Analysis of general statistics

This section refers to general statistics for the 30 questionnaires returned (Refer Appendix 3). This includes type, area in square metres, common areas, permanent tenancies, and entry and exit points. The important information is the total area and the entry and exit points in the statistics. The following figure 6.2 shows that the tenanted areas of the centre do not have any correlation with the entry/exit points in the centre. The issue is that with a lower ratio of entry/exit points to both total area and total excluding common areas, it could be argued that some centres have higher risks due to more people movement. This analysis assumes that all entry/exit points are about the same size. This could have a bearing on the number of people able to pass at any given time. The common areas in enclosed shopping centres do vary from centre to centre. The common areas are included to calculate the total trading area of the centre.

Figure 6.1 Entry/Exit points at target shopping centres

0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800 2,000 0 5 10 15 20 Tr ad in g Ar ea

Number of Entry/Exit Points Response n = N24

112

The above figure shows there no clear relationship between the size of the centre and the number of entry/exit points. There may be specific reasons why an enclosed shopping centre has the number of entry and exit points. The scale is between 4 and 15 entry and exit points and trading area square meters in total area. It is therefore difficult to make any conclusions on whether this is a factor in fire risk management.

Questionnaire – section 1 conclusion

The information in figure 6.2 shows that there is no relationship between size in square metres and number of entry/exit points, it does not conclusively point to a strong relationship. This is important to the safe movement of customers, centre tenants and centre staff. There could be good reasons why there are such results, including the size of the entry/exit points and where they are situated. However, the only way that a true indication is reached of the average movements is by accessing the door counters at each entry/exit point. Centre management uses this information to calculate people traffic movement to and from the centre. Centre management would not divulge this information as it is confidential.

6.2.3 Questionnaires – owners/managers part 2 Introduction

The second part of the questionnaires involved 19 general questions relating to fire risk management in the enclosed shopping centre (Refer Appendix 2). The questions required a yes or no answer, as it was considered that a rating would not give a precise response. The questionnaires were completed by the management of enclosed shopping centres. They all managed the centres on behalf of the owners. The owners of the centre are not part of the study as the day-to-day fire risk management is under the control of centre management. (Refer appendix 2)

Fire risk management at centre level Questions

2. 1 Do you manage the Centre on behalf of

an owner? 2.3 Do you conduct regular fire evacuation training? 2.2 Do you have a detailed fire risk plan? 2.4 Is the fire evacuation training

undertaken at times agreed with all the tenants?

113

All respondents confirmed they managed the centre on behalf of the owner. A large majority of 93% answered that they had a detailed fire risk plan in Question 2. However, the remaining 7% stated they had no fire risk plan. There are over 271 enclosed shopping centres owned by the target companies. If the level of 7% is replicated across all enclosed shopping centres, it is estimated that about 19 centres have no detailed fire plan according to the questionnaire.

Figure 6.2 Training with Tenants

The question is whether the fire risk training is at an acceptable standard to satisfy the requirements of the fire risk plan. The majority 68% agreed to times for evacuation training with the tenants. However, the remaining 32% did not. It is important that both centre management and tenants work together in fire evacuation training. The outcome will be high controls and better management.

The overwhelming response to this was that 92% agreed that centre management liaised with the tenants regarding their fire plans. However, a small minority did not. There are various management styles and the tenant management may believe that fire risks are totally a centre management issue and the tenants need not be involved. However, information from other managers indicates that they believe that all should be involved. In regional and sub-regional shopping centres there are regular changes in tenancies. This may occur for a variety of reasons including changes in franchisees at branded stores. It is imperative that all tenants are aware of the fire or incident management processes in place. The majority of 69% stated that they agreed with the requirement. However, 31% did not agree with the requirement. This may not be an important issue but it shows that there are communications between the service provider and the manager that need to be addressed. This question has a direct relationship to Question 2.6. A small minority of 4% said they did not give briefings on the fire evacuation plans. The centre management gave briefings but tenants were not required to attend. In other words, centre management will organise the briefing but the tenants may not attend. There needs to be some internal control over the attendance at the training seminars. It is