FIRE SAFETY AUDIT - A TOOTHLESS TIGER THAT NEEDS A BOOST

Fire Safety Audit (FSA) is supposed to be an effective tool to assess fire safety standards of an organisation or an occupancy. FSA is aimed to assess the building for compliance with the National Building Code of India, relevant Indian standards and the legislations enacted by state governments and local bodies, on fire prevention, fire protection and life safety measures. Although FSA is an effective tool to asses fire safety standards of an occupancy, there are no clear provisions in any of the safety legislations regarding the scope, objective, methodology and periodicity of a fire safety audit. Neither is there any real urgency to ensure compliance at the development stage itself which is the way it SHOULD be.

When a fire happens, people remember the codes, rules, laws etc. and lock up and fine a few. But that does not serve as an example to others, as the statistics suggest. This has been going on for donkey’s years and unfortunately, the trend will continue. Unless SOMEONE does something MANY will continue to lose property or die and ALL of us will be responsible.