The Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) has raised concern that the wiring in an older electrical system at public hospitals may not have all the required safety features.

IEM president Tan Yean Chin said one important safety feature that should be checked is for the system to have a proper earth-fault protection.

“This device is a protection against electrical shock to patients as well as to prevent electrical faults from being an ignition source of fire,” he said in a statement.

This comes after a fire at Johor Bahru's Hospital Sultanah Aminah's (HSA) Intensive Care Unit (ICU), which killed six patients and injured 11 others.

Sparks from an electrical wiring in the southern ICU treatment room, which ignited into flames, is believed to have led to the incident.

A short circuit in the hospital's operation theatre the following day which forced a second evacuation and injured three nurses.

Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam, in response, had ordered a full inspection of the hospital’s electrical wiring system as well as a fire safety audit on all public hospitals.

Aside from the electrical systems, Tan said high risk areas in hospitals should also be fitted with hazard detection systems.

“In addition to smoke detection system, oxygen detectors should be fitted. Oxygen detectors are important in areas where much oxygen is present or used.

“Enriched oxygen condition could make ordinary combustible more easily ignitable. And when a fire happens, it makes the fire grow faster and spread quicker,” he explained.

Subramaniam said the fire likely spread rapidly due to the use of oxygen in ventilators.

As part of its emergency response system, Tan said IEM recommends all older buildings should install a public address system, despite it not being stated as a requirement under its building by-laws.

This is on top of improving the building regulations to assist an evacuation process.

“IEM urges the lawmakers to improve the building regulations, such that high-rise hospitals are equipped with occupant evacuation lifts.

“This type of lift should be fire-rated and be designed such that the patient on the bed or stretcher can use them to evacuate the multi-storey hospital,” said Tan.

He added that IEM would also offer its technical expertise to assist the government in reviewing existing regulations and introduce a mandatory periodic audit for facilities at all public institutions.

In a special report on the state of public hospitals last February, Malaysiakini reported that patients at HSA were forced to climb up stairs as the lifts were in a state of disrepair.

HSA has a history tracing back to 1882, but construction for the existing structure started in 1938.

Building maintenance for HSA is contracted to medical solutions provider Medivest Sdn Bhd, under an outsourcing policy which was first introduced in 1996.

Deputy health minister Dr Hilmi Yahaya told the Dewan Rakyat this morning that the government does not plan to suspend the company's contract whilst the probe is ongoing as it is also servicing 12 other hospitals in Johor, six in Negeri Sembilan and three in Malacca.