Question:
1929. Ms Joan Pereira: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how many industrial fires have there been in the past three years; (b) what is the frequency of Singapore Civil Defence Force’s (SCDF) spot checks on factories and warehouses to ensure that they comply with fire safety measures; and (c) how many infringements have been detected in the past three years.
Answer:
1. Mr Speaker, between 2015 and 2017, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) attended to about 150 industrial fires on average each year. Of these, about five each year required prolonged operations by SCDF to put out.
2. The SCDF conducts fire safety inspection of industrial premises regularly, to check if fire safety measures such as sprinklers, fire alarms and exit signs have been properly maintained. The SCDF also checks for infringements that could compromise the fire safety of the building and its occupants. These include obstructions to escape routes, overcrowding, unauthorised fire safety works, and unauthorised change of use.
3. In the past three years, the SCDF conducted about 10,000 fire safety inspections each year on industrial premises. Enforcement action was taken in about 3,200 cases each year. Fire hazard abatement notices were issued for less serious infringements. For more serious infringements, composition fines were issued. The SCDF also prosecuted about 30 industrial premises each year for very serious infringements or recalcitrant non-compliance. In all the cases, the infringements were rectified after SCDF’s enforcement actions.
