Fire safety management of public buildings: a systematic review of hospital buildings in Asia
ISSN: 0263-7472
Article publication date: 7 May 2020
Issue publication date: 15 July 2020
Abstract
Purpose
There is increasing recognition amongst healthcare providers on the necessity to improve fire safety management in healthcare facilities. This is possibly not yet satisfactory because of recent fire incidents in Asia. This paper set out to analyse the literature because of the paucity of systematic reviews on fire safety management of public healthcare facilities and proffer preventive measures.
Design/methodology/approach
Thirty related studies were identified with the support of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses via Scopus and Web of Science databases.
Findings
Influencing factors, hindrances to fire safety management and preventive measures for fire-related occurrence in Asian hospital buildings were the three themes that emerged from the reviewed. The factors that influence fire in Asian hospital buildings were categorised into technical, management and legislation factors.
Research limitations/implications
The recommendations of this paper were based on literature that was systematically reviewed but does not compromise the robustness concerning fire safety management in hospital buildings across Asian countries. Much is needed to be known regarding fire safety in healthcare buildings across Asian countries. This paper recommended exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach as part of the implications for further studies. This will allow in-depth face-to-face interviews and increase the generalisability of future findings concerning fire safety management in hospital buildings across Asian countries to a larger population.
Practical implications
As part of the practical implications, this paper recommends fire safety management plan as one of the practical possible measures for addressing technical, management and legislation factors. Also recommended is training and fire safety education of healthcare staff in collaboration with safety firefighters to address major issues that may arise from management factors. The government should upgrade the safety technology equipment in healthcare facilities as part of measures to mitigate issues concerning technical and legislation factors. Also, the identified factors are part of the theoretical contributions to the advancement of knowledge and this brings to the front burners new opening.
Originality/value
This is probably the first systematic review paper on fire safety hospital buildings in Asia.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge NAPREC, Malaysia (Grant no: R&D 10/8) for their financial support and School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia for the enabling environment to conduct this study.
Citation
Muhamad Salleh, N., Agus Salim, N.A., Jaafar, M., Sulieman, M.Z. and Ebekozien, A. (2020), "Fire safety management of public buildings: a systematic review of hospital buildings in Asia", Property Management, Vol. 38 No. 4, pp. 497-511. https://doi.org/10.1108/PM-12-2019-0069
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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