Awareness Level of Fire Safety Provisions in Students’ Accommodations on KNUST Campus

Abstract

Hostels are becoming more complicated, and higher-rise buildings are becoming important because of their high land value and reduced land sizes within the urban zone where the demand for accommodation facilities has increased. This calls for critical provisions of certain facilities that will make the occupants of the hostels comfortable, hence the hostel meeting the demand of its users. The purpose of this research is to assess fire safety provisions in students’ accommodations and their level of awareness. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used to attain the study’s goal. In this paper, the primary data collection instruments were questionnaires and case studies. A sample size of 142 student participants was determined using a sample size calculator. Structured questionnaires were used in gathering data based on the literature reviewed and were analyzed statistically using mean score analysis and crosstab analysis. It was observed that some of the fire safety provisions were not functioning due to poor maintenance and management systems. With the challenges at hand, it was recommended that training and seminars on fire and fire safety management should be organized, and there should be a rapid check of the fire safety elements.