Only about half of the 956 tahfiz schools inspected by the Fire and Rescue Department are safe, according to media reports today.

The remainder are at risk of a fire, and would need to take immediate action to comply with fire safety regulations, or face legal action including the closure of the schools.

"Among others, they need to prepare a safe escape route in the event of the fire," the department's director-general Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim was quoted as saying in Berita Harian today.

Meanwhile, Utusan Malaysia quoted him saying that other problems found include the lack of fire extinguishers, and not having exit routes.

However, Wan Mohd (photo) reportedly said that the department is more focused on the preparation of safe exit routes in the event of a fire, and that some tahfiz schools have neglected this.

He also suggested that the schools install smoke detectors to provide early warning of a fire.

"Thus far only 50 percent are found to be truly safe, whereas the remainder are not because they need a lot of improvement, especially when it comes to preparing fire safety equipment.

"We are serious on this and have issued 389 notices and warnings so that the parties concerned will take immediate action to prevent fires," Utusan Malaysia quoted him as saying.

The figure was collected based on inspections since Sept 23, and would the findings would be submitted next week to complete the inspection of all 1,117 registered tahfiz schools.

Separately, New Straits Times reported yesterday that the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh) would provide guidelines to tahfiz school operators to help identify fire hazards and risks that need to be addressed.

“The implementation of occupational health and safety (OHS) guidelines at tahfiz school is a more comprehensive concept as it considers the institution as a place of work and is subjected to the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994.

“Under the initiative, tahfiz schools will be encouraged to implement good OSH management system by practising the concept of hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control.

“All workplaces have hazards and risks that need to be addressed. It is the responsibility of those at the premises to identify the hazards and risks, and take measures that could help prevent accidents and deaths,” Niosh chairperson Lee Lam Thye was quoted as saying.

He reportedly said that Niosh would also hold a nationwide campaign to raise the fire safety awareness of all tahfiz and religious schools in Malaysia.

The campaign would start with an awareness programme for all tahfiz schools in Selangor on Oct 30, which would then be expanded to other states.

The fire safety of tahfiz schools had come under scrutiny after the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz school caught fire in the wee hours of Sept 14. Twenty-three people, mostly children, were killed in the incident.

Just a month earlier, The Star had reported that there had been 211 fires nationwide that involved tahfiz schools between 2015 and 2017.