[Date]
MNO2603 Assignment 3
Semester 2 2024 - DUE 10
September 2024
QUESTIONS WITH 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-
MNO2603 Assignment 3
Semester 2 2024 - DUE 10
September 2024
QUESTIONS WITH 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-
