COMPLIANCE WITH THE FIRE CODE PF THE PHILIPPINES (R.A 9514)

AMONG HOUSEHOLDS AND ESTABLISHMENTS IN THE MUNICIPALITY

OF POTOTAN FOR C.Y. 2012-2013

By: Jasmin Comoda

2

Chapter 1

Introduction to the Study

Fire safety and prevention is an important issue and a shared responsibility of all

community members, including provincial and municipal government agencies, to keep

families safe. Fire safety and prevention efforts require community collaboration and

partnership, effective public awareness and educational programs to adequately protect

families.

Ongoing research into the etiology of home fires has identified a number of risk

factors that are associated with a higher rate of incidence and fire related injuries and

death. Many of these factors, such as lower socioeconomic levels, substandard housing,

overcrowded conditions, alcohol and drug abuse and lack of supervision, are similar to

the characteristics of the families involved.

We all knew that it is a municipal fire departments responsibility for firefighting,

implementing local public fire safety and prevention programs and conducting

inspections to enforce the Fire Code, to educate establishment and home owners to be

knowledgeable to prevent fire incidents. Thus, this study is conducted to determine the

extent of compliance with the Fire Code of the Philippines among the Household or

Establishment owners.

I.A. Background and rationale of the Study

This study aims to evaluate the factors and extent of compliance with the Fire Code

of the Philippines (R.A. 9514) among households and establishments in the Municipality

3

of Pototan for the Calendar Year 2012-2013 as to whether they comply to the given fire

safety standards or not. Present evidences such as the number of violations noted during

regular and periodic inspection, lack of coordination and willingness on the part of

household and establishment owners to fire safety inspector and the number of fire

incidents recorded give rise to this study. It also determine the possible reasons of non-

compliance such as lack of awareness about the fire Code of the Philippines of R.A.

9514, lack of awareness about fire safety and the capacity of household or establishment

owners to provide fire fighting equipments. It will also determine the factors that trigger

non-compliance to the standards the law provides.

I.B. Research Problem and Objectives

This study aimed to determine the extent of compliance with the Fire Code of the

Philippines among the Household or Establishment owners:

Specifically, the study sought to answer the following questions:

1. To determine the characteristic of household or establishment owner’s

education.

2. To determine the characteristic of household or establishment owner’s

income.

3. To determine the characteristic of the household or establishment owner’s

perception.

4. To determine the characteristic of the household or establishment owner’s

knowledge.

4

5. To determine whether there is a significant relationship between

household or establishments owners perception to the compliance with the

Fire Code of the Philippines (R.A. 9514).

6. To determine the extent of knowledge of household or establishment

owners about the Fire Code of the Philippines.

7. To determine whether there is a significant relationship between

household or establishment owner’s education and their compliance to the

Fire Code of the Philippines.

I.C. Conceptual Framework

Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework of the study

EducationAttainment

Income

AGE

SEX

Knowledge

Perception

Compliance with the Fire Code of the Philippines

5

I.D. Hypotheses

Based on the stated problems, the null hypotheses are:

1. Household or establishment owner’s have different characteristics in terms of

education.

2. Household or establishment owner’s have different characteristics in terms of

income.

3. Household or establishment owner’s have different characteristics in terms of

perception.

4. Household or establishment owner’s have different characteristics in terms of

knowledge.

5. There is a significant relationship between household or establishment owners

perception to their compliance with the fire Code of the Philippines.

6. Household or establishment owners’ knowledge about Fire Code of the

Philippines is significantly related to their compliance.

7. There is a significant relationship between household or establishment owners

education to their compliance with the Fire code of the Philippines.

I.E. Operational Definition of the Variables

Fire Code of the Philippines (R.A. 9514) – this refers to the policy of the state, rules

and regulations to ensure adherence to standard fire prevention and safety measures

Household –this refers to the social unit composed of those living together in same

6

dwelling.

Establishment – this refers to a place of residence or business (public or private).

Perception –this refers to the results of observation or act of apprehending by means

of the senses or of the mind by household or establishment owners about the Fire

Code of the Philippines or R.A. 9514.

Knowledge – this refers to the range of one’s information or understanding about Fire

Code of the Philippines or R.A 9514.

Income –this refers to the financial capacity of household or establishment owners to

provide fire fighting equipments to comply with the R.A. 9514.

Educational Attainment – this refers to the highest grade/level completed by the

household or establishments owners.

I.F. Significance of the Study

The findings of this study may be beneficial to the following:

HOUSEHOLD AND ESTABLISHMENT OWNERS

So that they will be aware of the proper fire implementation procedure that can

help prevent fire accident.

MUNICIPALITY OF POTOTAN/POTOTAN FIRE STATION

So that they can create and implement fire safety measures, determine the effective

fire equipments, what action to take in and how to educate household owners and

establishment about fire safety.

FUTURE RESEARCHERS

To give an insights for further studies.

7

I.G. Scope and Limitation of the Study

This study is a survey- correlational, focusing on the compliance with the Fire

Code of the Philippines among the Household or Establishment owners. This will focus

on the 30 randomly selected households and establishments of Municipality of Pototan.

8

Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

In a move to boost the modernization program of the Department of Interior and

Local Government, Bureau of Fire Protection, Republic Act (R.A.) no. 9514, the Fire

Code of the Philippines of 2008 was signed into law repealing the old Fire Code the P.D.

1185.

The new law accords the BFP chief authority to issue closure orders for buildings

or structures declared as fire hazards, and “deliberately order the removal of hazardous

materials or halt hazardous operations of business establishments whose physical layout

is prone to industrial-related fire incidents, or order the work stoppage of structures still

being constructed for the absence or violation of any approved construction plan.” It

imposes accountability on public officials and employees, as well as criminal penalties

for negligence, malfeasance, or misfeasance in performing their sworn duties to the

country.

The Bureau of Fire and the Fire Code of the Philippines of 2008 will go a long

way in carrying out the much-needed fire safety measures in all government and private

structures, establishments or buildings.

In order for the Bureau of Fire Protection to implement properly the fire safety measures

and awareness business establishment/building owners/occupants must comply with the

standard of the Fire Code of the Philippines. In general, compliance means conforming to

a rule, such as a specification, policy, standard or law. However, for the purpose of this

study regulatory compliance will be used. Regulatory compliance describes the goal that

9

corporations or public agencies aspire to achieve in their efforts to ensure that personnel

are aware of and take steps to comply with relevant laws and regulations.

Related to this study, Enesto F Gandia, in his thesis entitled Fire Prevention Program of

the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Urdaneta City, he evaluated the Fire Prevention

Program particularly the enforcement phase of the BFP in the City of Urdaneta during the

period of 2006 to 2007, as to whether it was fully implemented or not. It is also

determined the extent of compliance by the business/building owners/occupants to the

standards of the Fire Code of the Philippines as assessed by the BFP personnel of the

Urdaneta City and level of effectiveness in the implementation of the Fire Prevention

Program as perceived by the BFP personnel and residents of the city. The problems

encountered problems were also looked into. Study shows that on the conduct of fire

safety inspection as a requirement to the grant of permits/licenses, for the occupancy of

the building and installation of fire protection and fire safety equipment the personnel and

residents have the same descriptive rating of “high.” Perception with regards to the level

of effectiveness of the Fire Prevention Program on fire safety requirements to business,

structures and their premises or facilities BFP personnel rate it high compared to the

residents with moderate. Extent of Compliance to the Fire Code of the Philippines, the

BFP personnel assessed the compliance standards as high.

The problems encountered by the implementers of the Fire Prevention Program in

Urdaneta City were ranked from one to nine in terms of the magnitude as follows: (1)

Lack of fire fighting equipments, (2) Lack of fire personnel to implement the program,

(3) Old and dilapidated fire trucks, (4 )Lack of financial and logistical support (5) lack of

cooperation or willingness on the part of the building/business owners/occupants on fire

10

prevention program, (6) Political/VIP interventions, (7) Inadequate communication

equipment (8) lack of enough information and knowledge on previsions of PD 1185 (9)

lack of investigative gear and equipment to be used in fire investigation.

The problems encountered by the residents are as follows: (1) lack of financial

resources to comply the requirements, (2) unclear and inappropriate Fire Code

requirement/s recommended by the BFP for the residents to comply (3) proliferation of

person not a BFP personnel posing as a fire safety inspector, (4) the conduct of fire safety

inspection by BFP personnel who are not in proper uniform and (5) very short time given

to them to comply for the requirements.

Based on the findings of this study and the adaptation of the new Fire Code of the

Philippines, further study on fire prevention program, compliance standards and extent of

compliance to the standards of the new Fire Code of the Philippines is needed to validate

whether the same problems exist and encountered by the BFP personnel in implementing

the said law.

11

Chapter III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the methods of research used in the study, the respondents of

the study, the nature of the data gathering used, the conduct of the survey and the

procedure used in interpreting the data.

Locale of the study

This study was conducted at Pototan, Iloilo

III.A. Research Design

Since the study is survey- correlational, the measurement will determine

relationship between household or establishment owners perception to their compliance

with the fire Code of the Philippines.

According to Trochim (2006), survey research involves the use of questionnaires

and statistical surveys to gather data about people and their thoughts and behaviors.

A correlational study, according to Ormrod (2001), explores relationships among

different things. It may tell about the extent to which two human characteristics are

associated with one another, or it may give information about the degree to which certain

human behaviors occur in conjunction with certain environmental conditions.

The independent variables were the personal factors—age, sex , educational

attainment, monthly income and occupation.

12

III.B Target Population and Sampling Procedures

The respondents of the study were the selected 30 household owners and

establishments of Municipality of Pototan Iloilo for the C.Y 2012-2013 by Simple

Random Sampling data taken from the records of the Bureau of Fire Protection

Pototan Fire Station.

Table 1.a Distribution of Respondents According to Age

Age Number Percentage

30-50 28 93.3

Above 50 2 6.7

Total 30 100

Table 1.b Distribution of Respondents by Sex

Sex Number Percentage

Male 15 50

Female 15 50

Total 30 100

13

Table 1.c Distribution of Respondents According to Occupation

Occupation Number Percentage

Businessman 5 16.7

Government Employee 21 70

Housewife 4 13.3

Total 30 100

Table 1.d Distribution of Respondents According to Monthly Income

Monthly Income Number Percentage

Below 10,000 2 6.7

10,001-30,000 5 16.7

30,001-50,000 10 33.33

50,001-80,000 7 23.3

80,001-120,000 3 10.0

Above 120,000 3 10.0

Total 30 100

Table 1.e Distribution of Respondents According to Educational Attainment

Educational Attainment Number Percentage

College Graduate 30 100

High School Graduate 0 0

Elementary Graduate 0 0

Total 30 100

14

Table 1.f Distribution of Respondents According to Knowledge about Fire Code

Knowledge Number Percentage

Knowledgeable 12 40

Not Knowledgeable 18 60

Total 30 100

Table 1.g Distribution of Respondents According to Perception about Fire

Prevention

Perception Number Percentage

Properly Implemented 26 86.67

Not Properly Implemented 4 33.33

Total 30 100

III.C DATA GATHERING PROCEDURE

A 13-item questionnaire was prepared by the researcher to gather the data needed.

The instrument consisted of three parts: Part One, personal profile of the respondents,

sex, occupation, age, monthly income. Part Two, the questions that measures the

knowledge and perception about fire prevention.

The items in the questionnaire used in the study was formulated by the

researchers and validated by the assign validators who will approve and recommend the

instrument to be adapted in this study after the suggestions are take care of.

15

Procedures

To gather the needed data, the researcher secured permission from the

Municipality of Pototan in Iloilo and Municipal Fire Marshal of Pototan Fire Station.

Upon their approval, the participants were selected using the random sampling method.

Then, the researcher administered the questionnaire to the selected respondents.

The researcher interviewed the respondents using the self-administered questionnaire.

Upon asking all the questions in the questionnaire, the scores were tallied, classified,

tabulated, analyzed and interpreted using appropriate statistics.

KNOWLEDGED ABOUT FIRE CODE

Weight Description

1 YES

2 NO

PERCEPTION ABOUT FIRE PREVENTION

Weight Description

1 NOT PROPERLY IMPLEMENTED

2 PROPERLY IMPLEMENTED

16

To interpret the scores, the researcher used the following scales of means and

interpretations:

Mean Scores Interpretation

KNOWLEDGED ABOUT FIRE CODE

1.00-1.49 KNOWLEDGABLE

1.50-2.00 NOT KNOWLEDGABLE

III.D Data Processing and Data Analysis Procedure

The data gathered were subjected to certain statistical treatments. For the purpose

of this study, both descriptive and inferential statistics were used.

Frequency count. Frequency counts were used to determine the number of

participants belonging to a class or category of the antecedent variables.

Percentage analysis. Percentage analyses were utilized to determine which

portion of the participants belongs to a class or category of the antecedent variables.

Pearson’s product moment coefficient of correlation (Pearson’s r.) The Pearson’s

r was used to determine the significant relationships between the independent variables

and the dependent variables.

The .05 alpha level was used as the criterion for the acceptance or rejection of the

null hypotheses.

All data gathered for the study were analyzed using the computer-processed

statistical software known as the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).

17

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter shows that characteristics of the household or establishment owners’s

knowledge about fire code.

Table 2.1 Respondents knowledge about fire code when classified according to sex.

Table 2.2 Respondents knowledge about fire code when classified according to age.

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT FIRE CODE

AGE YES % NO % Total

30-50 YRS OLD 11 39.29 17 60.71 28

ABOVE 50 1 50 1 50 2

TOTAL 12 89.29 18 110.7 30

Table 2.3 Respondents knowledge about fire code when classified according to occupation.

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT FIRE CODE

SEX YES % NO % Total

MALE 9 60 6 40 15

FEMALE 6 40 9 60 15

TOTAL 15 100 15 100 30

18

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT FIRE CODE

OCCUPATION YES % NO % Total

BM 8 36.36 14 63.64 22

GE 2 100 0 0 2

H 0 0 3 100 3

OTHERS 2 66.67 1 33.33 3

TOTAL 12 203 18 197 30

Table 2.4 Respondents knowledge about fire code when classified according to monthly income.

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT FIRE CODE

MONTHLY INCOME

YES % NO % Total

BELOW 10,000 0 0 1 100 1

10,001-30,000 2 33.33 4 66.67 6

30,001-50,000 0 0 10 100 10

50,001-80,000 6 85.71 1 14.29 7

80,001-120,000 2 66.67 1 33.33 3

ABOVE 120,000 2 66.67 1 33.33 3

TOTAL 12 252.4 18 347.6 30

Table 2.5 Respondents knowledge about fire code when classified according to educational attainment.

19

PERCEPTION ABOUT FIRE PREVENTION

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

YES % NO % Total

COLLEGE GRADUATE 12 40 18 60

TOTAL 12 40 60 30

The following table shows the characteristics of the household or establishment

owner’s perception about fire prevention.

Table 2.6 Respondents perception about fire prevention when classified according to sexPERCEPTION ABOUT FIRE PREVENTION

SEX Properly Implemented % Not properly Implemented % Total

MALE 12 80 3 20 15

FEMALE 14 93.33 1 6.67 15

TOTAL 26 173.3 4 26.67 30

Table 2.7 Respondents perception about fire prevention when classified according to age

PERCEPTION ABOUT FIRE PREVENTION

AGE Properly Implemented

% Not properly Implemented

% Total

30-50 YRS OLD

25 89.28 3 20 28

ABOVE 50 1 50 1 50 2

TOTAL 26 129.3 4 70 30

Table 2.8 Respondents perception about fire prevention when classified according to occupation

20

PERCEPTION ABOUT FIRE PREVENTION

OCCUPATION

Properly Implemented

% Not properly Implemented % Total

BM 21 95.45

1 4.55 22

GE 2 100 0 0 2

H 2 66.67

1 33.33

3

OTHERS 2 66.67

1 33.33

3

TOTAL 27 328.8

3 71.21

30

Table 2.9 Respondents perception about fire prevention when classified according to monthly income

Perception about Fire PreventionMonthly Income

Properly Implemented

%Not Properly Implemented

% Total

Below 10,000 0 0 1 100 110,001-30,000 4 66.67 2 33.3 630,001-50,000 10 100 0 0 1050,001-80,000 6 85.71 1 14.29 7

80,001-120,000

3 100 0 0 3

Above 120,000

3 100 0 0 3

Total26 452.4 3 147.59 30

Table 3.0 Respondents perception about fire prevention when classified according

21

educational attainment

PERCEPTION ABOUT FIRE PREVENTION

EDUCATIONAL PROPERLY % Not properly % Total

ATTAINMENT IMPLEMENTE

D   Implemented    COLLEGE

GRADUATE 26 86.68 4 13.32 30TOTAL 26 86.68 4 13.32 30

INFERENTIAL RESULTS

The Pearson Correlations results between the household or establishment owner’s

knowledge about fire code and perception of fire prevention is shown in table 4.

Statistical Analysis with (p=.674) is not significant at 0.05 level. This finding

shows that there is no significant relationship between the household or establishment

owner’s knowledge about fire code and perception of fire prevention. Based on these

results, null hypothesis is hereby accepted.

TABLE 4: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HOUSEHOLD OR ESTABLISHMENT

22

OWNERS’ KNOWLEDGE ABOUT FIRE CODE AND PERCEPTION OF FIRE

PREVENTION

VARIABLE N p < .05

Knowledge about fire code

30 .674

Perception about fire prevention

IV. References

23

Understanding and Doing Research: A Handbook for Beginners. Copyright 2005 by Fely P. David, Ed.D

The Fire Code of the Philippines of 2008 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations

www.slideshare.net/jobitonio/abstract-efg

www.yahoo.com

www.socialresearchmethods.net/bb/stafinf.php