Postgraduate Studies in Fire Safety Engineering

The fire safety engineer understands and applies fire safety engineering (FSE). According to ISO TR 13387-1, fire safety engineering is the application of engineering principles, rules and expert judgement based on a scientific appreciation of the fire phenomena, of the effects of fire and of the reaction and behaviour of people, in order to:

• save life, protect property and preserve the environment and heritage;
• quantify the hazards and risk of fire and its effects;
• evaluate analytically the optimum protective and preventative measures necessary to limit, within prescribed levels, the consequences of fire.

These objectives will be achieved by a variety of means including activities such as: 

• the assessment of the hazards and risks of fire and its effects;
• the mitigation of potential fire damage by proper design, construction, arrangement, and use of buildings, materials, structures, industrial processes, transportation systems and similar;
• determining the appropriate level of evaluation for the optimum preventive and protective measures necessary to limit the consequences of fire;
• the design, installation, maintenance and/or development of fire detection, fire suppression, fire control and fire related communication systems and equipment;
• the direction and control of appropriate equipment and manpower in the strategy and function of firefighting and rescue operations;
• post-fire investigation and analysis, evaluation and feedback.

A fire engineer, by education, training and experience:

• understands the nature and characteristics of fire and the mechanisms of fire spread and the control of fire and the associated products of combustion;
• understands how fires originate, spread within and outside buildings/structures, and can be detected, controlled, and/or extinguished;
• is able to anticipate the behaviour of materials, structures, machines, apparatus, and processes as related to the protection of life, property and the environment from fire;
• has an understanding of the interactions and integration of fire safety systems and all other systems in buildings, industrial structures and similar facilities;
• is able to make use of all of the above and any other required knowledge to undertake the practice of fire engineering.