PorteastAfrica Connect
Fire · Safety · Health · Environment · ESG

We study fire so your people never have to.

Fire engineering, safety engineering, occupational health, environment and life cycle work for every industry, from contact centres to oil and gas. Whatever the risk, we go as deep as it needs, in any country you operate in.

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Practice register11 practices
    One partner. Every kind of risk.
    From the field

    Not from a template. From the site.

    Crane lifts in the Gulf, gas tests at the edge of a manhole, fire pump rooms, plant rooms and classrooms. This is where the work happens.

    100-tonne all-terrain mobile crane on site
    Lifting operationsLift planning for a 100-tonne all-terrain crane
    radius 3.0 m CAPACITY (t) vs RADIUS (m) 20 m 0 0%
    Lift plan · animatedLoad 7.57 t. As the radius grows, capacity falls.
    Joshua testing the atmosphere of a confined space with a gas detector
    Confined spacePre-entry gas testing before anyone goes down
    Joshua presenting a fire safety talk to a seated audience
    NairobiFire safety talk: lessons from a high-rise fire
    — arc flash boundary — limited approach — restricted approach
    Illustration · ElectricalArc flash boundaries around live switchgear
    Diesel and electric fire pumps in a pump room
    Fire protectionFire pump room inspection: diesel and electric pumps
    Central plant room with chillers and insulated pipework
    Plant roomsChillers, pumps and ventilation: where air quality starts
    Work at height from a truck-mounted platform with traffic cones on a live road
    Traffic & heightLive-road works from a mobile platform
    Toolbox talk and classroom training on hazard pictograms
    Toolbox talks & trainingHazard pictograms and safe work, taught with the team
    — engine hazard zone
    Illustration · AviationEngine zones, wingtip cones and ground vehicle approach
    FE · Fire Engineering

    We model the fire before it happens.

    Performance-based fire engineering for buildings that don't fit the prescriptive codes: atriums, data centres, warehouses, high-rise, hospitals and campuses.

    PyroSim / FDSPathfinderAutoCADBS 7974BS 9999NFPAIrish Standards
    Temperature slice · room firet = 0 s
    20 °C600 °C

    Illustration of a CFD temperature slice: the plume rises, hits the ceiling and the hot layer drops towards head height.

    • Fire and smoke modelling

      CFD fire simulations to test smoke movement, visibility, temperature and tenability in real designs.

    • Evacuation modelling

      Agent-based studies that compare the time people need to escape with the time they have.

    • Fire strategies and fire safety design

      Means of escape, compartmentation, fire service access and structural fire resistance.

    • Fire protection systems

      Detection and alarm, sprinklers, gaseous suppression, fire pumps and smoke control, to British, Irish and NFPA standards.

    • Quantitative fire risk analysis

      Event trees, frequency and consequence analysis to show which measures cut risk most for the money.

    • Fire drawings

      Fire safety layouts, escape plans and system drawings in AutoCAD.

    FM · Fire Safety Management & Schools

    Fire safety people can actually run.

    A good design fails if nobody knows what to do on the night. We build the plans, train the people and test them.

    Dormitory evacuation · nightOut: 0 / 0
    Still reactingMoving to exit0 s

    Illustration: grey dots are people still waking and deciding. That delay is what drills and training cut down.

    • School and boarding fire safety programme

      Dormitory fire risk assessments, night-time evacuation plans, drills, and fire marshal training for staff and student leaders.

    • Fire risk assessments

      Offices, factories, hotels, hospitals, warehouses and public buildings.

    • Fire safety management plans

      Who does what, inspection routines, maintenance checks and emergency procedures.

    • Fire marshal training and certification

      Practical training, uniforms and refresher cycles, so your own people become first responders.

    • Evacuation drills and debriefs

      Timed, observed drills with a written debrief and fixes.

    Everything we do · 11 practices

    Find the service you need.

    Filter by practice or industry, or just type what's worrying you: "crane", "noise", "server room", "chemicals".

    Industries

    Whatever you run, we've stood on that floor.

    Twenty industries and counting. Pick yours to see the services that matter most to you.

    ES · ESG, Life Cycle & Green Buildings

    Know the footprint of what you make and build.

    Life cycle thinking for products, packaging and buildings, backed by board-level experience in extended producer responsibility and the circular economy.

    ISO 14040ISO 14044GHG ProtocolLEED

    We deliver the technical work. Certification itself (LEED through GBCI, or ISO through an accredited body) stays independent.

    Raw materials Manufacture Transport Use End of life Cradle to grave
    DP · Development Projects

    Ready for lender-funded projects.

    Projects backed by development finance must meet strict standards on worker and community safety. We write the plans, run the monitoring and help you prove it to the lender.

    IFC PS2IFC PS4WBG EHS GuidelinesESMS
    IFCAFDAfDBWorld Bank
    How we work

    Same discipline, any country.

    A core engineering team in Nairobi, working with vetted specialists across Africa who know the local law and language.

    1. Understand

      Site visits, data and conversations to see the real risk, not only the paperwork.

    2. Analyse

      Models, measurements and calculations that show what matters most.

    3. Design and build

      Strategies, systems, drawings and training built for your people.

    4. Prove and support

      Audits, drills and monthly support so it keeps working after we leave.

    Joshua Mwendwa presenting on fire safety
    Teaching fire safety in Nairobi
    Founder

    Joshua Mwendwa

    Environment, Health, Safety & Security · Fire Safety Engineer · Board Director · Life Cycle Assessor

    I started Porteast to bring real engineering depth to safety and sustainability work in Africa. Too often clients get templates and certificates. I want them to get models, numbers and people who know what to do.

    My work has taken me from security operations and aviation ground handling to construction, facilities management and large multi-country service operations in the Middle East and East Africa. I've written lift plans, tested confined spaces, inspected fire pump and plant rooms, assessed indoor air quality, built cross-border HSE systems and trained hundreds of people.

    • FireBSc (Hons) Fire Safety Engineering, First Class: fire dynamics, fire safety design, fire protection systems, human behaviour in fire, quantitative risk analysis
    • SafetyBSc Occupational Safety and Health; NEBOSH International General Certificate
    • ISOLead Auditor in ISO 45001, ISO 14001 and ISO 9001
    • ESGBoard-level role in extended producer responsibility and circular economy governance; life cycle assessment
    • AuthorThe Coping Slide: Why Feeling Better Isn't Getting Better
    AC · Porteast Academy

    Building Africa's next fire and safety engineers.

    Short courses today, a full fire engineering institute tomorrow. Practical, field-based, taught by people who have done the work.

    Ask about courses
    • Fire marshal and fire warden
    • Fire risk assessment practitioner
    • Confined space entry and gas testing
    • Lifting operations and lift planning
    • Chemical safety and hazard communication
    • ISO 45001 internal auditor
    • Psychosocial risk and coping at work
    • Introduction to fire engineering
    Contact

    Tell us about your project.

    Share where you are and what you need. We'll reply with a short plan and a fixed quote.

    Emailinfo@porteastafrica.com
    Phone+254 715 148 759+254 737 719 314
    OfficeNairobi, Kenya