A cause-and-consequence analysis of serious emergencies with the aim of providing integrated safety of buildings and installations

Introduction. Throughout their entire life cycle, construction projects are under the influence of numerous dangers and threats of technogenic and natural character. It is necessary to provide the safety of these projects in various emergencies, including ones of combined character. When solving problems connected with providing safety of the facilities under these conditions, specialists encounter difficulties. Studies in a new school, developing a concept of integrated safety in construction, are conducted in the National Research University MGSU on the initiative by and under the guidance of Professor V.I. Telichenko. Materials and methods. The authors apply a concept of integrated safety in construction developed with their participation. The concept serves as the basis for analysis of major emergencies of the last years (2009–2019): the fire in the Lame Horse nightclub, the fire in the Winter Cherry mall at the town of Kemerovo, the explosion in a residential house at the town of Magnitogorsk, the fire in the cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris. Results. Analysis of the latest emergencies allowed identifying their main causes. Those include gross violations of requirements for a fire protection system (FPS) for buildings and installations as the basis for providing the integrated facility safety in emergencies and insufficient consideration of construction facility technical condition when assessing its integrated safety under emergency conditions. Conclusions. The paper attracts attention to the FPS of buildings and installations. For the convenience of standardization and designing safety systems of construction projects, the authors suggest to classify FPS measures into four blocks: providing stability of the facilities in emergencies, limiting the spread of fire, providing human safety during the emergency, active protection of the facilities during the emergency. The system of the FPS measures can be considered as the basis for providing integrated safety of the facilities under emergency conditions. The article has shown that the revealed causes of the unwarranted loss of human lives and material damage could be eliminated by means of timely application of the corresponding FPS measures.