Journal of Community Medicine & Health Education
Open Access

Abstract

The issue of fire safety is a serious concern for everyone. The aim of this study is to determine the safety precautions against fire hazard in homes and offices in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional design. A pre-tested, interviewer-administered, semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 350 respondents using the multistage sampling technique. A checklist was used to assess the fire safety precautions taken by households and office owners. Data were analysed electronically and summarized using descriptive and inferential statistics (logistic regression). Statistical significance was placed at p<0.05. Two hundred and eighteen (66.1%) study participants were accessed in homes while 112 (33.9%) were accessed in offices/shop. Overall, about 62% of the respondents had good to excellent knowledge of preventing fire outbreaks in homes and offices while about forty percent had poor to fair knowledge. Thirty one percent of the houses and offices had wall fire extinguishers installed, although only 28% of the premises had functioning wall fire extinguishers. Less than 10% of the premises had smoke detector, fire alarm, fire exits and emergency lighting system respectively. The factors associated with the use of wall fire extinguishers included high level of education (odd ratio [OR] =2.418, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.004-5.822) and offices/shops (OR =2.861, 95% CI =1.71-4.79). This study concluded that the dwellers of homes and offices in Ile-Ife had a poor practice of fire safety. Factors influencing fire safety practice were type of building/dwellings and level of education of the occupants of homes and offices.

Biography

Ajao Kayode Olusola holds a Master of Public health and Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor Surgery from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. He was also trained as a food scientist at Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria. He successfully served as a Programme Officer on Research and Knowledge Management for Population and Reproductive Health Programme, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife supported by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA. He is currently a doctoral student at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He has a considerable experience in planning and implementing research and health programs.