BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The core function of hospitals is to look after the sick which is a vulnerable population; hence a heightened sensitivity to safety should prevail. One should not aggravate already existing illness and disease amongst its occupant by fire accidents.
So it is important for all modern buildings and public places to have mechanisms for fire safety, for a hospital to ignore and flout them are particularly disturbing and deplorable. In order to ensure prevention and minimizing of risks associated with fire accidents with respect to human life, properties,equipments in the JIPMER Hospital and Campus, the following JIPMER Fire Safety Plan Policies and
procedures are hereby framed for information, compliance of all Faculties, Residents, Students, staff members, and all others concerned.
2011 - Fire safety committee was formed in 12/ 2011 under Jipmer Quality Council. But later on, as per the instruction of Central Ministry (MOHFW), each hospital should have multi-disciplinary
committee members and DIRECTOR/ head of the institute should be the chairman of the same committee. JIPMER fire safety plan was formulated, in-house Fire safety officer was nominated, Fire audit was performed, Fire safety orientation programmes -staff/faculty carried out-RACE/PASS 150 volunteers from various departments trained. Initial Common SOP manual has been developed.
Dedicated phone-6999 installed for fire alert was done

2016 - Hence, 2016 an Independent multi-disciplinary committee - Fire Safety and Preparedness Committee (FS& PC) was newly reconstituted under the Chairmanship of Director, JIPMER, and Officer Nominated by Director, JIPMER with Fire officer Nominated as technical member from Fire Service Govt of Puducherry, along with representation from all buildings, CPWD, HLL, Engineering division JIPMER.

2017 – Moreover, the JIPMER campus is identified with many blocks/buildings which are scattered across. Hence each block/building has unique strength and deficiency which has to be identified and strengthened. There is always increasing trend both infrastructure wise and patients care service wise. Along with the rising trend, the associated risk and hazardous environment have also stretched across 200 acres. In order to decentralize the responsibility of the working group of Fire Safety Committee and empower the Hospital staff and gain collective responsibilities at all places of JIPMER which includes patient service areas, service buildings, Academic center, Administrative block & Hostel complex. Hence at each block level, DMS / Block in-charge were created who will coordinate with Additional Member Secretary & Deputy Member Secretary to carry out all necessary fire safety preparedness activities and also for implementing the safety policies as decided by the Chairman of this committee. The concerned block level Additional Member Secretary & Deputy Member Secretary will coordinate with DMS of a respective block for providing fire safety information, crowd management policy
and evacuation techniques which have to be incorporated in the SOP and implemented for the safety of patients, hospital staffs, students, residents and visitors. The concerned block DMS / section in-charge / department head will submit a report as per Fire Safety requirements mentioned in the fire audit checklist prepared by the said committee and the reports to be submitted in writing to the Member Secretary FSPC committee on the monthly basis.

The Committee analyzed the fire safety activities in JIPMER and reviewed the installation and service of the fire safety equipment in JIPMER. It was noted that three agencies are involved in the Fire Safety Equipment maintenance in JIPMER, HLL, CPWD, and Engineering Division. The committee recommended that all firefighting equipment across JIPMER should be maintained by a single agency, and it was approved by the competent authorities and the same is handed over to HLL for implementation

JIPMER has officially nominated HLL – HITES as the single agency to install Fire Protection System  for entire JIPMER Campus. Based on this Comprehensive work proposal is undertaken by HLL Infra Tech Services Ltd. (HITES) and being executed in a Phased manner (Phase –I & Phase-II )
Phase –I - FPS and FAS works for the Hospital buildings, Administrative building, Hostel buildings,
Service Buildings and the Yard works
Phase-II - Fire Doors and UPS supported lighting system for the common area and pressurization of fire staircase based on recommendations by the Fire Service Department, Government of Puducherry.

The Committee stressed the need for Fire Safety training for employees and 2520 employees from different parts of JIPMER underwent fire safety training by March 2018 which includes medical professionals, paramedical workers, support staffs, students, medical interns, MD/MS graduates, MCH/DM trainees, Security Guards etc. more than 76 sessions of (165 Hrs.) OF FIRE TRAINING CLASS COMPLETED.

The Committee requested the Pondicherry Fire Department to conduct the inspection of all major Hospital Blocks of JIPMER for Fire Safety and Preventive Measures. MR. J. Mukundan, Fire Officer, Fire Service Department, Government of Puducherry along with fire safety committee JIPMER had conducted fire safety inspection (57 sessions) and submitted 64 reports till March 2018 – based on the suggestions mentioned in the reports, corrective measures are undertaken in a time-bound manner. The fire safety inspection started in the First week of September 2016 and SS-block, Emergency block, Women and Children block, Regional Cancer Centre, JIPMER Academic Centre, PMRC block Old Hospital Block and Institute block inspections have been completed, and urgent actions like the clearing of corridors,

electrical safety certifications, false roof safety installations, anti-rodent measures, improving housekeeping, and fire safety exits - free from obstructions and streamlining of Code Red operations were done.

The Fire Safety and Preparedness committee has conducted 16 meetings, till April 2018. The major programs being executed by the committee are

1. New Fire safety installations and permit clearance in newly constructed / renovated buildings / in
phase of implementation – CPWD construction
2. Corrective measures / compliance report to fire audit inspection reports - Work updates on
existing firefighting system – HLL facility management
3. Conducted and Submitted 15 Root Cause Analysis of fire accident along with safety
recommendations and monitoring steps to prevent such fire accident
4. Fire safety Signages by HLL facility management
5. CPWD Handing over to HLL FM – FAS & FPS in the Central library, lecture Theaters, KV school
6. Allotted fire safety recommended civil works under HLL / under CPWD
7. Power Substations Safety Recommendations - HLL facility management / CPWD
8. Diesel storage safety and license - HLL facility management / CPWD
9. Laundry Boiler house commissioning report – CPWD
10. Liquid oxygen explosive license- HLL facility management / CPWD
11. Electrical safety certification along with false roofing electrical installation - HLL facility
management / CPWD
12. Labelling all electrical panels - HLL facility management / CPWD
13. Duplicate Keys of all fire exits to be kept at the nearest ward with the duty nurse as well as the
security guard on duty( Long term plan to procure magnetic door locks with unlocking authorization
with employee ID cards)
14. Training the Security Guards on Fire Safety Techniques - 25 guards per week by the Pondicherry
Fire Service Department
15. Fire escape plan, Assembly Point Signage&rsquo's for every building being installed
16. Inspection and Safety Certification of Electrical Wirings and Installations by CPWD, HLL,
Engineering Division and Biomedical Engineering to prevent electrical Fires.
17. Clearing of Corridors of furniture for smooth movement of patients and personnel.
18. Clearing of areas outside Fire Exits for smooth movement of occupants.
19. Installation of Public Address Systems in 3 blocks of JIPMER
20. Installation of additional ABC type fire extinguishers in the place of A-type extinguishers in all
patient care areas

21. Placement of Inflammable signage, Electrical hazard signage, Switch off electrical types of equipment
for every building being installed.
22. Construction of Ramp in old hospital block to move non-ambulant patients in the event of Fire.
23. Fire Control room established in the Ground Floor of JAC Block

JIPMER has a robust Fire Safety Program. The Fire Safety SOP of JIPMER was implemented in 2011 and revised annually. The latest fire safety SOP of JIPMER was revised in September 2017. The revised SOP. In this revised manual, the following aspects have been covered

• Roles & Responsibilities Of All Staffs
• Fire Prevention And Safety Information 
• General Safety Precautions And Maintenance Of Fire Fighting Facilities
• Building & Occupant Details
• Fire Control Room Operational Procedure 
• Evacuation Procedure
• Immediate Fire Procedure
• Fire Training Procedure
• Role And Responsibilities Of Fire Guards 
• Annexures includes Block Audit Check List, FPS Details Template, Room Wise Occupancy, Ward Occupancy, Fire Load Calculation, Electrical Equipment Details, UPS Details Form, Building Template, Phone Contact Details, Hot Work – Work Order Form This manual mainly focuses on Prevention and Mitigation for fire accidents with relevant issues and information which are required for preparing in SOP for every building is included. Hence each block/building has unique strength and deficiency which has to be identified and strengthened. This manual will serve as a template for building SOP for respective blocks in a framed manner.

The main aim of this fire safety committee is to ensure and take adequate fire safety measures and adopt necessary best practices to keep the JIPMER hospital and also overall campus fire-free. In order to ensure prevention and minimizing of risks associated with fire accidents, the JIPMER Fire Safety Policies and procedures were framed in for wider dissemination of informations therein by gaining collective responsibility & compliance from all.