IMPERATIVE ASPECTS OF FIRE SAFETY MANAGEMENT IN HIGH RISE BUILDINGS IN COLOMBO CITIES

Abstract

The demand for vertical development is fast emerging in urban areas due to rapid urbanization and subsequent scarcity of lands. Therefore, high rise reinforced concrete structures have become a new trend in the City of Colombo. High-rise buildings (HRB) equipped with comprehensive services systems and fire is one of critical and risky services among them. Absence of good fire safety systems leads to the collapse of the whole structure within few minutes. Hence, HRB are identified as a high risk type of facility in case of fire. The aim of this study is to identify and analyze the fire safety management (FSM) aspects in the city of Colombo which are highly influencing the safety process of HRB and to discover different methods to improve the FSM aspects for safe working and living environment for users of HRB. A literature review and preliminary survey assisted to identify the various aspects of fire safety management and 22 critical aspects were identified. The survey approach was used to extract a set of exclusive aspects which are highly influencing FSM in high rise buildings and to determine the level of importance of each aspect considering opinion of the experts in high-rise residential condominiums, offices, hotels, hospitals and views of the experts in Fire Safety Department (FSD) of Colombo Fire Brigade separately. According to the survey findings, conducting more education and training programs, providing clear signage indicating exit routes and location of fire safety equipments, and providing and maintaining a high-tech passive and active fire protection measures were identified as the top three FSM aspects in HRB as an overall though different importance levels shown in each building type. Further, this study provides imperative aspects of FSM to run a building smoothly and accomplish the required level of safety to protect lives and property of users in high-rise buildings.
Key words: Fire safety management, High- rise buildings, vertical development

For full paper: fmscresearch@sjp.ac.lk