Joyce Namugambe
Following incidents that threaten people’s lives in health clubs due to low standard Saunas and Steam baths, the National Building Board has come out with guidelines that should be followed for the clients and the people working in such clubs to be safe when using them.
According to the survey conducted by NBRB on health clubs in the Central, Western, and Eastern Uganda, in 21 health clubs that were randomly sampled with focus on the steam and Sauna heating equipment and all related gear in 2021, 90% of the health clubs used firewood as a source of fuel and most of them were not constructed by professionals which has led to explosions claiming people’s lives.
Among the health clubs where the explosions occurred, one was in Nalya, Kira municipality where several people were injured in September 2019, and another one occurred on 02/07/2021 in Inn health club in Wakiso and claimed lives of 2, which according to the NBRB was caused by low standard saunas and steam bath.
NBRB found out that the clubs that used firewood as a source of fuel dont have preinstalled precautionary measures against system overloads, their installations were not based on engineering principles but skills obtained on job among others.
The risk assessment concluded that to every 10 health clubs, 9 were potentially explosive and required immediate attention.
During the survey NBRB noticed lack of pressure controls, lack of temperature monitors, albescence of timers in Saunas, closing of the valve in the steam piping for pressure build up poor air supply and ventilation requirements, to be the leading causes of the explosions that threaten people’s live in these health clubs.
NBRB recommends that there should be pressure relief or safety valve which releases excess pressure beyond the designed system valve, temperature gauge should be installed in the steam room to monitor the temperature and prevent over heating, a clock timer should be visible to the users, to provide unrestricted fresh air for combustion among others, to help solve the challenges that were highlighted by NBRB during the survey.
Addressing journalists at the press conference held at the NBRB offices in Kampala, the Board Executive Secretary Eng. Flavia Gutto Bwire appealed to building committees, developers and the general public to adhere to the guidelines to prevent the re- occurrence of explosions in the health clubs as well as tasking building committees to identify the location of all existing health clubs whose steam baths and Sauna heaters are wood fired to monitor how they do their work.
Eng. Flavia as well called upon owners of wood fired steam baths and Saunas to engage professionals to asses the integrity of their installations and to ensure routine maintenance of the installations, and log for records, as this will help to fight against poorly installed steam baths and Saunas and save both people who work in these clubs and the clients at the same time.
