,MNO2603 Assignment 3 (COMPLETE ANSWERS)
Semester 2 2024 - DUE 10 September 2024 ; 100%
TRUSTED Complete, trusted solutions and
explanations.
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
Semester 2 2024 - DUE 10 September 2024 ; 100%
TRUSTED Complete, trusted solutions and
explanations.
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
