Did you know there were 280 fire-related fatalities by the end of 2021 in the UK? This is in addition to fire rescue services attending 555,358 incidents. Fire represents a serious risk to safety both at work and at home, do you know if your fire safety risk assessments are up to standard?
1. Fire Risk Assessment
Post-Grenfell, many buildings with “satisfactory” FRAs have been found to be unsafe. Is your FRA good enough? Whilst there are currently no statutory accreditation requirements for fire risk assessors, you should check that your risk assessor has qualifications and experience relevant to the type of building being assessed. Have all the recommendations in the previous FRA been closed out, with evidence? How often is your FRA reviewed? The latest advice is to review at least once a year, and when anything changes. For instance, the installation of computer systems often involves drilling holes for cabling, leaving gaping breaches through which a fire can spread hidden inside cupboards, in wall or ceiling voids or under floor boards.
2. Evacuation Policies
Is a stay-put, phased or all-out approach to evacuation the most appropriate for the building and its occupants? In these days of terrorist attacks, how would you evacuate people if there was a bomb-threat, or a gun-man in the building? Do you need a silent evacuation process? If so, how would that work?
3. Evacuation Staff
Are there sufficient staff to manage an evacuation safely? Consider what happens if key players are absent. As well as fire wardens, do you need extra staff at exits (to prevent intruders coming into the building as you leave), to support disabled evacuation, and to co‑ordinate at the assembly point? Do you have records of appropriate initial and refresher training?
4. Information
Check that fire action notices and evacuation maps are up-to-date, and are available where they are needed. Evacuation maps should show people where they are, and give them at least two options for escape. At your next drill, get people to try an exit route they haven’t used in the past.
5. Contractor Induction
Find someone to test your contractor and visitor induction process – like a mystery shopper. When they arrive on site, are they given all the right information? Visitors and contractors should be told who to contact if they come across a fire, how to sound the alarm and where to go if they hear the alarm, as well as information about relevant non-fire hazards.
6. Detection & Alarm Systems
Can you show that these have been inspected, tested and maintained by competent people at the frequency required? Some organizations think that the annual service of the alarm system is sufficient, but alarm systems should be tested regularly, making use of alarm call points so that the whole system is tested in between services. Also, have you checked that alarms can be heard in every room across the whole workplace?
7. Protection Systems
Whether pressurized, automatic or powered, ventilation systems for removing smoke during a fire must be checked regularly. When prompted by a new safety-aware tenant, one landlord checked their smoke vents for the first time in years – to discover they were dirty and blocked, and would not have cleared smoke from the main escape route when needed. If you have a fire suppression system (such as sprinklers) is this maintained? Kings Cross underground station had a sprinkler system in 1987 when a fire killed 31 people. But station employees hadn’t been trained how to use it. Make sure staff understand how to use any of the systems provided for fire safety.
8. Emergency Lighting
Do you have documentation for emergency lighting, showing expectation of how long it will operate without power, and that it has been tested appropriately? I’ve come across emergency lighting that has only ever had a flick test. If frequent full run-down tests aren’t performed, you won’t know if it will fail in 5 minutes, long before everyone is clear.
9. Fire Doors
Are they in good condition? Can you demonstrate that they met appropriate standards at installation, or if repaired since? The best fire door is ineffective if inexpertly installed, modified or repaired. Third party certification schemes are available for companies fitting and maintaining fire doors.
10. Documentation
To make all these checks easier next time put everything online. Make checklists, guarantees and service records digital if they are available only on paper. If you haven’t already got a single repository for your fire safety documents, assemble it all in one place, ideally in an online management system, so that several people can access it, and you can quickly see your fire safety gaps.
At EcoOnline, our health and safety software aims to help you in your fire management processes. See more about our Risk Assessments Software module, or why not request a demo from one of our product experts. They will run through our Fire Risk Assessment Software and tailor a solution to your specific needs.
