A 20-point fire safety ranking system is proposed for assessing the fire safety provisions for existing karaoke establishments in Hong Kong. The deviations of the existing karaoke establishments from the new codes are investigated. Attributes are grouped into four areas as the key parameters for local fire safety requirements, passive building design, active fire protection systems and fire safety management. From the results of two surveys carried out in May 1998 and December 1999, fire safety levels of 45 karaokes are rated. It is observed that the scores are relatively low, and fire safety provisions must be enhanced. A long-term plan is to carry out in-depth studies on karaoke fires. An immediate action is to improve the fire safety management which should play an important role in keeping a karaoke safe.
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