Category: Fire Safety

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Fire Safety General Uncategorized

Public Safety in India

It was horrific to read about the tragedy in Gujarat. A suspension bridge collapsed in Morbi and over 130 people died in the accident. This was a 100-year old bridge, which had been closed for repairs for the last several months and had re-opened only a few days before. While we await the results of the investigation into this incident, we need to reflect on the following:

  • As a society, we do not prioritize safety over convenience or profit.  According to NCRB’s report on Accidental Deaths in 2021 – out of approximately 400,000 accidental deaths, only 2% was due to forces of nature and 98% was due to causes like road accidents, fire accidents, electrocution, falls, drowning etc. These were all preventable deaths! Someone took a decision – delaying filling a pothole, overtaking a vehicle in a two-way road, using space for storage while blocking a fire-exit – which either a) resulted in the accident b) prevented rescue c) or both. In the case of Morbi, it appears that people in excess of the safe capacity were allowed on the bridge.
  • While we have strict laws to prevent such negligent behaviour, the enforcement and the legal system is woeful. There are cases which have gone through the court system for decades – one of them being the infamous Uphar fire accident. If a person believes that the risk of discovery is very low, or even when discovered, the penalty is negligible – they will continue to violate the regulations.
  • We do not believe that anything bad can happen to us – this is reflected in data on insurance policies. According to the Economic Survey 2021-22, non-health insurance penetration in India was at 1% compared to the global average of 4%.  How many of us look at where the fire exits are when we enter into a public space? How many of us remember what to do if we are caught in a crowd rush?
  • Safety is not an important topic during elections. Social issues, economy, education, healthcare, are all very important issues which get discussed & debated. Accidental deaths have not become a political issue and hence there is hardly any focus from the governments and political parties. As the 400,000 people who died, were distributed across the country, the impact is not felt nationally.

I hope Morbi doesn’t become another statistic but will trigger a conversation and debate on public safety. While we await a public shift on the issue, we should do what is in our control – a) create awareness – next time you write a review on a public space like a restaurant – give feedback on safety b) get trained on how to react in situations like a fire, overcrowding, water, related accidents etc c) and follow the rules – however inconvenient!!

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Fire Safety Healthcare

Indian Hospital Fires in the last few months!!

It was so sad to see the newsflash about the death of 10 new born babies in a hospital fire in Bhandara, Maharashtra on 9th of Jan, 2021. What is shocking, is that in the last few months there have been over 50 deaths in hospital fire accidents across India. In addition, there have been other hospital fires which fortunately did not result in deaths. In total, I have come across 12 hospital fire incidents since May 2020. Here is a list:

There have been other large hospital fire incidents in the past including at AMRI Kolkatta which killed over 90 people – https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/from-mumbais-andheri-hospital-to-calcuttas-amri-a-list-of-major-hospital-fire-outbreaks-in-india/321919

Unfortunately, as a nation we do not seem to be learning from these tragedies. There is usually a flurry of media attention post the fire, there is a call for investigations, panels are created and reports are submitted to the government, but post that, nothing happens. These hospital fire incidents are primarily because of the following reasons:

  • Not compliant with fire safety rules & regulations – cases of wrongful ‘No Objection Certificates(NOCs)’ being issued to hospitals, have been well documented.
  • Compliant but not doing enough to take precautions – for example periodic checking of electric connections – short circuits are a leading cause of fires in hospitals
  • Inadequate training to handle fire accidents – regular drills with hospital staff are a must and usually, this is not taken seriously. Also the fire-fighting infrastructure is below capacity in many parts of India

These hospital fire accidents can be prevented to a large extent, if regular fire safety audits are done. In Bengaluru, Beyond Carlton(https://www.beyondcarlton.org/) had been making the case for fire safety audits in hospitals for many years and in 2016, the Karnataka fire department had actually done that – https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/Fire-safety-audit-across-all-hospitals-in-the-State/article15624433.ece.  

Last month, the Supreme Court of India, after taking suo motu cognizance of the hospital fire accident in Rajkot, asked the State governments to form committees to undertake fire safety audit of all hospitals  – https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/form-committees-to-undertake-fire-safety-audit-of-all-hospitals-supreme-court-directs-states/uts/articleshow/79791808.cms. I hope that all state governments follow the Karnataka example and take this up seriously.  

It is indeed ironic that a patient comes to a hospital to get treated, but dies because of a fire accident. As we mourn the loss of ten infants, let us come together as a nation and put pressure on our state governments to ensure that all hospitals take fire safety seriously!!