Guidelines for building when reopen post COVID-19 lockdown fire & life safety aspect

Guidelines for building when reopen post COVID-19 lockdown fire & life safety aspect

To prevent the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) disease among building workers and office staff when commercial activities resume in various states of India, the states, district administration and the labour department already issued a detailed advisory for business units reopening while the lockdown is still in place. The labour department said that since the city has a unique mix of industrial and office workforce, owing to closeness with other national Capital region cities, it has been decided to apply more stringent measures in a few domains to prevent the spread of this disease.

Additional labour commissioner of NCR, Haryana. “All organisations are expected to align their operations to these guidelines to ensure safe working conditions. In case the companies don’t comply with the standard operating procedures (SOP), their permissions will be withdrawn and criminal proceedings would be initiated against them,” he said.

What is COVID-19

COVID-19 is a disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus. ‘CO’ stands for corona, ‘VI’ for virus, and ‘D’ for disease. Formerly, this disease was referred to as ‘2019 novel coronavirus’ or ‘2019-nCoV. The COVID-19 virus is a new virus linked to the same family of viruses as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and some types of common cold.

What are the symptoms of COVID-19?

Symptoms can include fever, cough and shortness of breath. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia or breathing difficulties. More rarely, the disease can be fatal. These symptoms are similar to the flu (influenza) or the common cold, which are a lot more common than COVID-19. This is why testing is required to confirm if someone has COVID-19.

How does COVID-19 spread?

The virus is transmitted through direct contact with respiratory droplets of an infected person (generated through coughing and sneezing). Individuals can also be infected from and touching surfaces contaminated with the virus and touching their face (e.g., eyes, nose, mouth). The COVID-19 virus may survive on surfaces for several hours, but simple disinfectants can kill it.

The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and the virus has now spread to many countries and territories.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued new guidelines for the restarting of building operation post coronavirus lockdown. As per the new guidelines, the production units have been asked to consider first week after the lockdown ends as a trial period. The new guidelines address the issues from accommodation to sanitization needs. It also asks the companies to not target high production in the first week of operations. "When Lockout/Tagout procedures are not in place, many energy sources can prove to be hazardous to operators/supervisors who are servicing or maintaining electrical, mechanical or chemical equipment. When heavy machinery and equipment are not maintained periodically, they can become dangerous for the operators/engineers," NDMA said in a statement. 

Building owners and facility managers will be getting ready to reintroduce occupants to structures that may have been relatively vacant for an extended period. During this unique time, maintenance of all fire protection and life safety systems in commercial and multi-occupancy residential build­ings. However, it is possible that many of the ongoing inspection, testing, and maintenance (ITM) activities required by locally enforced codes and standards may not have been completed for a variety of reasons. Regardless of the level of ITM performed during this time, it is imperative that building owners and facility managers verify the performance of all building fire protection and life safety systems prior to reoccupation. Now we learn below factors that should be confirmed by a qualified person before re-open­ing a building to ensure safety of all its occupants.

Based on the assumption that the building was in compliance prior to being closed, the checklist below provides some initial steps to help ensure that the occupancy is safe enough to reopen until a qualified professional can complete the regularly scheduled ITM of all fire protection and life safety systems.

Fire and life safety checklist

Confirm all the following checkpoints for each of the building systems. While this is not a complete list, it does contain many of the items that can be addressed and confirmed by a building owner or facility manager during their initial work to reopen a building. We get help from IS, NBC 2016 & NFPA standard.

General

1.    All inspection, testing, and maintenance is up to date on the following systems or building elements:

❑ Water-based fire protection system (NFPA 25)

❑ Fire pumps (NFPA 25 & IS 12469)

❑ Fire alarm system (NFPA 72 & IS 2189)

❑ Commercial cooking equipment ventilation and fire protection (NFPA 96)

❑ Portable fire extinguishers (NFPA 10)

❑ Fire/smoke dampers (NFPA 80 and NFPA 105)

❑ All fire doors (NFPA 80 and IS 3614)

❑ Emergency lighting equipment (NFPA 101 & IS 10322)

❑ Exit signs (NFPA 101 & IS 12349)

2.    Appropriate fire department access is unobstructed. (NFPA 1)

3.    For wildfire-prone areas, routine maintenance of combusti­ble vegetation has been completed. (NFPA 1)

4.    Hand sanitizers or alcohol-based hand rubs are stored and managed safely (NFPA 101), and if needed, learn more at https://youtu.be/1P3GjIBKwI8.

5.    Whether an undertaking from LPG piping installation agency and client stating that proposed gas bank, supply lines and other fitting associated with it is as per NBC of India -2016, Part-IV.

6.    Check with the local authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) to find out if they require any special provisions prior to reoc­cupying the building.

Fire Extinguishers (NFPA 10 & IS 2171)

❑ Fire extinguishers are accessible and not physically damaged.

❑ Fire extinguishers are Correctly located in the designated place. Operating instructions are clean, legible, and facing outwards.

❑ Pressure gauge reading or indicator is in the operable range or position on all fire extinguishers.

❑ Check weigh the extinguisher against the gross weight stamped on cylinder (this is the weight full, without hose, horn or carriage). If underweight by more than 10% of contents, the extinguisher should be removed from service and recharged.

Water-Based Systems (NFPA 25, IS 3844 and IS 13039)

❑ All control valves are open.

❑ Gauges are operable and not physically damaged.

❑ Water filled piping is maintained above 40 F (4 C).

❑ Sprinklers are not physically damaged. If any leakage will be repaired.

❑ There are no leaks from the piping or sprinklers.

❑ A Diesel fire pump should be required and provide diesel exhaust pipe from the diesel engine and terminate to atmosphere in a location acceptable to the local Authority.

❑ Fire department connections are accessible and not physically damaged.

❑ Hose connections (if provided) are accessible and not physically damaged.

❑ An additional static water storage tank to be provided at roof / terrace level with capacity specified by the local fire authority with arrangements of replenishment by main or alternate source of supply, which can be used in the eventuality of failure of other system under gravity flow.

❑ Visual inspection for all valves must be open, accessible and unobstructed. All the fire pumps to have direct access from the ground level.

Fire Alarm Systems (NFPA 72 & IS 2189)

❑ There are no trouble, supervisory, or alarm signals.

❑ Batteries and their connections should be examined and tested to ensure that they are in good serviceable condition under FACP.

❑ Notification appliances are not blocked or physically damaged.

❑ Fire Control panel functions should be checked and tested with all fault indicators and Loop circuits should be tested and checked.

❑ Initiating devices (smoke detectors, heat detectors, etc.,) are not physically damaged.

❑ Manual pull stations are accessible and not physically damaged.

❑ A test & inspection of all integration (Like: PA, Access Control, EXIT signage, AHU) and graphic software.

❑ A visual inspection with Cleaning should be made to check 60% Smoke Detector, MCP, Heat Detector under fire alarm system.

Electrical (NFPA 70B and NFPA 110)

❑ Confirm that routine maintenance and operational testing is completed for the following:

❑ Electrical equipment per the building’s Electrical Preventative Maintenance Program.

❑ Emergency and standby power systems.

Means of Egress (NFPA 101 & NBC 2016)

❑ All means of egress paths are unobstructed.

❑ All doors in the means of egress are working properly and not physically damaged.

❑ All doors are operable from egress side.

❑ All doors are not physically blocked.

❑ All fire doors are working properly and not physically damaged.

❑ All fire doors latch.

❑ All required lighting in the means of egress is functioning properly.

❑ Means of egress is illuminated when occupied.

❑ Emergency lighting is not blocked or physically damaged.

❑ Exit signs are not blocked or physically damaged.

❑ Exit signs are properly illuminated.

Ref:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/40932394_NFPA's_Fire_Protection_Handbook

https://www.nfpa.org/Codes-and-Standards/All-Codes-and-Standards/Handbooks

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

https://www.indiatvnews.com/business/news-manufacturing-production-unit-lockdown-restart-new-mha-guidelines-615807

https://www.who.int/medicines/areas/quality_safety/quality_assurance/supplement_4.pdf?ua=1