THE LOOPHOLES OF EVACUATION PROCESS IN THE SRI LANKAN HEALTHCARE SECTOR

Abstract

Healthcare facilities are traditionally seen as places of sanctuary and safety by the general public. The fire hazard is one of the challenges faced by any healthcare organization. Therefore, in order to save lives and reduce injuries, well-designed evacuation process is significant. Thus, this research investigates the loopholes of the evacuation process in the Sri Lankan healthcare sector which, would be helped to improve the evacuation process in hospital buildings in Sri Lanka near future. The research study was initiated with a comprehensive literature review and subsequently adopted a qualitative research approach to investigate the research phenomena. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fire safety professionals to investigate the requirements and parameters of the evacuation process and the loopholes of fire evacuation process in Sri Lankan healthcare sector. The collected data was analysed through content analysis by manual. The research findings revealed that the fire safety door, evacuation assembly point, compartmentation, fire detection and alarm system and closings of high risk rooms’ doors are engaged with some loopholes which need to be improved. Loopholes contributing to evacuation process are; inadequate space in assembly points, lack of inspection by fire wardens etc. The research therefore suggests that regular maintenance, involvement of space planner from the initial construction stage, conducting training programs to staffs including managerial level, would help to improve the existing evacuation process in the Sri Lankan healthcare sector.