[Company name]
MNO2603 Assignment
3 Semester 2 2024 -
DUE 10 September
2024
QUESTIONS WITH DETAILED ANSWERS
,MNO2603 Assignment 3 Semester 2 2024 - DUE 10 September 2024
In Focus:
What the Charlotte Maxeke fire tells us about health and safety in Gauteng hospitals
Just weeks before a fire tore through parts of Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in
Johannesburg on 16 April, a fire safety audit at the hospital was signed off and in March
a hospital fire and safety team met, according to the Gauteng Department of Health. Yet
Kwara Kekana, spokesperson for Gauteng Health also confirmed in responses to
questions from Spotlight that “the smoke doors are not used as the magnetic system on
the doors was no longer effective and they were recommissioned”. Smoke doors are
used to prevent the spread of smoke in a building when there is a fire. She also
confirmed that fire hydrant couplings were not compatible with the fire hoses on
Johannesburg Fire Service fire engines because “some had been stolen”. Spotlight has
requested, but not received a copy of the fire audit/ inspection report from the Gauteng
Health Department, the Department of Infrastructure and Development, and the City of
Joburg’s Fire Services. Fire compliance failures Two senior firefighters from the City of
Johannesburg who spoke to Spotlight, say the two failings (mentioned by Kekana
above) alone would sink a basic inspection or compliance audit. It was also not just the
fire doors and the hydrant couplings that were faulty at Charlotte Maxeke. They say
firefighters were not given building and floor plans of the hospital’s emergency exit plan
when they arrived on the scene the day of the fire on April 16. The emergency exit plan
is essential for those needing to enter a burning building. Smoke detection systems, fire
alarms, sprinkler systems, and the mechanisms that would have triggered the magnetic
smoke doors were also not in working condition. There was also water flow and low
pressure to the hydrants besides non-compatible hose couplings. The two men asked to
have their identities withheld. MNO2603 ASSESSMENT 3 2024 6 The fire at Charlotte
Maxeke Hospital on 16 April marks the fourth in six years at public health facilities in
Gauteng. In February this year, a fire broke out at Carletonville Hospital, in May 2019
, there was a fire at Bheki Mlangeni Hospital in Soweto, and Tambo Memorial Hospital in
Boksburg in May 2015. The fire in September 2018 devastated a provincial health
department’s head office in the Bank of Lisbon building in the Joburg inner city. That
blaze claimed the lives of three firefighters. “These are politicians, they are telling lies
and doing cover-ups – they must show you that inspection report for Charlotte Maxeke
because they are sending us into these places to die. “With fire doors, we call these
lifesavers because they can help you trap a fire – these should have been there,” says
*Nathi, who has been in the fire services for 14 years. Fire hazards in hospitals and
other public buildings throughout the city are widespread. *Richard, who has been with
the Joburg fire service for 22 years says it ranges from lifts that have not been serviced
for years; fire escapes that are obstructed and regularly used for makeshift storage and
dumping space; fire extinguishers gathering dust or used as door stops and facility
health and safety committees who are slack on fire safety compliance if they meet at all.
A fire service ‘in shambles’ Added to this, Nathi and Richard say their own department
of the City of Joburg Fire Services is in shambles. There are only four working fire
trucks for the entire city. There has also been an ongoing political blame game and
court battles. Former Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba’s multi-million rand deal to
procure specialised fire engines in 2019 was never delivered on. In April 2021, the deal
was ruled unlawful by the South Gauteng High Court. Nana Radebe, spokesperson for
Joburg Emergency Services, confirms that they currently have just over half of the
equipment – 51 out of 92 items – needed to have the city’s fire service meet national fire
safety standards (the SANS 10090). Radebe also says high levels of non-compliance to
fire and safety bylaws within the city continue to be a headache for the 1 271 firefighters
employed at the city’s 29 fire stations. The procurement process for new fire engines is
now back at square one. MNO2603 ASSESSMENT 3 2024 7 Nathi says the bottom line
is that their ageing, depleted fleet cannot cope. This was clear when the province’s
flagship health asset – the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital started burning on the Parktown
ridge that early autumn day and could not be brought under control swiftly enough. “One
MNO2603 Assignment
3 Semester 2 2024 -
DUE 10 September
2024
QUESTIONS WITH DETAILED ANSWERS
,MNO2603 Assignment 3 Semester 2 2024 - DUE 10 September 2024
In Focus:
What the Charlotte Maxeke fire tells us about health and safety in Gauteng hospitals
Just weeks before a fire tore through parts of Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in
Johannesburg on 16 April, a fire safety audit at the hospital was signed off and in March
a hospital fire and safety team met, according to the Gauteng Department of Health. Yet
Kwara Kekana, spokesperson for Gauteng Health also confirmed in responses to
questions from Spotlight that “the smoke doors are not used as the magnetic system on
the doors was no longer effective and they were recommissioned”. Smoke doors are
used to prevent the spread of smoke in a building when there is a fire. She also
confirmed that fire hydrant couplings were not compatible with the fire hoses on
Johannesburg Fire Service fire engines because “some had been stolen”. Spotlight has
requested, but not received a copy of the fire audit/ inspection report from the Gauteng
Health Department, the Department of Infrastructure and Development, and the City of
Joburg’s Fire Services. Fire compliance failures Two senior firefighters from the City of
Johannesburg who spoke to Spotlight, say the two failings (mentioned by Kekana
above) alone would sink a basic inspection or compliance audit. It was also not just the
fire doors and the hydrant couplings that were faulty at Charlotte Maxeke. They say
firefighters were not given building and floor plans of the hospital’s emergency exit plan
when they arrived on the scene the day of the fire on April 16. The emergency exit plan
is essential for those needing to enter a burning building. Smoke detection systems, fire
alarms, sprinkler systems, and the mechanisms that would have triggered the magnetic
smoke doors were also not in working condition. There was also water flow and low
pressure to the hydrants besides non-compatible hose couplings. The two men asked to
have their identities withheld. MNO2603 ASSESSMENT 3 2024 6 The fire at Charlotte
Maxeke Hospital on 16 April marks the fourth in six years at public health facilities in
Gauteng. In February this year, a fire broke out at Carletonville Hospital, in May 2019
, there was a fire at Bheki Mlangeni Hospital in Soweto, and Tambo Memorial Hospital in
Boksburg in May 2015. The fire in September 2018 devastated a provincial health
department’s head office in the Bank of Lisbon building in the Joburg inner city. That
blaze claimed the lives of three firefighters. “These are politicians, they are telling lies
and doing cover-ups – they must show you that inspection report for Charlotte Maxeke
because they are sending us into these places to die. “With fire doors, we call these
lifesavers because they can help you trap a fire – these should have been there,” says
*Nathi, who has been in the fire services for 14 years. Fire hazards in hospitals and
other public buildings throughout the city are widespread. *Richard, who has been with
the Joburg fire service for 22 years says it ranges from lifts that have not been serviced
for years; fire escapes that are obstructed and regularly used for makeshift storage and
dumping space; fire extinguishers gathering dust or used as door stops and facility
health and safety committees who are slack on fire safety compliance if they meet at all.
A fire service ‘in shambles’ Added to this, Nathi and Richard say their own department
of the City of Joburg Fire Services is in shambles. There are only four working fire
trucks for the entire city. There has also been an ongoing political blame game and
court battles. Former Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba’s multi-million rand deal to
procure specialised fire engines in 2019 was never delivered on. In April 2021, the deal
was ruled unlawful by the South Gauteng High Court. Nana Radebe, spokesperson for
Joburg Emergency Services, confirms that they currently have just over half of the
equipment – 51 out of 92 items – needed to have the city’s fire service meet national fire
safety standards (the SANS 10090). Radebe also says high levels of non-compliance to
fire and safety bylaws within the city continue to be a headache for the 1 271 firefighters
employed at the city’s 29 fire stations. The procurement process for new fire engines is
now back at square one. MNO2603 ASSESSMENT 3 2024 7 Nathi says the bottom line
is that their ageing, depleted fleet cannot cope. This was clear when the province’s
flagship health asset – the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital started burning on the Parktown
ridge that early autumn day and could not be brought under control swiftly enough. “One
