In recent years, many fires and explosions have occurred at hotels and motels, causing serious damage to property and even human lives. To minimize fires and explosions at these locations, regulations on fire prevention and fighting for hotels and motels and things to note have been issued. Check it out in this article!
Appendix III of Decree 79/2014/ND-CP stipulates the list of establishments that must notify the fire prevention and fighting police agency about ensuring fire prevention and fighting safety conditions before being put into use. Which, motels are also included in the list of these establishments. At the same time, motels are also included in the list of establishments subject to fire prevention and fighting management as prescribed in Appendix I of Decree 79/2014/ND-CP and are establishments with fire and explosion risks (for motels with a height of 5 floors or more or a volume of 5,000 m3 or more).
Therefore, motels need to comply with a number of fire prevention and fighting conditions after going into business:
For motels with a height of 5 floors or more or a volume of 5,000 m3 or more but not exceeding 9 floors or 25m
According to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree 79/2014/ND-CP, this type of motel must have:
- Regulations, internal rules, prohibition signs, signs, diagrams or signs on fire prevention and fighting, and escape routes suitable to the characteristics and nature of the motel’s operations.
- Regulations and assignment of responsibilities and tasks for fire prevention and fighting in the motel.
- Electrical systems, lightning protection, anti-static; electrical, fire-generating, heat-generating equipment; and the use of fire and heat sources must ensure fire prevention and fighting safety.
- There must be a technical safety process for fire prevention and fighting suitable to the conditions of the motel business.
- There must be a motel’s fire prevention and fighting force, specialized in fire prevention and fighting, and organized to be ready to fight fires to meet on-site fire fighting requirements.
- There must be a fire prevention fighting and escape plan approved by a competent authority in accordance with the provisions of Article 21 of this Decree.
- There is a traffic system, water supply, communication system for fire fighting, fire alarm system, fire fighting system, fire prevention system, other fire prevention and fighting equipment, and rescue equipment suitable for the nature and characteristics of the motel, ensuring quantity, quality, and operation in accordance with standards and technical regulations on fire prevention and fighting or according to regulations of the Ministry of Public Security.
There is a record of the management and monitoring of fire prevention and fighting activities according to the regulations of the Ministry of Public Security.
For motels with a height of less than 5 floors or a volume of less than 5000 m3
As stipulated in Clause 2, Article 7 of the Decree: Ensuring safety conditions for fire prevention and fighting according to regulations in Clause 1, Article 7, suitable for the scale and nature of the motel’s operations and in accordance with standards and technical regulations on fire prevention and fighting. For motels with a height of over 09 floors or 25 m or more
In addition to meeting the fire prevention and fighting safety conditions prescribed in Clause 1, Article 7 of this Decree, the following conditions must also be ensured:
- The building structure of the house must have a fire resistance limit suitable to the nature of use and the height of the house according to the provisions of technical standards and regulations on fire prevention and fighting.
- The walls, partitions, and suspended ceilings of escape routes, escape routes, escape stairwells, and crowded public rooms must not use interior decoration materials, soundproofing, and heat-insulating materials that are flammable materials.
Things to note
The regulations are like that, however, currently in some hotels, motels, and tourist areas there are still potential risks of major fires causing serious damage, including the following issues:
- Some hotels, motels, and tourist areas are not built to meet fire prevention requirements, do not ensure the safety distance requirements to prevent fire from spreading, and do not have safe escape routes in case of fire.
- The fire prevention system and access routes for fire trucks in case of fire at some motels, hotels, and tourist areas still have many shortcomings and inadequacies.
- Many tourist areas, hotels, and motels are built with flammable materials; thatch, bamboo, reed, and leaves. The main source of fuel for restaurants is gas.
- There is no emergency lighting system or escape route guidance.
- Many large-scale hotels, motels, and tourist areas worth billions of VND are located far from the fire prevention and fighting unit, while the on-site fire fighting force has not been properly invested. Some facility leaders have not fully recognized their responsibilities for fire prevention and fighting, so they have not fully invested in this work, especially in implementing technical solutions to strictly manage fire sources, heat sources, flammable substances, conditions to prevent fire spread, escape when a fire occurs and organize the on-site fire prevention and fighting force. Most fires in hotels, motels, and tourist areas are mainly due to ineffective on-site forces. Many facility owners do not care about fire prevention and fighting, considering fire prevention and fighting to be the responsibility of the police or local authorities.
To strengthen fire prevention and fighting measures and solutions for hotels, motels, and tourist areas, it is necessary to first clearly define the responsibilities of all levels, sectors, social organizations, units, and establishments related to the implementation of fire prevention and fighting solutions for hotels, motels, and tourist areas. According to the provisions of the Fire Prevention and Fighting Law, Decree No. 79/2014/ND/CP of the Government, the primary responsibility belongs to the authorities directly managing hotels, motels, and tourist areas. To ensure fire prevention and fighting safety for hotels, motels, and tourist areas, the owners of the establishments must thoroughly implement the following issues:
- Fully implement legal documents and regulations on fire prevention and fighting in hotels, motels, and tourist areas to promptly and thoroughly overcome the above-mentioned shortcomings and fire risks.
- For new construction projects or renovations of tourist areas, motels, and hotels, before construction, the fire prevention and fighting design must be submitted for approval in order to strictly comply with fire prevention and fighting safety regulations and standards; Install and renovate fire protection systems, electrical systems in accordance with fire safety regulations, separate electrical systems to indicate escape routes, emergency lighting, security lighting, electrical systems serving fire protection equipment.
- When constructing or repairing motels, hotels, and tourist areas, facility owners should choose non-combustible materials. If for any other reason, flammable materials are used for construction, measures should be taken to increase the fire resistance of those materials, such as using fireproof paint, fire-resistant chemicals, etc.
- The escape system in motels, tourist areas, and hotels in case of fire must be arranged in accordance with the standards prescribed by the State, especially for high-rise hotels, motels, basements, etc.
Issuing and organizing the implementation of fire protection regulations for hotels, motels, and tourist areas. - Self-organize fire safety inspections, promptly detect and correct shortcomings that cause fires, and resolutely handle violations of fire safety regulations that create fire risks.
- Establish a grassroots fire prevention team with enough staff to regularly organize fire fighting during the day, especially at night and on holidays, and select enthusiastic people with a high sense of responsibility to join the grassroots fire prevention team. Organize fire prevention training for grassroots forces so that these forces have enough knowledge and capacity to perform on-site fire prevention tasks.
- Invest funds in fire prevention work to equip on-site fire fighting equipment, rescue and escape equipment when fires occur, pay special attention to on-site water sources for fire fighting in hotels, motels, and tourist areas, and maintain the activities of grassroots fire prevention forces and other fire prevention forces.
- Facilities must develop fire fighting plans that assume many different possible fire situations and regularly organize drills to handle situations in order to proactively arrange forces and means and have appropriate tactics so that if a fire occurs, it can be extinguished on the spot, promptly and effectively.
Another very important measure to minimize fires and damage caused by fires is that the Fire Police force, under the State management function of fire prevention and fighting, must strengthen inspection and guidance on fire prevention and fighting in hotels, motels, and tourist areas.
In addition, owners of hotels, motels, and tourist areas need to inspect and urge staff to proactively fulfill their responsibilities in fire prevention and fighting. At the same time, advise local authorities to issue documents directing the strengthening of fire prevention and fighting measures in hotels, motels, and tourist areas in accordance with the local economic development situation, helping local authorities to overcome difficulties, develop development plans, and build hotels, motels, and tourist areas to reduce the overload of tourists’ resting needs. The study proposes decentralizing fire prevention and fighting management for hotels, motels, and tourist areas under the management of District and Ward levels to establish management records and implement fire prevention and fighting measures for all hotels, motels, and tourist areas with fire hazards.
Not only that, the strengthening of inspection of the implementation of fire safety regulations during times when fires are likely to occur such as the dry season, holidays, and Tet must be made into a special topic to invest appropriately in fire prevention work in hotels, motels, and tourist areas. Develop a fire fighting plan, including anticipating complex situations with the mobilization of many forces in fire fighting and rescue when a fire occurs, and organize a permanent fire fighting readiness to promptly handle large fire situations, in order to minimize the damage caused by fire.
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