Fire Safety

Fire safety is crucial as it can protect lives of people and prevent damage to property. In Hong Kong, the Fire Services Ordinance (Chapter 95), Dangerous Goods Ordinance (Chapter 295) and Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance (Chapter 572) and their subsidiary regulations and Part III of the Occupational Safety & Health Regulation are the major fire safety requirements for building owners, occupants and employers.

A building with good fire safety has

1. Fire services installations including automatic sprinkler system, fire hydrant and hose reel system, manual fire alarm system;
2. Fire safety construction including fire resisting construction and means of escape; and
3. A fire safety management plan including inspection and maintenance of fire service installations, fire safety training and information to occupants and fire emergency teams, housekeeping plans and fire action plans.

At PolyU, a fire safety policy and a fire safety management system are in place to ensure the fire safety of its buildings, construction sites, staff, students and visitors.

The Campus Development Office (CDO) is responsible for the design and installation of fire service installations in campus buildings. The Campus Facilities and Sustainability Office (CFSO) is responsible for the inspection and maintenance of the installations and fire drills. The Health and Safety Office (HSO) takes the roles of monitoring and advising on fire safety issues and provides fire safety awareness training to staff and students.

To test the University’s fire action plans and fire response of people, CFSO and HSO will organize internal fire drills and joint fire drills with Hong Kong Fire Services Department respectively in various campus buildings on a regular basis.

Recently, PolyU has implemented a Fire Warden Arrangement aiming at achieving a fast and complete evacuation of occupants from a building in case of a real fire.