Why We Need Fire Safety Regulations in India?
1.0 Introduction
Fire poses a major threat to various occupancies in India. Almost every day some fires are reported by media across the country. These fires not only resulted in the loss of many precious lives and injuries to many but also inflicted heavy property loss.
During the last two decades there was a vibrant growth in the construction activities in India, especially in high rise buildings. Because of its peculiar nature, fire in residential buildings, in particular, high rise buildings, become more complex and the salvaging operations become more difficult and sometimes even resulting in many deaths and huge property losses.
The rapid modernisation of Indian Industry has made the scenario more complex. Awareness towards fire safety had not been quite forthcoming. This article will focus on the overall scenario on the existing fire safety regulations in India and the effectiveness of these regulations for combating the potential fire hazards.
2.0 Main Regulations
Fire services in India came under the Twelfth Schedule of the Constitution of India, under the provisions of Article 243W of the Constitution. The performance of the functions listed in the Twelfth Schedule comes under the domain of Municipalities.
Regular fire services in India was established about 215 years back. The service was first established in Bombay in 1803, followed by Calcutta in 1822, Delhi in 1867 and Madras in 1908.
2.1 National Building Code
The National Building Code is published by Bureau of Indian Standards. The first edition of the NBC was published in 1970. This edition was revised in 1983, 1987 and 1997. The second edition was published in 2005. The third edition was published in 2016, incorporating the latest developments in the construction activities in the country.
The main objective of NBC is to specify measures that will provide that degree of safety from fire, which is practical and can be reasonably achieved. The Code insists upon compliance with minimum standards of fire safety necessary for building occupants and users.
2.2 State Regulations
By and large, the State fire prevention and fire safety act & rules complement the National Building Code. Many of the NBC Code provisions have been incorporated by various State Governments and Local Bodies in their own building regulations.
2.3 Related Regulations
Apart from the specific State Acts and Rules, a number of legislations are available on matters relating to fire prevention, fire protection. Amongst these, the Factories Act and State Factories Rules are important ones. The Section 38 of the Factories Act, 1948, emphasises the obligations of the occupier.
3.0 Codes and Standards
3.1 IS Codes
BIS has formulated more than 150 standards on fire safety in buildings and firefighting equipment & systems including: Code of practice for fire safety of buildings (IS 1641 to IS 1646), fire detection and alarm systems (IS 2189), first aid fire extinguishers (IS 2190), internal hydrants and hose reels (IS 3844), external hydrant systems (IS 13039), fixed automatic sprinkler systems (IS 15105), gaseous fire extinguishing systems (IS 15493), portable fire extinguishers (IS 15683), and many more.
3.2 OISD Standards
Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD) is a technical directorate under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas of Government of India. Important standards include: OISD STD 114, OISD STD 116, and OISD STD 117.
4.0 Compliance
Many commercial and residential buildings, in particular high-rise buildings, have been found flouting fire safety norms. Though Fire Safety Audit is found to be an effective tool for assessing fire safety standards, there is no clear cut provision in any of the fire safety legislations in India regarding the scope, objectives, methodology and periodicity of a fire safety audit.
5.0 Conclusion
Hazard Identification & Risk Assessment (HIRA) can be focused to identify potential hazards. A comprehensive fire safety audit can address the inherent fire hazards associated with the day to day activities in an occupancy and recommend measures to reduce the potential fire hazards.
If you want to reduce the fire incidents in the country, Fire Safety Audit should be made mandatory for all over India and the audit work should be entrusted to Third Party Agencies, who have expertise in it. Above all, the success of fire prevention and fire protection mainly depend upon the active co-operation from all personnel in an occupancy. Remember, prevention is better than cure.