Assessment of Knowledge and Fire Safety Preparedness among Employees at Shopping Malls in Lusaka District

Abstract

Fire disasters in public buildings continue to raise major concerns about the safety of individuals who occupy these
buildings, as well as the customers. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and fire safety
preparedness among employees of shopping malls in Lusaka district. This study employed cross sectional descriptive
design, with quantitative methods. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire from 83 respondents
(employees) who were purposively sampled from six shopping malls in Lusaka. Collected data was analysed using
descriptive statistics. The findings revealed that employees’ levels of knowledge on fire safety preparedness is low.
Further, that there is low or lack of implementation of practices aimed at ensuring fire safety. The study therefore,
recommends that employees in public buildings be trained on how to ensure fire safety and appropriate responses in
case of fire. Moreso, fire safety plans should always be displayed to the public.