Iran Occupational Health

Background and aims:Protection the hospitals against fire is very important due to presence of disable persons, lack of awareness and expensive devices and equipments in the hospitals. This study aimed to assess fire risk in the selected hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.

Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in 8 hospitals (16 buildings) affiliated by Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Assessment checklists were extracted from NFPA101 standard completed through field observation. In the next stage, gathered information was analyzed using “Computerized Fire Safety Evaluation System” (CFSES) software.

Results: From all studied buildings 87.5% in the aspect of fire control, 6.25% in the aspect of egress and 56.25% in the aspect of general fire safety were acceptable. In total, the fire risk level was acceptable only in 1 (6.25%) of the studied buildings, from all three aspects.

Conclusion: To improve the level of fire risk in hospitals, required measures especially in the area of egress including buildings design for better access to exits and increasing the number and standardization of emergency exits.