Evaluating the Effectiveness of Fire Safety Training on Occupants’ Response to Fire in Selected Public Buildings in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Fire incidents involving occupied premises often result in injuries, loss of assets, business disruption and sometimes death. In the recent past, the country has experienced an unprecedented increase in fire incidents involving both public and private buildings and institutions in Kenya. To counter this problem the government of Kenya has embraced various strategies such as providing fire safety training for occupants of public buildings. However, the impact of this fire safety training is not well documented. This paper presents findings of a study on the effectiveness of fire safety training on occupants’ response to fire incidents in selected public buildings in Nairobi County, Kenya. The results were based on a survey carried out in thirty (30) selected public buildings in Nairobi County, Kenya. The response rate was 78% (N=139). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).Overall, the current study shows that fire safety training contributes positively towards improvement of occupants’ knowledge and response to fire. Results from this survey showed that there was a significant relationship between training and occupants’ response to fire. Conclusions drawn from this research have implications for various fire prevention and safety organizations that are in the business of promoting fire related information to the public in terms of instituting interventions aimed at fire disaster risk reduction in Nairobi County and the nation of Kenya at large. The study recommends that policy makers, implementers and relevant stakeholders take deliberate steps to improve programs on fire safety training to all people occupying buildings throughout the country as a whole.