Assessment of Implementation of Fire Risk Reduction Rules at Petroleum Dispensing Stations in Kisumu County, Kenya

Abstract

Fire safety is an essential aspect in each workplace; its efforts are geared to the preservation of life and protection of property. Petroleum dispensing stations handle highly flammable and combustible materials that ignite at any given time at a conducive condition. The government of Kenya has instituted various laws and legislation to alleviate the fire safety status of such workplaces which should be adhered to. The study aimed to assess the implementation of Fire Risk Reduction Rules in Kisumu County which will provide bases for the improvement of the available fire risk reduction rules and gauge the Fire safety status in petroleum dispensing stations. Research methods employed involved physical observation, interviews , and measurements. The study established that 27 (90.3%) Branded petroleum dispensing stations and 11 (68.8%) of independent petroleum stations had implemented safe storage and handling of highly flammable petroleum products, none of the stations had fully implemented the provisions in the Fire risk reduction rules, however , branded petroleum dispensing had better performance in the implementation than the Independent Petroleum dispensing stations. In view of the findings, the study recommends beef up of capacity in the directorate of occupation safety and health personnel to enable workplace inspections and awareness creation and enforcement on implementation of the Fire risk reduction rules as well as improvement of the available rules to be more specific on nature of works in petroleum dispensing stations.