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