Assessment of Fire Preparedness in Shopping Malls in Kenya – a Case Study of T Mall

Abstract

Fire safety in shopping malls is crucial and should not be underestimated due to the busy nature of these establishments. This article explores strategies to prevent fires in shopping centres, emphasizing the potential risks and the importance of being prepared. This research study examines fire preparedness in T Mall in Kenya, with objectives including evaluating the technical competence of fire drills, assessing the effectiveness of the mall's fire safety engineering design, and examining customers' awareness of fire safety measures and its impact on preparedness. This study focused on the T-Mall disaster management staff, shop attendants or business owners at T-Mall, and customers who visit the mall for official or business purposes. After conducting a pilot study, a stratified formula was used to determine the number of respondents needed. The strata used were mall customers, shop owners, and mall staff. The final respondents were chosen randomly from T-Mall, with some respondents purposefully selected to ensure representation of the target population. The study included 163 respondents, including customers, business owners, and mall staff. One field observation and three key informant interviews were conducted. The research used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data. Quantitative data was collected through customer surveys, while qualitative data was collected through interviews with key respondents and observations in the field. Three senior staff members from the disaster and fire management department at T-mall were interviewed. After collecting the data, descriptive and inferential statistics were used to answer the research questions. The SPSS and Excel were used for data analysis. Chi-square measure of association tests was used to test objective one and objective tree of the study to obtain if there is an association between technical competence on fire management and its influence on fire preparedness based on dependent indictors of time take to respond to fire incident, duration take to put off fire. For objective three, the chi-square test was used to measure if there is an association between customer knowledge on fire safety and fire preparedness. Multiple Regression was used to determine objective 2 if there is a significant relationship between fire safety design of the structure and fire preparedness. Key results obtained indicated as follows: 1) for first objective, high level of fire preparedness can be achieved through disaster management training and more fire drilling exercises. Staff without the certification took longer to respond to a fire incident and to put out the fire compared to staff with the certification. The study emphasized the importance of technical competence in fire drilling for shopping mall staff in order to be prepared for fire incidents. 2) for second objective, a moderate was found relationship between the time taken to respond to a fire drill incident, the time taken to contain a fire, the fire intensity at the time of containment, and the placement of fire-fighting equipment (, (F(1, 34) = 2.66, p = .002, R2 = 58.07, R2adj = 0.05). 3) for objective three, a chi-square measure of association results indicate that customers' understanding of fire safety is closely tied to how well-prepared they are for a fire. This is supported by the fact that all participants in a fire safety drill were able to identify fire exit routes correctly, whereas those who did not participate were unable to do so. The study concludes that customers' knowledge of fire safety in the mall significantly impacts their readiness for a fire response (X2 = 19.7, P-value = 0. 052).It was concluded that, to ensure safety, it is crucial for shopkeepers and security guards to regularly participate in fire drills and be skilled in using fire-fighting equipment. It was also recommended that fire safety staff in Kenyan shopping malls should receive thorough fire training.