By Etop Ekanem

Organisers of the maiden edition of the fire safety conference by the National Fire Protection Association West Africa, NFPAWA, scheduled for April 18 to 21, 2016 in Lagos, have reiterated its importance in view of fire disasters and building collapses currently being experienced across the country.

Roland Ngong, vice president of the organising committee and technical director with Safety Consultants and Solution Providers, told Vanguard that the modules to be treated during the training and conference will greatly benefit safety professionals and building engineers, as well as risk managers and insurers. “Risk insurers are the ones who bear the cost of building collapse and fire incidents. It is important for them to know what and what are needed in a building during construction and after before they can accept to underwrite such building. The reason is that in case of any eventuality, they carry the can,” he said.

Ngong said there were at least five modules to be taught at the conference.  These include Life Safety Code and Means of Egress which he said would be taken by Tracey Bellamy, who has more than 25 years experience in the fire protection community, including all areas of the fire  sprinkler industry. According to Ngong, Bellamy also has extensive experience with fire suppression system design, fire hazard analysis and fire protection system inspection and testing, and he is licensed as a Professional Engineer in  49 states in the US, District of Columbia and  Guam, and a Certified Fire Protection  Specialist (CFPS).

“This course provides an overview of the latest technologies, design approaches, and challenges as it relates to the means of egress and life safety requirements for facilities in conformity with the NFPA 101(2015 Edition), Life Safety Code. It will provide the tools needed to confidently  apply or enforce requirements of the Life Safety Code. Topics that will be covered will include classification of construction and occupancy type, determining occupant  load and egress capacity, requirements for protection of vertical openings and hazardous areas, and determining requirements for building services and fire protection features,” Ngong stated.

Other modules, according to Ngong, include: National Fire Alarm & Signalling Code, which is based on the fire alarm, detection and emergency notification system requirements contained in NFPA 72, 2016 Edition, National Fire Alarm and Signalling Code and; NFPA 13 which deals with Automatic Fire Sprinkler Systems, this will be based on the fire sprinkler system requirements contained in NFPA 13 2016 Edition Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems.