You are on page 1of 14

Business of farming.

Since 20 years ago => aggressive development => furniture factory Bomba =>about 15,000 shops and 1,500 factories (included not registered unit) Record from Bandar Baru Sungai Buloh Fire and Rescue Department => majority of the fire => at factory

Sungai Buloh fireworks factory explosion - Bright Sparkles Sdn. Bhd (7th May 1991) => recorded as Tragic Disasters in Malaysia Fire at two-storey furniture factory (12th January 2005) Fire at furniture factory - WT Furniture Enterprise (17th December 2008) Fire at furniture factory - Zolano Design Sdn. Bhd (17th December 2008) Fire at furniture factory - Hwi Chwan Enterprise (17th December 2008) Fire at furniture factory and animal food factory (8th July 2010)

Furniture factories => are registered under Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia BUT => no license as a legal factory

Do not adhere to the required standard for the installation of fire prevention systems The structure of the building is not following the standard => reason for the fast fire spread to the nearby factories

According to Factories and Machinery (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations 1970 - Regulation 22: Fire fighting appliances; In every factory there shall be provided and maintained, so as to readily accessible, means of extinguishing fires, which shall be adequate and suitable having regard to the nature of the processes carried on and the quantity and nature of the substances used.

According to Uniform Building By-Law 1984 (Act 133): Responsibilities of Building Owner; Provisions shall be made for the general evacuation of the premises by action of a master control. This has to be organized and carried out by the building owner, his building management staff and security personnel or building management agents engaged by him to be fully responsible for the undertaking of management, maintenance and security of the building.

Raw materials & products => highly flammable => wood, fabric, sofa, zinc, sponge and thinner. The improper storage of flammable materials could cause fire.

According to Factories and Machinery (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations 1970 - Regulation 16: Precaution against ignition; No fire, flame or naked light or other agent likely to ignite volatile inflammable substances or the fumes therefrom shall be allowed inside any room or cabinet in which such substances are used or stored: Provided that this provision shall not apply where such room or cabinet is being used as a laboratory in which work of an investigative nature is being carried on and where adequate precautions in respect of the safety and health of persons have been taken.

Workers => foreign labours from Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam => no well educated with the fire safety and not been trained to use the fire extinguisher Is there any fire happens, they may not be able to put out the fire at that moment to stop the spread.

According to Uniform Building By-Law 1984 (Act 133): Responsibilities of Building Owner; The owner should arrange for building occupants, talks or lectures on Fire Safety, discipline and general precautionary measures. Occupants should be trained in basic fire fighting like operating fire extinguishers, manual fire alarm activation, etc.

Attitude of the workers => indirectly lead to the fire. For example => smoking while doing work => high possibility to cause fire => in a high fire load environment. In fact => quite a lot of smokers in a factory.

According to Factories and Machinery (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations 1970 - Regulation 16: Precaution against ignition; No person shall smoke in any room or cabinet in which volatile inflammable substances are used or stored and there shall be posted in a conspicuous place in such room or cabinet a notice prohibiting smoking.

Improper human resource management => To work overtime => up to 16 hours per day => Workers would be very tire and their awareness of the cause of fire would be weakened Besides, it is found out that in some cases (eg: Hwi Chwan Enterprise), the worker makes the fire purposely.

According to Industrial Relation Act 1967 Section 3: Hours of Work, Overtime; The limitation of the working overtime is not more than 12 hours of work (including normal hours in a day of 8 hours)

The living place => foreign labours => not proper => Hostel for the worker => next to the factory building without concerning the fire safety. Some employers even set benches at the escape route as sleeping area for their workers (eg: Diamond Furniture Sdn. Bhd di Subang Permai; five workers died).

According to Factories and Machinery (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations 1970 - Regulation 3: Factory not to be used as family dwelling; No premises or building or part or portion of any premises or building used as a factory shall concurrently be used as a family dwelling: Provided that this regulation shall not apply if there is no direct access from that part or portion of the premises or building used as a family dwelling to any part or portion of the premises or building used as a factory.

According to Factories and Machinery (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations 1970 - Regulation 21: Safety provisions in case of fire;

Where persons are employed in any floor situated below or above the ground floor, means of escape in case of fire shall be provided and maintained. Such means of escape shall: if provided with any door, such door shall be fitted so as to open outwards from the room, passage, or staircase from which it is a means of escape and shall not be kept locked or fastened and shall be free from obstruction while persons are present in the room, passage or staircase.

Sub-standard facilities at the factory site can catch fire easily Wiring of electricity transmission port is not well arranged and insulated

Road and traffic conditions are very bad that may jam the traffic and eventually delay the rescue team

You might also like