Problem
Inadequate safeguards against fire
Other Names:
Inadequate fire codeContinuing fire hazards
Unavailability of fire protection
Inadequate fire precautions
Inadequate fire prevention
Fire-trap buildings
Nature:
Many features of building construction are closely related to fire safety. Although the modern types of construction generally contain much less combustible material than the old plank-on-heavy-timber or joisted brick-walled buildings, they collapse much sooner when exposed to fire temperature. Unprotected steelwork fails at relatively low temperatures. In cases requiring fire-resistant construction such as hazardous occupancies, vital occupancies such as storage rooms, transformer rooms, electrical substations, laboratories, high-value occupancies where any serious fire would cause excessive property damage and production loss, and in multistorey buildings, fire-resistant construction is not always used.
Incidence:
In the UK in 1990 some £3.5 billion of military equipment was held in stores which did not meet government fire protection standards.
Broader Problems:
FiresInefficiencyInadequacy of civil defenceInadequate provision of public safetyViolations of health and safety regulationsIneffective delivery of basic human resource services Narrower Problems:
Fireworks as a hazardLack of fire insuranceLack of fire-fighting facilitiesUnreliability of self-extinguishing plastics Aggravates:
Urban firesForest firesProperty damageInterruption riskInadequate housingInjurious accidentsProhibitive cost of basic servicesInflammable and flammable substancesDecline of traditional wild fire management Subject(s):
Amenities → BuildingsInformation → Data, codes
Societal Problems → Fire
Societal Problems → Hazards
Societal Problems → Inadequacy
Societal Problems → Prevention
Societal Problems → Protection
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Problem Type:
D: Detailed problems Date of last update
04.10.2020 – 22:48 CEST