FIRE SAFETY AND DISASTER

MANAGEMENT AT
SCHOOLS/EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES
__________________________________________
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY | IIM CALCUTTA

Submitted by Mahesh Kumar D (183/49) Manish Dawla (188/49) Pratik Moon (241/49) Sushant Shekhar (354/49) Ankit Renee Topno(4010/19)

Contents
Background .................................................................................................................. 2 About CSR India ........................................................................................................... 3 Problem Statement ........................................................................................................ 3 Objective ...................................................................................................................... 4 Potential Impact of improper measures ............................................................................. 4 Key Findings ................................................................................................................. 6 Fire Disaster Survey among Schools .................................................................................. 7 Survey Insights .............................................................................................................. 8 Proposed offerings: .......................................................................................................10
Fire Safety Measures ..................................................................................................................... 10 School building Specifications ....................................................................................................... 12 Clearances And Certificates ........................................................................................................... 12

Pricing Strategy ............................................................................................................13

Private schools and educational institutions .................................................................................... 13 Cost analysis for fire safety equipment installation and awareness at schools ..................................... 13 For government schools and public educational institutions ............................................................ 14

Marketing Strategy........................................................................................................14 Sales Pitch: ..................................................................................................................15 References ...................................................................................................................17

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Background
The importance of fire safety and disaster management measures by schools has been seeing rising importance over the years as the potential of damage from such a fire has gone up to very high levels. A large school re devastates. Its aftermath lingers for years. The long term disruption that follows puts staff and pupils under stress and imposes large nancial, educational and administrative costs. It is a price that no school can afford to pay. However, while no school is immune from the risk of re, schools can certainly reduce the chances of it happening or, if the worst does occur, keep losses to a minimum. The need for awareness about fire safety in schools thus becomes imperative. Some of the other important issues pertaining to this are: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) Most injuries are caused by stampede Rumours create panic Children, mostly in schools are the first casualty Most of the tragedies are avoidable Even where fire safety equipments are available, lack of proper training has cost numerous lives. The importance of complying with norms and standards on safety has been becoming even more imperative for schools in the recent times. Following the death of 83 children in a Tamil Nadu school fire in July 2004, a writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court. On April 13, 2009, the apex court ordered all government and private schools to strictly comply with safety measures prescribed by the National Building Code of India (NBCI) in 2005 and asked states and Union Territories to de-recognize schools not complying with safety measures. All Government and Private Aided & Un-aided Schools are obliged to put in place minimum safety standards, in addition to those enshrined in National Building Code of India, 2005, in particular Part IV Fire & Life Safety and Code of Practice of Fire Safety in Educational Institutions (IS 14435:1997) of the Bureau of Indian Standards.

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About CSR India

The project being undertaken by us has been initiated by CSR India, a consulting and project management firm based in Gurgaon, India which engages itself in promoting responsible business practices in India. They work with their clients to define what responsibility means to them in their workplace, marketplace, community and environment, and then create custom strategies, policies and projects to drive business performance through the use of responsible business practices. As part of their Consulting and Project Management divisions, they leverage the experience and expertise of their consultants and independent experts to provide innovative corporate responsibility & sustainability strategies across different markets and industries, with a vision to increase the business performance and overall competitiveness of their customers, and help organisations with a strategic and systematic approach to managing the implementation process.

Problem Statement
The aim of this project is two-fold; (i) Assessing the existing practices in fire safety and disaster management being followed by schools, and keeping that assessment and insights developed in mind, (ii) Creating a business plan that includes the details of Pricing, Sales Pitch, sales strategy for mock drill etc. in order to pitch to schools and help them set up the necessary arrangements in place.

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Objective
To create a business plan for strategizing, planning and auditing schools for disaster management (specifically fire).

Methodology used
(i) Doing a research regarding the safety preparedness at schools identifying the loopholes in the Fire safety programme and practical management of the Fire safety programme (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) Assessing the competencies of the trainers/ teachers for training Understanding the audit requirement of safety policy and measures Checking if school would prefer they prefer a onetime engagement or an annual one? Designing a sales and marketing plan which would include: (1) Pricing strategy, (2) the Sales Pitch (3) and the sales strategy for mock drill, fire safety training and auditing

Potential Impact of improper measures

On April 13, 2009, the apex court ordered all government and private schools to strictly comply with safety measures prescribed by the National Building Code of India (NBCI) in 2005 and asked states and Union Territories to de-recognize schools not complying with safety measures. The ruling was passed following a major fire that broke out in Saraswathi English Medium School in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu on July 2004. The tragic accident claimed lives of around 83 primary school students and 27 others were received serious burns, when a fire that started in the kitchen of the school spread uncontrollably over the three floor school building. A detailed report of the accident by the Department of School Education, Government of Tamil Nadu revealed surprising results for various districts of Tamil Nadu. A major proportion of schools in Tamil Nadu had unsafe wiring which could have led to major accidents.

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Moreover many of the schools were missing some of the basic requisites that were needed in case of such an emergency.
Without Fire Extinguisher Unfit Wiring

Without Playground

DISTRICT S.NO

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

CHENNAI COIMBATORE CUDDALORE DHARMAPURI DINDIGUL ERODE KANCHEEPURAM KANYAKUMARI KARUR KRISHNAGIRI MADURAI NAGAPATTINAM NAMAKKAL NILGIRIS PERAMBALUR PUDUKOTTAI RAMNAD SALEM

138 49 45 22 83 47 107 48 22 37 56 82 46 56 19 45 12 16

142 57 74 41 84 73 108 48 45 42 84 82 58 80 47 88 34 59

134 38 35 3 18 38 36 20 19 7 33 36 26 41 15 42 7 35

148 46 51 13 19 56 44 34 26 25 81 71 41 74 40 66 12 73

Inadequate Playground

Inadequate Passage

Inadequate Staircase

122 51 58 16 38 47 32 43 18 32 41 80 39 61 24 69 13 25

165 86 104 50 101 82 108 44 62 44 99 82 64 93 60 99 33 83

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19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

SIVAGANGAI THANJAVUR THENI THIRUVANNAMALAI THIRUVARUR THIRUVELLORE TIRUNELVELI TRICHY TUTICORIN VELLORE VILLUPURAM VIRUDHUNAGAR TOTAL

43 73 24 14 0 78 32 77 64 30 52 20 1437

43 77 41 63 53 82 53 129 65 49 100 54 2055

7 35 20 31 12 42 30 52 25 12 39 23 911

21 68 30 56 21 45 32 100 48 32 71 45 1489

43 36 32 23 4 55 30 109 37 23 53 27 1281

40 80 42 86 72 83 70 148 73 54 109 70 2386

A similar accident had occurred before on December 23, 1995 when a fire broke out during Dayanand Anglo Vedic Private Schools annual school function. Around 500 people, including entire families, were killed in the incident. Such incidents forced government to take proactive measures and steps to ensure that such kind of accidents could be averted in the future. Now the schools have to take a certificate from the fire department before they could get a No Objection certificate from the education department and Central Board of Secondary Education.

Key Findings
The field work included visits to several schools in and around Kolkata City, and gaining insights on the existing situation regarding safety preparedness. A standard questionnaire was employed for the same while communicating with the administration of these schools. Ample number of government and private schools were visited in order to gain a holistic understanding of the issues involved in pitching to different kinds of institutions, and the needs that these institutions have in place, based upon understanding the following: How quick their preparedness is to handle the emergency, Are they providing regular trainings and programmes of fires safety & prevention, Training for using first aid kits by the students and staff,

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Schools have District Education (Safety Measures in Schools) Committee as per the state

law, certified building plan and Structural Stability Certificate from a Government certified engineer. Fire Extinguishers of ISI mark of adequate capacity and numbers are provided in eye-

catching spots in the school building Updated emergency telephone numbers and list of persons to be contacted in case of any

emergency are available at the notice boards so on and so forth. After gaining these insights, appropriate recommendations are given for the sales and marketing strategy for pitching to schools about installation/maintenance of the equipments and services.

Fire Disaster Survey among Schools

In order to study the state of Schools with regard to Fire Safety and Disaster Management, Questionnaire was designed and based on it, Survey was conducted among many Schools in Kolkata. Government School were less Co-operative when we talked about Fire Safety issues with them. The Concise version of the Questionnaire is as Follows: Has there been any case of Fire Accident in the past? Do you think the school is well prepared to handle fire disasters? Has the School discussed fire disaster preparedness with teachers and members of school? Do students and teachers know how to call for help? Is there some form of training provided to the Teacher and Staff on a regular basis? Does the school have fire disaster management kit? What is the yearly spending of Schools on Fire Safety? Specifics? Is there any fire disaster management committee at school? Are members of the committee trained in First-aid?

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 Does the school have operational smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors? Do you practice an emergency drill in your school? If yes, how often? Are there enough exits in the school to evacuate in case of a fire accident? Do you know about the different classes of fire extinguishers So you have a charged ABC fire extinguisher in school? Which Class of Fire Extinguisher is used in Schools? o Class A: Ordinary combustibles such as wood, cloth, paper, rubber and many plastics. o Class B: Flammable liquids such as gasoline, oil, grease, tar, oil-based paint, lacquer, and flammable gas. o Class C: Energized electrical equipment - including wiring, fuse boxes, circuit breakers, machinery, and appliances Do you have a back-up of school records in case of fire accident? If given the option, is the School willing to outsource Fire Safety to the Third Party?

Survey Insights
All the Schools that were surveyed didnt had any previous case of Fire Accidents in the past. As Far as Training is Concerned, West Bengal Fire service conducted Training in Government Schools 2 years back. No other activity with regard to Fire Safety has been done after that. In Private Schools, teachers were given training once every year through a Third Party Organization on how to handle the situation and First-Aid Training. All the schools surveyed had their infrastructure build according to the norms stated in the guidelines of Fire and Security Association of India (FSAI). There was ample space in Class and Floors for Children to move out in case of Fire Disaster. Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kolkata

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were in the progress of installing an additional door at the back of the Class which is already there in all the other KVs in India. Private Schools had taken the help of Third Party Organization for obtaining the Affiliation to Start School from the Fire Department. Alarm System were also installed in the all the rooms and Smoke Detectors were in place. Government School did talk about the importance of Fire Drill but they hadnt conducted one in the last 2 years whereas Private Schools were in practice of conducting Fire Drills atleast 3 Times a year. Mostly All the Schools had Class A Fire Extinguishers in place which dealt with Ordinary combustibles such as wood, cloth, paper, rubber and many plastics. They were renewed every year in all types of School. In all the Schools, They were place in prime corners in every floor and Steps to use was also put alongside in some Upper-Status Private Schools (International School) Kendriya Vidyalaya had their own Boring System to handle situation in case of Fire Accidents. International Schools were installing 2-3 Reservoirs to store 1 lakh litres of water specially for Fire Disaster. On an Average, Government School invested 20,000 INR yearly on Fire Safety and Disaster Management. Private Schools were unwilling to share this data with us. Many NGOs in the respective City also conducted visits to Schools and imparted training to Students as well as Teachers. Upper-Status Private Schools had backup system in remote location to preserve records of School Data in case of Fire Mishap. No such system was in place in Government Schools and Lower-Status Private Schools. All the Schools had Excess Entry and exit points to evacuate students in case of Fire Accidents.

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Proposed offerings:
Fire Safety Measures (i) Fire Extinguishers

Fire Extinguishers of ISI mark of adequate capacity and numbers will be provided in eyecatching spots in the school building.

(ii)

First Aid Kits

First Aid Kits will be kept in schools to meet out any eventuality. A list of items to be kept in the First Aid Kit is appended. Bandage of 2 and 4 width. Cotton Betadine lotion (100 ml) Betadine ointment (15 gm) Savlon (100 ml) Paracetamol syrup (100 ml) Paracetamol tablets (30) Combiflam tablets (20) Silverex sulphadiazine cream (15 gm) for burns

(iii)

Emergency Telephone Numbers

Emergency telephone numbers and list of persons to be contacted in case of any eventuality shall be displayed on the notice board and other prominent places in the school premises.

(iv)

Mock Drills

Mock drills will be conducted on a quarterly basis. Our personnel will train the members of the schools disaster management committee to make them better equipped to handle the situation in case of a fire. Wherever possible fire alarm may be provided in those schools which have large infrastructure and science laboratories. (v) Electrical Wiring All electrical wiring and equipment will be inspected and if found defective, will be replaced with ISI mark equipment. No High Tension Lines should run inside or over the premises of a school. Such lines, if existing, will be immediately shifted by bringing the matter to the notice of the District Education Committee.

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(vi) Training of School staff and Students

Firefighting training to all school staff and students from 6 th to 12th standard will be imparted. They will also be trained in providing emergency first aid treatment. Training to handle fire safety equipment, emergency evacuation and protection in the event of fire and any other emergency would be arranged to be imparted through the Fire & Emergency Wing. Fire Safety Day will be observed every year on 14th April with awareness programs and fire safety drills in collaboration with the Fire & Emergency Wing or any other agency.

Proposed training program Initial Instruction Our fire safety experts will instruct staff of the school (and repeat the training at least every 12 months while in residence), at the time they commence employment concerning the action to be taken by them in the event of fire threatening the building in order to ensure their own & other persons safety, and in particular;

The procedure to follow in case of a fire emergency The location of emergency exits The paths of travel to exits The location of firefighting equipment The method of raising the alarm if the smoke alarms do not activate The location of the assembly area

1. The instructions given are the procedure to be followed in the event of fire, means of escape from the building in the event of fire and the location and method of operation of firefighting equipment and fire alarms or equipment for warning of fire. In addition workers who have persons in their care or custody are to be instructed on conducting those persons to a safe place outside the building in the event of fire, where they are marshaled, each person is accounted for, and the fire service officers are informed of any missing persons. 2. A record of worker instruction will be retained with the original Fire Safety Management Plan.

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Yearly Evacuation Training An evacuation practice will be carried out at intervals of not more than 12 months in order to practice the fire and evacuation plan for the building. A record of each evacuation will be retained with the Fire Safety Management Plan. Fire and Evacuation Plan Signage Copies of the Emergency Evacuation Procedure shall be conspicuously displayed in common areas of the building to allow residents to become familiar with the fire and evacuation procedures.

School building Specifications

We will also help in providing specifications for construction of new building in schools so that it is fire safe. All new School Buildings shall preferably be an A class construction with brick /stone masonry walls with RCC (Re inforced cement concrete) roofing. However, where it is not possible to provide RCC roofing only non-combustible fire proof heat resistance material should be used. However, appropriate steps will be taken to ensure that all old school buildings are adequately repaired to render them safe for the students. The school building shall be kept free from inflammable and toxic material which, if necessary, shall be stored away from the school building. The staircases, exits or escape routes, shall adhere to the provisions specified in the National Building Code of India-2005 to ensure quick evacuation or dispersal of children. School buildings and students will be insured against fire and natural calamities with an Insurance company. Provision of water tank and separate piping from the tank with hose reel to the ground floor and first floor will be made.

Clearances And Certificates

All the new schools in the district shall have a duly certified building plan and Structural Stability Certificate from a Government certified engineer. However, all the old existing schools shall be required to take appropriate steps to render the school buildings safe for the students.

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Pricing Strategy
Based on school visits and interaction with teachers and students we realised that cost and price of the fire disaster management equipment is one of the prime reasons why schools do not give enough importance to having a fire safety system at school.

Private schools and educational institutions

In our pricing model for schools in this category we recommend conducting a thorough cost analysis of the installation of equipment, training and workshops related to handling fire equipment and regular periodic auditing of the equipment and distribute the cost on a per student basis which can be collected in the school fee on an annual basis at the start of the academic year. This is a better way to convince school authorities and parents who would not mind shelling out a very nominal amount of money to ensure the safety of their kids. Further this would help school authorities in establishing a fire free school environment at no extra costs and provide a competitive advantage over other competing schools. This would also help school authorities to comply with government regulations regarding fire safety norms in schools and attain standard fire safety certifications which would eventually improve the credibility of schools. We recommend communicating all these benefits to schools and parents through regular workshops, inter-school competitions (say Essay-Writing Competition on Safety issues etc) and firing training sessions which can be conducted in schools.

Cost analysis for fire safety equipment installation and awareness at schools
Consider a school with four floors and each floor with eight classrooms. The number of fire extinguishers that can be installed in each floor is say 5. Total number of fire extinguishers required in the school will be 20. Assuming the cost of equipment does not exceed Rs.1000 per unit, total cost for installing equipment is Rs.20000. Assuming the strength of the school is 500 and total number of people who are ready to take fire safety training to be 800 (including teachers and parents of students). Training can be conducted in batches of 80 in 10 batches. Assuming total number of trainers required for training each batch is 5. Total cost of workshops and training can be estimated to be around Rs.50000. Assuming maintenance, auditing and variable costs to be around Rs.30000, the total cost of installing and communicating the advantages of having a fire safety system in place at schools would not exceed Rs.100000. For a school with 500 students this turns out to be annual subscription of Rs.200 which parents should not mind spending considering the safety of their kids. This further improves

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accountability and credibility on part of the school authorities who are answerable to the parent community even in case of small safety violations.

For government schools and public educational institutions

For government schools the relevant authorities have to be targeted. Based on our school visits, an important fact that emerges is that people in government institutions do not feel empowered to make decisions related to implementing these kinds of systems. Hence, to implement fire safety system the relevant authorities have to be pitched in. Further, there are several non-profit organizations working in close collaborations with government institutions in order to improve the learning experience of students in schools. Hence, in order to implement a fire safety management system in government schools these NGOs can be roped in.

Marketing Strategy
Marketing is an integral part of conducting business and a good marketing strategy always gives good results even for an average product. It is important to communicate the importance of having a fire safety system in a school to parents, students and teachers. A good marketing strategy would help achieve this with minimum efforts and resources. Listed down are some of the marketing strategies that can be adopted in order to improve communications. Distribution of free posters in schools depicting fire safety measures in case of fire breakdown Posters containing important information like contact addresses and phone numbers of nearest fire stations in order to seek help in case of fire breakdown Posters demonstrating dos and donts which would help avoid causing any fire accident sin schools Sponsoring fire safety quizzing events for children across different schools in the locality

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Sales Pitch:
After having a number of interactions with the administration of several schools in Kolkata, we came to realize that these schools can broadly be classified into three categories: (i) Schools having the right safety measures and practices in place that can be benchmarked for others (ii) (iii) Schools having moderate safety measures and practices which need improvement Schools having inadequate safety measures and practices in place

For pitching to schools of 2nd and 3rd categories, we have come up with the following sales pitch strategy: (i) Building Credibility: Introducing the authority of the organization and making the institute realize the potential of the safety practices that we implement. (ii) Building further credibility by giving previously undertaken projects examples: By giving examples of the projects already undertaken at other schools, which have good reputation and brand name and which would come under the 1st category in terms of safety preparedness, the sales pitch becomes more concrete and makes the institute realize the expertise of the firm. (iii) Stressing on the importance of fire safety measures: As already explained in the previous sections, the firm then stresses on the importance of fire safety and disaster management measures to the school. By giving examples of previous mishappenings and its consequences and how they could have been avoided just by incurring a slightly higher expenditure (that can in turn be priced from the school fees paid by the parents or through grants received from governments as well), the institute can be made to realize the very importance of having these measures in place. (iv) Stressing on increasing government regulations and norms on safety measures: The institute can then be made aware of the increasing regulations and norms by the government to enforce safety preparedness in schools, and how having these measures in place is becoming more and more important for a school to have a good brand name and reputation in the minds of the parents and children as well, which can in turn be achieved through measures such as promoting safety awareness by organizing competitions, workshops etc.

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(v)

Introducing the Pricing Plan: Finally, the firm introduces the aptly planned costs that the institute would have to incur in order to have these measures in place, which the institute is likely to accept keeping in mind its importance that has already been stressed upon in a structured way.

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References
1. Fire safety drills a must for schools http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-16/mumbai/32697719_1_safetymeasures-fire-safety-mantralaya-fire 2. Over 50% of schools lack fire safety http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-01/hyderabad/39674132_1_firesafety-greater-hyderabad-municipal-corporation-extinguishers 3. Fire safety drill held for school kids http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-0729/kanpur/40870783_1_apartment-residents-fire-extinguishers-fire-mishap 4. Fire and Security Association of India http://www.fsai.in/ 5. Fire Safety in Schools http://www.grainger.com/images/fire_safety_solutions.pdf 6. Fire safety drill held for school kids http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-0729/kanpur/40870783_1_apartment-residents-fire-extinguishers-fire-mishap

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