There has been serious recognition of fire safety issues in medical welfare facilities for the elderly due to recent large-scale fire damages. Older patients are particularly vulnerable since they lack the physical and cognitive abilities to sufficiently respond to fire disasters, increasing the risk for casualties. In this respect, tougher fire safety planning for elderly facilities as well as sufficient maintenance and management systems are required. Both components must be present as application of stringent fire safety regulations will only be effective if the management in place is capable and ongoing. In many cases, fire damage was found to be exacerbated due to sprinklers, fire alarms, and guidance lights not functioning properly.

Therefore, this study aims to propose improvement measures for the fire safety systems in elderly medical welfare facilities by comprehensively examining the current conditions of fire safety facility planning (physical environment) as well as their maintenance and management system (software).