of Civil Defence.

This code and law which is referred to as the Fire and Life Safety Code, will be used by building owners and the general public in ensuring that fire protection is guaranteed for everyone. However, the implementation of this law has not been fully implemented and it will time through amendments for the law to be fully operational (Hughes, 2012). Fire protection mechanisms and laws are still taking root in the UAE and this could take some time before a fully fledged authority is implemented to provide fire security.

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