1. Assessing Fire Safety Policy for
Educational Establishment
MOHD FADZIL MOHD IDRIS(Ph.D)
Faculty of Manufacturing & Technology Management,
UMP, Kuantan Pahang.
1

2. Introduction
BUILDING ASSESSMENT O
B
BUILDING ARCHITECT J
PROGRESS ENGINEERS E
P
C
QUANTITY O
T
PROFESSIONALS SURVEYORS L
I
CONTRACTORS I
V
C
LOCAL BUILDING E
Y
AUTHORITY OWNER S
O 2
FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
R

3. Fire Safety and Building Life
Cycle (Building Process)
• Design & Approval
• Construction
• Commissioning
• Accidental Coverage /Recovery
• Improvement, Rebuilding,
Maintenance, Alteration
3

4. • Stages of Fire Building Construction Activities, Actions
Safety Development Process & Requirements
I Design & Approval - Assessment on Fire
Safety,(Regs & Act)
- Costing,
- Performances
- Maintainability
- Reliability
- Safety Plans & Supervision
• II Construction - Health and Safety on Site
(workers and staff, visitors)
- Layout Plan
- Housekeeping and Material
distribution on site
- Security and Monitoring on site
• III Commissioning - Introducing new system if possible
- Introduce Support System
- Occupancies Responsibilities
- Checking and Maintenance
• IV Accidental Coverage - Insurance for Recovery Lifes &
Properties
- Structural Stability
- Performance Assessment
- Notify the Safety and Risk Factors
- Loss Estimation
•
V Improvement, - Rechecking the Regs, & Acts,
Rebuilding or - Layout, Boundary etc
Maintenance or - Building Structural
Alteration or - Building Materials
Maintenance - Building Services
- Building Environment
Diagram 1.0: Fire Safety and Building Life Cycle

5. Fire Safety In Buildings
• Building Selection
• Building Purpose
• Building Design
• Selection of Materials
• Layout and Planning
• Construction
• Commissioning and
• Maintenance
• Regulations, Codes and Standards, Cost. 5

6. FIRE SAFETY GENERAL
REQUIREMENTS

7. FACTORS TO BE
CONSIDERD
• LEGAL REQUIREMENTS AND INDUSTRIAL DEMAND
– FIRE ACT 1988
– UNIFORM BUILDING BY LAW (UBBL)1984
– OSH ACT 1997
• ORGANIZATION’S POLICY
– SAFETY FOR ALL & BENEFITS COME ALONG
• SUSTAINABILITY
– BUSINESS PROJECTIONS
– CONTINUITY
– PROFITS
– SAVINGS
– PROSPEROUS
– REPUTATION

8. LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
• Fire Service Act 1988:
– Part V (28)(1): Every designated premises
shall require a fire certificate.
– Part V (28)(2): Fire Certificate shall be
renewable annually.
– Part V (28)(3): Subsection(1) shall not apply
to premises appropriated to, and used solely or
mainly for ,public religious worship, or
premises consisting of or comprised in a house
that is occupied as a single private dwelling.

9. Fire Service Act 1988
• Part V (33): Where there is no fire
certificate in force in respect of any
designated premises the owner of the
premises shall be guilty of an offence.
• Part V (35)(5): fine <RM 10,000 or < 5 yrs
imprisonment for a term or both and shall
liable to further fine of RM 1000 each day
during which the offence is continued after
the conviction.

10. Uniform Building By Law 1984
• No person shall occupy or permit to be
occupied any building or any part thereof
unless a certificate of fitness for occupation, a
partial certificate of fitness for occupation or a
temporary certificate of fitness for occupation
has been issued under these By-laws for such
building and any failure to comply with this
by-law shall render such person liable to
prosecution under the Act.
(Act means the Street, Drainage and Building
Act 1974)

11. Objectives of OSH Act 1994
 To secure safety & health of persons at
work
 To protect other persons at the place of
work
 To promote appropriate and suitable
environment for persons at work
 To promote use of industry codes of
practice

12. Application of OSHA ‘94
 Manufacturing
 Mining and Quarrying  Finance, Insurance
 Construction Real Estate
 Agriculture, Forestry &
Fishing  Public Services &
 Transport, Storage & Statutory Authorities
Communication
 Wholesale & Retail Trade
 Hotels & Restaurants Except:
 Utilities
– Electricity onboard ships &
– Gas
armed forces
– Water
– Sanitary Services

13. Making Decision
• WHY? – Needs, uncertainties in construction
fields / building organization
i.e: Fire Safety Policy & Objectives
for Educational Establishment
- to reach a satisfactory level of safety
- to give good value for money
- to sustain its continuation of mission,
- benefits and priority for the future development.
- to fulfill the legal requirement
13

14. Decision Making Process
Experience Primary data Document Analysis
Statistics Dept.
Survey News
Questionnaire Know-how Reports
and
Knowledge Building
Experimentation Regulations
& Legislations
Professional Judgment
14

15. Definition
Knowledge
- The nature of desired outcomes
Know –How
- The Course of action which will ensure the
achievement of the desired outcomes
Delphi
- The susceptible of two interpretation or more
meaning, ambiguous, of doubtful meaning,
equivocal, obscure or uncertain position or
classification
15

16. Why Delphi Technique?
• To discuss the uncertainty of several factors
• To obtain a group consensus on a forecast.
• To be able to assess policy or objectives (In this
case Fire Safety In Educational Estb.)
• “Delphi may be characterized a s a method for
structuring a group communication process so that
the process is effective in allowing a group of
individuals as a whole, to deal with a complex
problem”.(Linstone and Turoff)
16

17. Delphi Technique:
Approach & Procedure
• Anonymity (freedom from
identification or state of being
noticed)
• Controlled feedback
• Statistical group response
17

18. Delphi Approaches
• Selection of Members
• Meetings (Venue & Dates)
• Invitation letter
• Set Topic & Questionnaires
• Incentive and Appreciation
18

19. Professional Judgment
• Loss Impact
( Individual, Community, District,
National or International level)
• Priorities/Importance
• Using Scaling Number
19

20. 4 Major Elements
( Solving Problems)
• Prioritization of Issues
• Setting up Objectives
• Design suitable courses of
action
• Method to assess or evaluate
20

21. WHAT IS A POLICY?
• A policy is a deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and
achieve rational outcome(s). The term may apply to
government, private sector organizations and groups, and
individuals. Presidential executive orders,
corporate privacy policies, and parliamentary
rules of order are all examples of policy. Policy differs from
rules or law. While law can compel or prohibit behaviors
(e.g. a law requiring the payment of taxes on income) policy
merely guides actions toward those that are most likely to
achieve a desired outcome.
• Policy or policy study may also refer to the process of
making important organizational decisions, including the
identification of different alternatives such as programs or
spending priorities, and choosing among them on the basis of
the impact they will have. Policies can be understood as
political, management, financial, and administrative
mechanisms arranged to reach explicit goals.

22. When the term policy is used
It may also refer to:
• Official government policy (legislation or
guidelines that govern how laws should be put
into operation)
• Broad ideas and goals in political manifestos and
pamphlets
• A company or organization's policy on a
particular topic. For example, the equal
opportunity policy of a company shows that the
company aims to treat all its staff equally

23. Fire Safety Policy
i.e:-
• Fire Free Educational Environment
Fire Safety Objectives
i.e:-
•Human Life
•Property Protection
•Educational Continuity
•Educational Environment
•Public Anxiety
•Economy 23

24. Assessing Fire Safety Policy
• To Inculcate Positive Values.
i.e:-
- To Minimize the Level Of Risk
- To Maximize the Level of Safety
- To Create/Maintain the Educational
Environment
- To Ensure the Adequacy of the Services and
Infrastructure, etc.
- To set a Standard Fire Safety Evaluation
Scheme 24

25. Assessing Fire Safety Objectives
25

26. Life Safety:Occupant
-Maturity, Aged, Child
-Ability to Escape/ Evacuate
-Location
-Physical Requirement or
Building Provision
-Human Resource
Management, etc. 26

27. Property Protection
• Within a Room
• Within a Building
• Outside Building
• Portable or Fixed Appliances
• Fire Engine &Fire Officers
• Rescue Team
• Building Materials etc.
27

28. Educational Environment
• Environmental Temperature
• Good Views
• Air Circulation
• Mobility
• Good Odor
• Acoustics
• Sun Light
• Shading
• Number of occupants 28

29. Public Anxiety
• The standard of fire safety
• Allocation and management
• Political and Moral Issues
• Organizational Reputation
29

30. Economy
• Installation
• Commission
• Maintenance
• Alteration
30

31. PURPOSE OF STUDY
 Providing guidelines to ensure the safety of the
establishments from danger of fire.
 Formulating evaluation checklists consisting of
numbers which is applicable to assess fire safety
components
 Establishing the procedure to evaluate fire safety standard
via the set objectives, tactics and components to achieve
the fire safety policy

32. Source(s) of Ignition Percentage %
1/ Carelessness 38.4
2/ Electrical Appliances 25.6
3/ Not known 12.8
4/ Arson 9.3
5/ Smoking habit 5.8
6/ Natural Disasters 5.8
7/ Other specify 2.3
Sources of fire safety knowledge Percentages
General reading 34.6 %
Mass media and friends 17.7 %
Notices and sign system 11.8 %
Rules and regulations 9.9 %
Subjects taught in schools or colleges 8.1 %
Extra Co-curriculum activities 7.1 %
Assigned Responsibility 4.8 %
Past Fire Accident(s) 3.1 %
Other 1.5 %
Profession 1.3 % 32

33. Percentages %
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
Classroom
Staffroom
Canteen
Laboratory/W
orkshop
Library/Resou
rce Centre
Computer
room
Building Areas
Assembly Hall
Sport Centre/
Gymnasium
Store room
Types of Fire Threat within the Educational Premises
Hostel/Accom
odation
Dining hall
Gases
33
Chemical
Electricity

34. Ranking
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Dormitory
Dining
Hall/kitchen
Room(Single)
Canteen
Common Room
Areas
Utilities Room
Accomodation Building
Store Room
Warden Flat
The Most Important Areas For Fire Safety System Within Hostel/
Prayer Room
Series1
34

35. Priority Ranking Less Priority
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Laboratory
Hostel
Workshop
Computer centre
Canteen
Dining Hall
Resource Centre
Library
Areas
Classroom
Staff room
Office/General
(Areas Within Educational Buildings)
office
Rank of Vulnerability Towards Fire Hazards
Lecture Hall
Tutorial
Sport Centre
Assembly hall
Series1
35

36. Building Area Percentage % Fire Safety Objective within
Educational Establishment and it’s
priority.
Classroom 33.5 Life / Mission / Property
Hostel 21.0 Life / Property
Library 12.4 Property / Cost - books, references,
equipment
Laboratory 10.3 Property / Environment or high hazard
Staffroom 6.5 Life / Mission or teaching references
Computer 3.9 Property / Cost or electrical items
General office 3.4 Property / Mission - records
Individual 2.8 Property or teaching or learning
office references
Studio 2.4 Property or combustible materials
Other 2.2
Workshop 1.1 Property or High hazard area
Kitchen 0.6 Property or electrical and source of
ignition

37. The Areas Within Educational Establishment
Which Are Very Important To Be Considered
For Fire Safety System Installation
DINING
HALL
HOSTEL
WORK
SHOPS
STAFF
ROOM
RESOURCE
CENTRE
Areas
COMPUTER
CENTRE
Series1
LIBRARY
CANTEEN
GYMNASIUM/
SPORT CENTRE
LABORATORY
CLASS
ROOM/
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Priority Ranking from 1 to 8 Less Priority
37

38. EVALUATION PROCESS
EVALUATION CONSIDERATION
Quantitative appraisal Analysis
DELPHI TECHNIQUE
QUESTIONNAI QUESTIONNAI
RE Involving
1 RE 2
Professional
building judgment
occupants
POINT SCHEME

39. EVALUATION PROCESS
 The first fire safety THE MAKING OF EVALUATION
evaluation scheme was  Establish the NORM
POINT SCHEME
developed for the patients
area in hospitals for  Establish the component of fire safety
Department of Health and
 Formulating policy, objectives and tactics to
Social Services in June
1982 achieve
 Development and  Setting up questionnaire for the Delphi Group
application of the scheme  Attributing contribution numbers or points scheme
is now concentrated on
educational establishment for each fire safety components, tactics,
in Malaysia objectives and policy based on their inter-
relationships
 Setting up the Evaluation/Assessment Checklist
 Application of Checklist

40. WHY POINTS SCHEME?
(NUMERICAL ASSESSMENT)
 A convincing method for non-technical
professionals and authorities
 Evaluation based on acceptable level
 Evaluation on specific area of the building
will lead to overall numerical assessment of the
premise with regard to fire safety requirement
and performance
 Comparison between buildings of the same
group can facilitate authorities in decision
making process for current and future
development

41. FRAMEWORK INTERACTION POINTS
SCHEME
QUESTIONNAIRE
Explanatory Notes
A guide to experts and
respondents on limitation of the
Interaction questionnaire
Boxes
Boxes and arrows between levels
of hierarchical framework
Contribution
Numbers between 0 to 10 is given
to represent a range of limitation

42. LEVEL OF QUESTIONNAIRE
HIERARCHICAL FRAMEWORK INTERACTION STAGES
STEP
1
Policy Level
STEP
2 Objectives Level
STEP
3 Practice Level
STEP
4 Component Level

43. OBJECTIVES VS POLICY
POLICY
OBJECTIVES Average Percentages
Life Safety 9.6 25%
Property Protection 7.0 18%
Education Continuity 6.9 18%
Education Environment 5.3 14%
Public Anxiety 5.0 13%
Economy 5.3 14%

44. Rank Order of The Fire Safety
Objectives
• In Achieving the Fire Safety Rank
Policy Life safety 1
• Based on Loss of Educational Continuity 2
Life
• Based on Concern Property Protection 3
• Based on Priority Educational 3
• Based on Loss Environment
Impact Public Anxiety 4
Economy 5 44

45. NORM VALUES
COMPONENTS POINTS(%) V2%
A = BUILDING OCCUPANTS 8.26 8
B = PREPARED FOR FIRE EMERGENCY 9.12 9
C = FIRE PREVENTION 9.63 9.5
D = INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT 7.64 7.5
E = SERVICES 6.33 6
F = DETECTION 8.16 8
G = COMMUNICATION AND ALARM 8.12 8
H = EGRESS OR ESCAPE 5.33 5.5
I = FIRE FIGHTING 6.87 7
J = PROTECTED AREAS 5.92 6
K = AUTO SUPPRESSION 6.89 7
L = SMOKE MOVEMENT CONTROL 6.64 7
M = BUILDING STRUCTURE 7.45 7.5
N = EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT 3.64 4_
100
45

46. Building Type: A B C D E F
Building Area: Sport halls Percentages Contribution
Components (Pp) Values(Nc)
A. Building Occupants 90% 8 = 720
B. Preparedness For Fire Emergency 70% 9 = 630
C. Fire Prevention 80% 9.5 = 760
D. Internal Environment 80% 7.5= 600
E. Services 80% 6 = 480
F. Detection System 60% 8 = 480
G. Communication and Alarm 50% 8 = 400
H. Egress or Escape 95% 5.5= 522.5
I. Fire Fighting 50% 7 = 350
J. Protected Areas 85% 6 = 510
K. Auto Suppression 0 7 = 0
L. Smoke Movement/Control 75% 7 = 525
M. Building Structure 80% 7.5= 600
N. External Environment 70% 4 = 280
46
Total = 6857.5

47. 1-->14
P’ = ∑ Pp x Nc 100%
n 10000
Overall Safety Performance P’ = 68.57% (Acceptable level of
safety and the standard is good). This evaluation observation
checklist is considered to be the simplest way to assessed the
performance of safety components within an area with adequate
experience and having strong knowledge background in fire safety.
47

48. Performances Assessment
Zero, 0 = The component is not available . Survey Grade:
1 2 3 4 5
Worst Bad Average Good Very Good
Percentages perceptions:
below 30% to 41% to 61% to 81% to
30% 40% 60% 80% 100%
High Average Less
Threat Threat Threat
High Risk Medium Low Risk
Risk
Low Medium High
Safety Safety Safety
Highly Vulnerability Less
Vulnerable Vulnerable
48

49. Conclusion
The fire safety policy and objectives has been considered by
the Delphi group members of various background and
qualifications. Yet, the outcome was really impressive in
terms of the agreement towards achieving the fire safety
policy for the educational establishment. It was agreed that
life safety as the main priority objectives in achieving the
policy and followed by educational continuity, property
protection, educational environment, public anxiety and
economy in sequence.
Also the formation of the checklist and appraisal technique
enable the evaluator and building manager to enhance the
quality of fire safety services installed within a building
according to the yearly budget allocated. And yet there is
no compromise about the level of safety required for the
sustainable of the building and the contents. 49

50. • The evaluation processes is very important to
carry out at earlier stage so that precautions
steps are established
- to cater for any unexpected fire
occurrence.
- a fire safety cost benefit can be
implemented with flexibility in design
- to overcome the problems of fire.
- fire safety of the building is kept to the
acceptable standard.
50

51. Thank You
51