MDAs fail to comply with fire audit recommendations

The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has expressed concern about the inability of most Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to comply with recommendations conducted on fire safety audit.

The fire safety audit recommended that management at MDAs should ensure that fire hydrants, including branch pipe are provided to facilitate fire fighting, engage the services of qualified and certified electricians for maintenance.

Other recommendations included the installation of warning systems to detect unusual rise in temperature and trigger an alarm for quick response, replace old electrical sockets with new ones and organise training sessions for staff on fire safety prevention.

Mr Ebenezer Simpson, Assistant Chief Fire Officer GNFS, articulated these worries on Tuesday at a stakeholder engagement with the MDAs to discuss issues on fire protection and prevention across the country.

Mr Simpson stressed that fire fighting is a collective responsibility and that all must come on board to address the issue and implored heads of government departments to adhere to recommendations on the fire safety audit to curb the menace of fire outbreaks.

He urged management of MDAs to nominate an officer from their outfits to liaise with the fire service for timely information, prompt and quick response to unforeseen fire outbreak that might arise.

Mr Simpson encouraged fire safety officers at the various governmental departments to ensure regular housekeeping practices on fire safety as well as ensure that there are exit directional signs in case of emergency.

“Having the fire extinguisher in place is not enough to fight fire but more importantly is to train staff on how to use the equipment and ensure its maintenance for effective fire protection and prevention “he added.

Some of the participants suggested a presentation on fire safety should be copied to the heads of MDAs to have a feel of its intensity and factor it into their budgets and called for punitive measures to agencies who fail to comply with safety audit recommendations.