Fire safety facilities assessment for karaokes

Consequent to an arson fire killing 17 persons in a Hong Kong karaoke in 1997, fire safety provisions in karaokes has raised public concern. Government officers and the services industry have agreed to upgrade fire safety provisions. But before deciding what to do, facilities for the existing karaokes are the subject of a review. A simple fire safety ranking system was proposed in 1999 for existing karaokes. They were grouped on the basis of their fire facilities and management system. The system was criticized for being inapplicable to local industry, as a result of failing to solicit views from the services industry. That system has since been revised. Trial runs in 19 existing karaokes were carried out in 2000. Now, the system is more suited for local use as it is simple. Hence advocates the use of the system to the Hong Kong Fire Authority for assessing fire safety of existing karaokes.