Evaluation of Fire Safety Compliance in Paint Industry in Nairobi County

Abstract

Workplace fires is one of the greatest challenge to occupational safety of most industries worldwide. Manufacturing industries in the recent past have experienced several fire incidences which have led to loss of life, life threatening injuries, loss of business and investment opportunities. Fire safety disaster management systems are not well established in Kenya thus greatly affecting fire safety preparedness especially in manufacturing industries. This study has evaluated fire safety compliance in paint industries in Nairobi county focusing on fire risks, fire safety measures in place, fire safety awareness, fire safety preparedness as well as the gaps in observing fire risk reduction rules in the selected Paint industries. Secondary data was obtained from Nairobi fire brigade (2015, 2016), DOSHS Kenya and private security companies. Data was collected using checklists and questionnaires for both workforce and management. Data was analyzed using appropriate analytical software and descriptive statistics carried out. The study targeted 6936 workers in registered paint industries represented by a sample size of 364 giving a response rate of 93.4 %. This study has revealed that paint industry is male dominated (70.9%) and only 29.1% are females. Female workforce had higher turnover than male at 80.8% and 50.3% respectively and this association was statistically significant (P ≤ 0.05); χ2=20.87, df=3, p-value=0.000. The study has also found that most of the workers were educated with high school and college education and have worked for less than 4 years and this relationship was statistically significant at (P ≤ 0.05 level of significance for both management ((χ2=36.084, df=6, p-value=0.000) and workforce χ2=50.008, df=3, p-value=0.000) and this was found to be statistically reliable based on Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.765 for management and 0.629 for workforce. The study revealed 23.3% paint industries had poor handling of flammables which is a high risk factor, with 85.7% in Industrial area and 14.3% from Kariobangi light industries. It’s worth to note that 23.28% of the industries were above satisfactory level in compliance on handling of flammables and all were from Industrial area. The research has found that 72.1% of the industries had experienced fire incidences with only 32.8% recording the incidences and this relationship was statistically significant at P ≤ 0.05 level of significance (χ2=33.408, df=4, p-value=0.000) with a moderate reliability value of 0.457 due to low level of recording .The work has found that a greater number of workplaces have fire safety measures in place; Measures to prevent electrical fires (90%), removal of flammable vapor from ignition (91.7%), no smoking Notices (100%) as well as proper labelling and storage of flammables (100%). In safe handling and transportation of flammables, 81.2% of the facilities were compliant with 81.4% from Industrial area and 18.6% from Kariobangi light industries and this was statistically significant at 95% confidence level with χ2 (df=2) =12.901 since p<.002.The relationship was also found to be significant and reliable (Cronbach’s alpha 0.67). On fire safety awareness, the results revealed that 72.9% of the workers were sufficiently trained on fire safety while 96.8% of workers were aware of fire safety procedures. On the other hand, 59.0% of the industries had no fire safety awareness procedures to visitors and only 27.1% had those facilities and all were from Industrial area and this association was statistically significant with χ2 (df=2) =11.736 since p<.003.The reliability test has revealed that there is a serious gap in terms of awareness in these facilities with Cronbach’s alpha of 0.496 and 0.541 for workforce and management respectively. On fire safety policy, this research has found that 72.9% of industries had developed fire safety policy though only 23.9% of the workers knew the content of the policy document and this were from Industrial area only. Statistically the association between having the policy document and knowing the content was significant with χ2= 22.464; df=2 and p at 0.000. This research has reported good fire safety preparedness with presence of escape routes and enough fire extinguishers at 100% as well as presence of assembly point and alarm system at 99%. On establishment of firefighting team, this study has found that 71.4% of managers had put the teams in place with 90.0% from Industrial area and 10.0% from Kariobangi light industries, this relationship had statistical significance of χ2 (df=2) =17.52 since p<.000 at 95% confidence level and the obtained data was found to be reliable (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.842) On the other hand, there was poor preparedness in evacuation of disabled (18.8%), installation of fire suppression (23.9%), fire detection (37.6%) and emergency lighting (31.2%).The reliability test Cronbach’s alpha of 0.648 has shown that the above factors had direct impact on the factories preparedness in case of fire incidence and non- adherence will result to a major catastrophe which the DOSHS should address immediately. The study also revealed that all workplaces (100%) had escape routes but 11.9% of the industries had obstructed the escape routes which is a fire risk factor during evacuation. On Compliance to DOSHS fire safety regulations, the study revealed that over 60% of industries had poor compliance but on fire audit slightly more than half (58.20%) carries out fire audits annually and inspects fire alarm system regularly (66.4%).This data was found to be reliable (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.819) in terms of the data obtained from the factories on how the sector was run and the only challenges were found to be on enforcement. On factors affecting implementation of fire risk reduction rules, the respondent reported that there was lack of; Information on fire safety, comprehensive fire safety policy, support from management, appropriate technology as well as skilled workforce and this was found to be statistically reliable based on Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.830. The overall level of compliance to fire risk reduction rules was found to be average on fire safety measures, awareness and preparedness. However, significant number of industries had low compliance levels hence regular inspection by the relevant agencies is recommended. Owing to high risks of fire from the flammables, it’s recommended that daily fire risks assessments on job assigned be emphasized to help identify fire risks and control them.