No one wishes for a disaster of any kind for any investment. Still, like a doctor who is wrongly perceived as profiting from illnesses and hence does not want anyone to be healthy, the word “fire” is wrongly misconstrued as preempting a disaster that will never occur in one’s business investment. This sentiment born of utmost ignorance refuses to take into cognizance the fact that every fire outbreak begins with a spark! Just one spark and its seconds to disaster! In approximately 60 seconds the result of years of toil and labour will be reduced to ashes to the extent that even the insurance will be unwilling to cover the expense! All these including, deaths and fire injuries; loss of assets caused by fire incidents; fire damage to the natural environment; loss of business time during fire incidents; legal risks due to poor fire management; loss of insurance claims related to fire hazards; and loss of business reputation, goodwill (as a result of massive unemployment and perceived incompetence of the executives from the disaster,) and business opportunities due to poor performance in fire safety.
Fire strategy, by niche fire experts, is a must for the achievement of a sustainable economy, and environment. Facts and figures from the records of fire incidents in Nigeria present a logical need for it.
Socrates, one the wisest men that ever lived responded to the flattery of his wisdom by his admirers by pointing out the essence of how true wisdom consists of knowing one’s limitations with the quote: “I know that I know nothing!” This simple line encompasses everything at the root of non-compliance, ignorance of safety regulations and rampant disregard of consultancy services by Business owners, financiers, facility managers as well and government agencies until it is practically too late.
The limitations of knowledge to every individual are ever present to all but ignorance sadly seems to be the preferable option. Ignorance consequently, is no excuse because of how expensive in damage it eventually becomes. Knowledge is power. The power to know what to do solely rests with the ones with the right strategy and expertise to illuminate the possibilities in preemptive measures so that a return on investments is guaranteed.
Financiers and investors had in the past, experienced financial losses due to poor or lack of fire safety systems, resulting in devastating, wasteful, and expensive law-suit-ridden fire incidents. Prime News sources highlight incidents of 636 fires caused by electrical sparks; 447 incidents by electrical equipment; gas and special services incidents resulting in 151 cases; cigarette stubs and bush burning resulting in 133; electricity distribution and transmission resulting in 91, building collapse resulting in 53; illegal storage of petroleum products resulting in 85; flooding recorded 3; while 89 were unclassified in 2021. According to correspondence from Kelechi Ogunleye – based on statistics from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). The Federal Fire Service rescued 260 lives, saved 3 trillion Naira worth of property, and lost 18.9 trillion Naira worth of property in 2021. Corresponding sources from Vanguard Newspaper of December 25, 2021, related that 70 lives were lost to fire incidents in the year 2021 against 147 lost in the year 2020 with 19.4 trillion worth of property salvage in the year 2021.
These carefully illustrated fire hazards and risks as shown in the facts and figures are a clear indication of the need to formulate, adopt, and execute a ‘Fire Safety Strategy’ in the public and private sectors of African economies handled by experts. Here, the experts diagnose in processes whether fire strategy can be considered in the design, construction, and use of built assets primarily to reduce – financial, legal, health, and environmental risks. Thus, Architects, Real Estate, Constructors, and Owners of built assets should engage specialist ‘Fire Engineering Consultants and Advisory Experts for the fire strategy of proposed built assets, starting from the conception, design, and upgrade of such built assets.
Financiers, which comprises – banking, insurance, mortgage, real estate and investment companies; owners, and donors will find it best to invest wisely when fire strategy benchmarks are satisfied. Financiers will find good value for their built assets if the fire strategy is met, and thus protection of life, property, environment, non-operational downtime as they may have higher market costs, high return-on-investment, good premiums for insurers and other risk underwriters, and good security options for business and contracting deals. Specialist fire strategy consultants like ‘Safety Consultants & Solution Providers Limited (SCSP)’ in Nigeria have been able to service various sectors, namely – manufacturing, oil and gas, energy and power, maritime and aviation transportation, construction and the built-environment, telecommunication and information technology, banking and finance, hospitality, and engineering services mostly in Nigeria, then Ghana, while currently expanding to Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Gabon, Mali, and other African countries.
SAFETY CONSULTANTS & SOLUTION PROVIDERS (SCSP), is THE LEADER in the protection of life, assets, and the environment, ensuring business continuity in Sub-Saharan Africa; with proficient expertise in Engineering, procurement, construction, installation, commissioning, and maintenance of Fire Safety, Occupational Safety, Environmental Safety, Security, Building Management Systems, Technical Safety and Process Safety services. Visit SCSP at http://www.scspng.com.
Expert consultations, which are often neglected by generalist Building Services Engineers are necessary as a niche professional service in laying down active and passive fire strategies for attaining the following goals:
– Fire emergency evacuation and crowd control.
– Provision of fire response services and fire safety management systems.
– Personnel and training for capacity development of fire responders and managers.
– Prevention of fire spread with fire-resistant construction and materials within a facility.
– Fire strategy consultancy for fire safety assessments, and fire hazard investigations (fire safety cases for insurance underwriters, expert witnesses, and arbitration).
– Legal frameworks for fire strategy, and fire safety regulatory provisions (fire monitoring and control policies, laws, and standards).
Recommendations of fire strategy for various facility types, facility use, and hazard class are to be based on applicable standards, regulations and laws, and to be applied in all stages of the built asset lifecycle – starting from conception, design, construction, use, and maintenance by expert consultants for the owners and financiers. For a detailed list of strategic fire risk management services visit https://scspng.com/fire-safety.php.
