Fire Safety Preparedness of Public Universities in the Central Region of Ghana

Abstract

This study explored the fire safety preparedness (FSP) of public universities in the Central Region of Ghana. This study was proposed against the background of a lack of empirical evidence on FSP routines and processes in public universities in the region. The study employed a convergent parallel mixed-method design and adopted both the census approach and the purposive sampling procedure to obtain data from the Heads of Departments (HoDs) and Fire Safety Officers (FSOs) respectively. A total of 149 HoDs were involved in the study. The instruments used for data collection was self-administered questionnaire, which was supplemented with semi-structured interviews and field observation checklist. The data from the retrieved questionnaire and observational checklists were analysed using descriptive statistics in the form of frequencies and percentages. The responses from the interview were transcribed and analysed thematically. The results demonstrate that efforts of the public universities in the Central Region of Ghana to operationalise Fire Safety Measures [FSM] (i.e., fire safety equipment [FSE], emergency exits [EEs], fire safety signage [FSS] and notices), and reinforce compliance are generally inadequate. The majority of HoDs and FSOs opined that the major challenge to that effect was as a result of the negligence on the part of the facility users on the campuses rendering the public universities unprepared for fire outbreaks. Against this backdrop, the study concludes that public universities are not fully prepared for unforeseen fire disasters. The study therefore recommends that university leadership need to review and operationalise fire safety policies to effectively and efficiently execute fire safety operations to safeguard lives and properties as required by fire safety legislative instruments.