Developing a framework for fire safety management plan: The case of Malaysia's public hospital buildings

Purpose: Globally, several studies have shown that hospital building is charged with multiple inherent risks because a large number of users are vulnerable in tragic events. Thus, the need for the fire safety management plan (FSMP) has been proved as an instrument to mitigate fire and related risks in healthcare facilities. In Malaysia, FSMP regarding public healthcare building is yet to be explored in-depth. Therefore, this paper explores the information necessary to develop the FSMP framework for public hospital buildings. Design/methodology/approach: The paper’s objectives were accomplished via a combination of five face-to-face interviews and observations of five selected public hospitals in Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. The five key participants were across the five public hospitals and collated data analysed through thematic analysis with the assistance of MAXQDA 2018. Findings: Findings show that fire safety stakeholders practice system, fire safety action plan and fire risk management were the three main variables that promote fire safety programme and will improve FSMP for Malaysia’s public hospital buildings. Research limitations/implications: This paper’s data collection is limited to Penang, Malaysia, and a qualitative research approach was used, but this does not deteriorate the strength of the findings. Future studies are needed to consider validating findings from this paper via a quantitative approach. Practical implications: The suggested framework can be employed by Malaysia’s public hospital authorities as a guideline to mitigate fire hazards in the country’s healthcare facilities. Originality/value: This paper is encouraging hospital operators and other key stakeholders to improve on their FSMP for healthcare buildings across Malaysia as part of the study implications.