Assessment of fire risk levels of industrial buildings in Biyagama processing zone area : a case study

Abstract

To meet the needs of growing population and changing consumption patterns, productions and services have to be changed and increased drastically. Due to this reason, industries change rapidly, and with these changes, massive alterations happen in industrial buildings to accommodate new production and service requirements. This research aims to explore any significant changes of fire risks levels in industrial buildings due to those changes happening with the time, as compared to initial approval stage of the building plan. A case study was performed with randomly selected five manufacturing plants in Biyagma Export Processing Zone and surroundings, based on the Questioner/Check list developed after studying local and foreign fire safety rules and regulations applicable to manufacturing plants. Structured interviews were conducted to obtain data, validated with responsible persons for fire and safety in selected factories. According to the results, it was evident that, due to alterations, significant changes of fire risks levels in industrial buildings occur with time, as compared to the initial building plan approval stage. In addition, it revealed that existing Sri Lankan fire safety rules and regulations are not sufficient to ensure fire safety at working places, and Sri Lankan industries are not complying more than 41% with existing best fire safety requirements/standards, which are practiced by the British and the Europeans. Further, Sri Lankan laws and regulations cover 5% and 40% of fire safety requirements respectively, out of the prescribed rules and regulations by British and European. The necessity of having strict monitoring mechanism was recognised to ensure the factories comply with fire safety requirements when approving building plans for new constructions and for any significant changes, and periodically, with the age of the building. This research will help the community by introducing a new user-friendly fire risk assessment tool to assess the level of fire risks and help industries to take necessary actions to fulfil the gaps, thereby ensuring life safety of employees and business continuity