NORTHERN BEACHES HOSPITAL
FIRE ENGINEERING REPORT
Noted from the Report:-
- "Patients may need assistance during evacuation due to mobility or other way-finding difficulties". Will there be enough staff for this with a total of 5621 occupants in the building?
- "Where multiple patients require evacuation from the compartment where fire has been located, one or preferably two staff members should collect patients from their bedrooms and assist them through the fire door into the adjacent fire compartment before returning to collect the next patient. Other staff members should assist with taking patients downstairs and outside". Sounds a very slow process for a floor that is on fire and evacuation must be fast. Noted also is the 'downstairs and outside' is interestsing in that the 'stairs' are the open fire stairs and if raining will be an added safety and amenity issue.
- "The potential for catastrophic building collapse should also be discussed". No discussion can be found in the Report but sounds extremely ominous.
- "The assessment should also address the risk of vertigo, with regard to the occupant characteristics". This would be most relevant using the open fire stairs of the 10 storey building especially if the wind is blowing a gale.
- "We believe that the BCA intends to mitigate acrophobia rather than vertigo for external stairs. Acrophobia and other relevant factors to consider when substituting the fire-isolated stair for an external stair will be assessed in the FER".Difficult to see how acrophobia will be mitigated with open extrernal fire stairs.
- "Thermal detectors will also be provided in the external fire stairs instead of smoke detectors. The location of the hospital has been identified as being in a bush-fire risk area".
- "This report excludes the analysis and design of fires including incendiary ones involving accelerants, explosives and/or multiple ignition sources, or acts of terrorism". Interesting in this day and age of terrorism that some sort of inclusion wasn't made. Also aren't there accelerants in hospitals anyway with the cheicals that hosputals use on a dialy basis.
- "Whilst RED Fire Engineers has used reasonable care and judgement in performing the fire engineering assessments, fire can still occur. Furthermore, all calculations carry a degree of uncertainty and conditions may transpire that are outside what has been anticipated in this report". That doesn't give much reassurance does it?
Initial concern was for the fire safety in the four ten storey fire stairs, which have been built open to the outside, instead of the usual sealed fire stairs. The Fire Brigade’s Report raises further concerns, which have been left unresolved in this new public building, yet signed off by the Private Certifier.
One of the interesting design characteristics of enclosed fire isolated stairs is that they are within a building. As each level fire door is opened to access the stairs the stairwell is isolated from the outsdie air. Howver with the open fire stairs of the new Northern Beaches Hospital is it not the case that if a floor is on fire each time the fire stair door is opened a fresh gush of air / oxygen will rush in and will feed the fire resulting in accelerated spreading. Of course this would be worse if soemonbe chocks open the fire door to the open fire stairs for ease of escape. Fresh air oxygen as described here would not enter the floor on fire with a fire isoalted stair inside the building.
It may also result in backdraft. A backdraft is a dramatic event caused by a fire, resulting from rapid re-introduction of oxygen to combustion in an oxygen-depleted environment; for example, the breaking of a window or opening of a door to an enclosed space. Backdrafts present a serious threat to firefighters and people trying to escape a building on fire.
It may also result in backdraft. A backdraft is a dramatic event caused by a fire, resulting from rapid re-introduction of oxygen to combustion in an oxygen-depleted environment; for example, the breaking of a window or opening of a door to an enclosed space. Backdrafts present a serious threat to firefighters and people trying to escape a building on fire.
The Fire Brigade's Report has identified 21 Significant Defects in the new Northern Beaches Hospital Building
with only months before opening
with only months before opening
Departure 1 Floors, columns, shafts and fire walls to have an FRL of 120/120/120 instead of 180/180/180 in:
a) Class 6 areas (Ground Floor retail and associated atrium)
b) Loading-dock areas on Basement Level
a) Class 6 areas (Ground Floor retail and associated atrium)
b) Loading-dock areas on Basement Level
Departure 2 Class 6 compartment containing Ground Floor retail and associated atrium having a floor area exceeding 5,000 m2.
Departure 3 Bespoke smoke exhaust system in the atrium instead of in accordance with Specification E2.2b.
Departure 4 External walls incl. openings not complying with BCA Clause C3.3 to be protected in accordance with BCA Clause C3.4
Departure 5 Openings in fire walls on Level B1 and Ground Floor protected with fire shutters with an FRL of -/120/- instead of -/120/30.
Departure 6 Compartment sizes to exceed prescribed floor area limitations. The maximum sizes allowed are:
- 2084 m2 for patient care area fire compartments
- 1175 m2 for ward area smoke compartments (FRL 60/60/60)
- 644 m2 for treatment area smoke compartments
Departure 7 a) Travel distances to a point of choice or an exit to exceed prescribed values (Basement Level to Level 7)
Departure 8 Distance between alternative exits exceed prescribed values (Basement Level to Level 7)
Departure 9 Four required exits being external, non fire-isolated stairs instead of fire-isolated stairs
Departure 10 Allowing the use of external stairs instead of fire-isolated stairs in buildings over 25 m effective height
Departure 11 Allow the use of sliding doors in patient care areas. Sliding doors to be installed to:
- Ground Floor: Triage rooms
- Level 1: ICU suites, Corridors in interventional suites areas
Departure 12 Certain doors in patient care areas swing against the direction of egress. Doors swinging against the direction of egress in:
- Ground Floor: Ambulance entrance, Corridors in adult acute areas
- L1: Corridors in interventional suites areas
- L4: Corridors in medical/surgical inpatient unit areas
- L5: Corridors in medical/surgical inpatient unit areas
Departure 13 Fire-isolated passageways in basement with more than two doorways opening into them not to be provided with pressurisation system or smoke lobbies.
Departure 14 Fire-isolated stairs 8 and 9 and Level 7 plant rooms discharge to Level 6 rooftop instead of to open space on the same level as public road.
Departure 15 Zone smoke control not being fully compliant with AS 1668.1 by:
- Motorised fire dampers used in instead of sub-ducts
- Basement level to be in shutdown mode except for kitchen and loading dock
- Atrium smoke compartment not to be part of zone smoke control system
- Change of fire mode operation for specific compartments (shut down mode instead of pressurisation)
Departure 16 Automatic sprinkler system not to fully comply with AS 2118.1-1999 due to:
- Maximum pressure at Basement Level is 1200 kPa instead of 1000 kPa
- Stop valves not provided to atrium sprinklers
- Sprinkler heads not provided at atrium roof level above void
- Sprinkler heads not provided to electrical cupboards, UPS rooms and communications equipment rooms
- Only to provide wet system sprinkler head to bottom of lift shaft instead of dry system sprinklers to top and bottom of each lift shaft.
- Sprinklers not provided to external walkways/canopies.
Departure 17 Fire hydrant system not to fully comply with AS 2419.1-2005 due to:
- Hydrant/sprinkler booster not being within sight of main entrance
- Fire hydrants to be in locked cupboards in mental health departments
- Hose shortfalls in compartments 2.1B and 3.2C
- Level 8 helipad being served by fire hydrant located at stair landing on level below.
- Fire hydrant and fire hose reel being located more than 4 meters from an exit at:
Departure 18 Fire hose reel not to fully comply with AS 2441-2005 due to:
- Fire hose reels to be in locked cupboards in mental health departments
- Hose shortfalls in compartment 3.4
- Fire hose reels will be required to pass through a fire rated wall for the medical gases plant room
- Fire tank and pump room and building distribution room being provided with fire extinguishers instead of fire hose reels
- Level 8 helipad being served by fire hose reel located at stair landing on level below
Departure 19 Emergency warning or intercommunication system (EWIS) not to fully comply with AS 1670.4-2005 due to reduced sound intelligibility in plant rooms and loading docks..
Departure 20 Delete the requirement for visual warning devices that displaying “EVACUATE” upon GFA.
Departure 21 Automatic smoke detection and alarm system not to fully comply with AS 1670.1-2004 due to:
- Thermal detectors to be provided in external fire stairs instead of smoke detectors
- Smoke detectors will be deleted from ceiling voids greater than 800 mm in depth not used as return air paths
Download the Report go to the following link
NORTHERN BEACHES HOSPITAL FIRE SAFETY REPORT
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kEwveu9Ar9Vr0E-TS3OiCCGFlqcCpnf1
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