Owners and managers of businesses and other organisations’ premises must fulfil important responsibilities covering mandatory life safety fire risk assessments. But what precisely are these, and how can ‘Duty Holders’ best discharge their legal responsibilities?

In response to incidents including the 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy, the importance of fire safety requirements is increasingly better appreciated, including a growing focus on the competency of system and service providers, as well as on the adoption of strengthened safety measures to protect those working in and visiting commercial, public sector premises and other facilities.

Essentially, employers/owners/managers of premises are likely to be identified as the legal ‘Duty Holder’ (referred to as the ‘Responsible Person’ in the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, introduced in England and Wales in October 2006 – other similar legislation covers Scotland and Northern Ireland.)

Duty Holders in a wide spectrum of non-domestic premises are tasked with ensuring ‘life safety fire risk assessments’ are carried out and the findings of assessments implemented. This may require the implementation of fire safety protections including fire detection, extinguishing and alarm systems, and emergency evacuation procedures.

In terms of inspections and enforcement action, the Fire Brigade may visit premises to check the fire risk assessment and prevention measures specified are appropriate. An Enforcement Notice may be served where they consider a serious risk is not being managed properly. Such an Enforcement Notice, if issued, details improvements needed – and by when they should be implemented. Insurance cover for premises may be invalidated if fire risk assessment-related measures have not been followed and/or the fire and rescue service has served an Enforcement Notice. Failure to comply with an Enforcement Notice could result in prosecution.

Conducting fire risk assessments

In essence, life safety fire risk assessment (LSFRA) protects lives and is fundamental to establishing sufficient fire prevention, protection and suppression measures, alongside safe evacuation procedures that can be applied in the event of an incident.

Assessment is best conducted once a building is occupied and operational. Since building use changes over time, LSFRA is only meaningful in the context of current usage, as well as the integrity of physical elements such as escape routes and fire doors. Where an organisation employs five or more people the results of LSFRAs must be documented and all assessments must be periodically reviewed to ensure they remain valid, considering, for example, given any change of use between assessments.

Identifying the ‘Duty Holder’

The Duty Holder can be anyone with control and/or oversight of a premises. In circumstances where the maintenance of a building (including, for example, regular fire alarm testing, portable fire extinguisher and other routine maintenance) is undertaken by a facilities management provider, or another external contractor, the Duty Holder must maintain a close working relationship with them to ensure required maintenance procedures are being adequately discharged, and that any changes in building use are reflected in the appropriate siting and maintenance of safety equipment.

Competent assessments

It may appear surprising, but current fire safety legislation does not define fire risk assessor ‘competence’! Government guidance states that where identified Duty Holders are unwilling or unable to complete an LSFRA – after all, this is a specialist area of expertise – advice should be sought from a demonstrably competent person. The guidance recommends assessments be conducted by a person with comprehensive training and experience in the specific type of fire risk assessment to be carried out.

Third party certificated or approved providers can provide significant reassurance for Duty Holders seeking help in meeting their fire safety obligations. Approved LSFRA providers all commit to an independent ongoing audit programme to verify their competency. Holding approval from a UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service)-accredited independent certification body such as NSI (which is licensed to deliver the BAFE Life Safety Fire Risk Assessment Scheme SP205) evidences their competence to conduct fire risk assessments and clearly demonstrates their services are compliant with current appropriate industry standards and best practice.

Conclusion

Ensuring all appropriate fire safety measures are adequately identified and periodically reviewed by risk assessment is a primary task of Duty Holders, as is the follow-up to ensure identified measures are effectively implemented. Where changes in building use and working practices have occurred – for whatever reason: say, topically, as a result of Covid-19 and flexible working practices – these should be identified and considered in any fire risk assessment review.

Requesting third party certificated/approved LSFRA providers to review measures in place can help Duty Holders ensure they effectively fulfil both their legal responsibilities and insurance requirements, and demonstrate commitment to the safety of their staff, customers and visitors to the spaces they oversee.

John Davidson

Approval Schemes Manager (Systems)

National Security Inspectorate

www.nsi.org.uk

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The post Fire safety for business premises – are you meeting your obligations? appeared first on City Security Magazine.

Fire is one of the biggest risks facing a business, threatening people, property, assets and operations. Businesses must take proactive steps to prevent a fire emergency.

Fire Safety Order 2005

Are you aware of your legal obligations to protect employees and premises?

If you own, manage or operate a business, you will need to comply with fire safety law. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 came into force in October 2006 and applies across England and Wales.

Under the Fire Safety Order, business owners and managers have a duty of care to ensure premises reach required standards and employees receive fire safety training. This training must cover general fire awareness and should include refresher or extra training in line with operational business changes.

Fire Risk Assessments

A Fire Risk Assessment is the crucial first step for all businesses, no matter how big or small. It will identify current fire risks and failings which need to be resolved. Many owners or managers feel they don’t have the expertise or time to carry out their own assessment and call on trusted Fire & Safety experts to help.

Risk assessments look at many factors, including emergency routes and exits, fire detection and warning systems, firefighting equipment on premises and evacuation plans. The needs of vulnerable people on site are also considered, including those with disabilities or mobility needs.

The type of building you operate in and the nature of your work will determine which fire detection and warning systems are needed. Regular testing and maintenance of alarm systems is crucial.

Evacuation plans are a key part of the risk assessment. You must ensure there are enough exits for employees and visitors, with routes clearly signposted and kept clear of obstruction. Employees should know where their nearest assembly point is, outside the building, and fire marshals should actively guide people out of the building and ensure no one is left inside.

Accredited Fire Marshal Training

Do you have fully trained and qualified fire marshals on your premises?

In line with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, there must be a sufficient number of trained fire marshals on every site. How many trained fire marshals do you currently have on standby?

Accredited fire marshal training, delivered by trusted Fire & Safety providers, will ensure you meet legal obligations and employees gain valuable skills. Depending on your provider, training can be delivered at your location or at third-party premises and usually involves a blend of classroom theory and practical exercises.

The introduction of virtual reality (VR) technology has made an impact on many sectors, including Fire Safety. It’s now possible to provide employees with fire marshal training in a VR environment in any workplace, saving time, money and resources.

The duties of a fire marshal will depend on risk assessment findings but generally includes identifying and reporting fire hazards in the workplace, checking escape routes are kept clear and helping to evacuate people if the alarm is raised. If safe to do so, they will use appropriate extinguishers to tackle the fire.

Regular Fire Equipment Checks

Are your fire extinguishers operational and up to date?

Fire extinguishers must be maintained and tested annually to ensure they’re in good working order and your fire marshals trained to use them. The next generation of cost-effective and sustainable P50 fire extinguishers now provide a longer-term guarantee and do not require servicing annually.

Specialist First Response Teams

Larger, more complex organisations working in specific industrial sectors may have wider Fire Safety responsibilities to address.

In this instance, Specialist First Response Teams can help. A fully equipped First Response Vehicle, manned by trained crew, can extinguish small fires, deliver first aid, provide an intervention for lift entrapment and help with chemical spills and environmental incidents.

A First Response Team will be first to attend any on-site incident and will be the key contact point for local emergency services responding to larger, more serious incidents.

A First Response Team is present at the University of Hertfordshire on a 24/7 basis, helping to keep students, staff and visitor safe.

Dale Murphy, Head of Security & Resilience at the University of Hertfordshire, comments: “Students, staff and visitors are reassured by the constant presence of the First Response Vehicle.

“There are many high-risk areas on a campus, including student living accommodation and laboratories, so having a skilled team on standby to handle emergencies, and support the local emergency services in a major incident, is invaluable.”

With 15,000 business fires in 2017/18, ask yourself if you’re leaving fire safety to chance.

Paul Rankin

Director

Fire & Safety Services, Securitas

www.securitas.uk.com

See also

The best protection against fire: sprinkler systems

The post Fire safety for business appeared first on City Security Magazine.

A sprinkler system protects not only property but also life, and is often ‘mission critical’; this means it is essential to prioritise how you design, install and maintain your system.

Protect people and property from fire

Automatic sprinkler systems are generally recognised as the most effective way to protect people and property from fire.

Not only are sprinklers very effective at what they do – containing and suppressing fire, sounding a local alarm, calling the fire and rescue service and restricting the growth of fire – but there is clear evidence that when a fire occurs in a sprinkler protected building, the fire and property damage incurred is a tiny percentage of that which is likely in an unprotected building.

Sprinklers are also very effective at protecting lives, including the lives of fire fighters, and in the UK there has never been a multiple life loss in a building fitted with a properly designed, working sprinkler system. In industrial and commercial buildings, recent real-life incidents have demonstrated the value of sprinkler systems in promoting business resilience, with warehouses and factories back at work the day after a fire.

Effective Installation of sprinklers

The reliability and efficacy of sprinklers demand installations which are:

• Designed strictly in accordance with published national and international standards
• Installed by competent contractors who hold third-party certification from an independent, third-party certification body
• Subject to regular inspections and maintained in accordance with national and international standards.

UK Standards

In the UK, sprinklers in non-residential premises should be designed, installed and maintained in accordance with BS EN 12845. Some systems may be installed to other international standards or to those specified by FM Global. The Standard recommends that the testing, servicing and maintenance be carried out by the system installer or a similarly qualified company.

Given that a sprinkler system not only protects property but life and is often ‘mission critical’, the value of following appropriate procedures cannot be over-emphasised.

Types of sprinkler systems

There are a number of different types of automatic sprinkler systems; they have different uses and applications.

A wet-pipe system is where all the pipes leading from the water supply, through the various control valves and on to the sprinkler heads, are permanently filled with water under pressure.

Wet-pipe sprinkler systems are the most common type installed. They are used in heated buildings, where there is no possibility of the water freezing, i.e. where the ambient temperature remains above 5 deg C. Wet systems are capable of delivering water to the fire as soon as a sprinkler head operates.

Dry-pipe sprinkler installations are appropriate for applications either where there is a danger of the water in the pipes freezing or in situations where there may be temperatures above about 70ºC. In a dry-pipe system the pipes on the ‘active’ side of the installation control valves are charged with air which is under sufficient pressure to prevent the entry of water into the delivery pipework. Once the first sprinkler head operates, the compressed air escapes through the head and water follows.

A pre-action sprinkler system is a dry-pipe system linked to an automatic fire detection system which protects the same area.

Operation starts when a heat or smoke detector in the detection system activates (which will usually happen more quickly than a sprinkler head). At this point a ‘pre-action’ valve opens to allow water to flow into the sprinkler pipework before the first sprinkler head operates. Discharge of water will not occur until a sprinkler head operates. This type of system is quite often used in water-sensitive areas such as electrical equipment rooms and computer suites.

Deluge systems are commonly fitted with open nozzles or projectors and are triggered from air/water detection lines or some kind of detection system.

Deluge systems provide water to a network of open nozzles which could be for local application or protection of a specific high-risk plant area. Other risks would include such situations as tanker loading bays, flammable gas tanks, oil storage reservoirs, oil lines, power generation plants etc.

Who is responsible after installation?

Once a sprinkler system has been handed over to its owners, the responsibility for the equipment will rest with them. Whether or not the system will operate as designed when required will depend on whether the correct maintenance procedures are carried out. Article 17 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which came into effect in England and Wales on 1st October 2006, imposes significant liabilities on the ‘responsible person’ (read employer or property owner) who fails to maintain fire safety equipment (including sprinkler systems) intended for the protection of life from fire.

Sprinkler systems in the United Kingdom are generally designed and installed to European and British Standards. The standards set out a requirement for testing and routine maintenance to be carried out. The end users have a responsibility to arrange a specialist to carry out this work.

Required testing and maintenance

Weekly:

• Testing alarms
• Pump/engine test and exercise compressor
• Check valve positions.

Quarterly:

• Review of hazard
• Inspection of pipework/supports
• Water supply flow tests
• Exercise stop valves
• Test flow switches.

Six monthly:

• Valve service/inspection
• Fire brigade electrical central station check.

Annually:

• Pump service
• Check tank ball float valves
• Engine service
• Valve service/inspection.

3 Yearly:

• Inspect tanks
• All valves & non-return valves
• Inspection, service and overhaul as necessary.

Other Intervals:

• Tank drain-down & clean – 10 yearly
• 25 Year Sprinkler head performance testing / system inspection.

There is little doubt that sprinklers are inherently reliable and have a well-deserved reputation for controlling or suppressing fires in buildings and that effective design, installation and maintenance are required to sustain this reliability.

Steve Betts MSyI

Business Development Director

and Kerry Solomon, Operation Director

Hall & Kay Fire Services Ltd.

www.hkfire.co.uk

See also:

Minimising false fire alarms

The post The best protection against fire: automatic sprinkler systems appeared first on City Security Magazine.

UK fire and rescue services are summoned to more than 200,000 false fire alarms every year at a total cost to businesses and the fire service of more than £1bn.

Addressing the problem acquired greater urgency in 2014 when the London Fire Brigade introduced fines for businesses that called them out more than 10 times over a 12-month period.

Avoiding false fire alarms

A landmark study involving the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Association of British Insurers and Fire Industry Association, among others, has concluded that many false fire alarms could actually be easily avoided. Fitting call point covers or stoppers to protect manual break-glass call points from accidental damage and using key switches to ‘turn off’ alarm signalling during regular weekly system testing were among the study’s initial prescriptions.

While improvements to British Standards and building regulations were also suggested as remedies, ‘responsible persons’ under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, such as business or building owners, naturally have a major role too. Commissioning the right detectors for your environment is critical. False alarms can be triggered by steam, dust, fumes, tobacco smoke, insects, aerosols, candles and humidity, among other things.

Different detectors

High quality smoke detectors can now tell the difference between, say, steam or aerosols and smoke. But heat detectors, which differentiate between a fire and burnt cooking, are still more suitable for kitchens than smoke detectors.

Beam detectors are triggered when an infrared beam of light is sufficiently obscured by smoke particles, and are ideal for huge areas like leisure centres, shopping centres and auditoriums.

Flame detectors, which monitor the radiation from flames, are best deployed in storage facilities with stock that is likely to flame rather than smoulder. Installed in an industrial site with a furnace or welding equipment, however, they would be a recipe for frequent false alarms.

Aspirating smoke detectors, which sample the air for smoke particles, can detect fire earlier than other kinds of detectors. False alarms are a risk for such highly sensitive alarms, though not if installed and calibrated appropriately to their environment. A number of innovations, including error detection, drift compensation and sensitivity adjustment, also reduce risk.

Ultimately though, there is no technological panacea. For a business owner, minimising false fire alarms requires the selection of high quality equipment that suits the environment; that is fitted and calibrated appropriately; which is maintained properly at appropriate intervals; and adjusted accordingly should environmental parameters change.

Adam Bannister

Content and community manager

IFSECGlobal.com

The post Minimising false fire alarms with high quality equipment appeared first on City Security Magazine.

Providing effective fire detection for the City’s commercial properties is a challenge, with the key issues being aesthetic considerations and monitoring voluminous spaces. The City’s historic legacy is still visible in properties such as the Mansion House and Guildhall. Perhaps surprisingly, these irreplaceable historic properties share many of the same challenges as modern constructions to implement effective fire detection.

The amazing creativity of architects worldwide has led to a surge of modern buildings that have quickly gained iconic status. The Gherkin is just one illustration of a high value property with a completely original and unique design. These commercial properties need to not only ensure safety but also project a faultless image for their clients.

It might appear that heritage buildings have little in common with the issues of modern constructions. Surely, a building such as London’s Guildhall, built in 1411, has different considerations?

Many heritage properties must adhere to the demands of their listed status: an unobtrusive system that does not compromise the historic and aesthetic integrity is required. Stone facades and ornate decoration limit the options, as even drill holes are forbidden.

Modern buildings

A number of solutions are possible, including recreating original light fittings to provide a discreet home for visual detectors or hiding them in wooden structures. Modern buildings owners share this requirement and want detectors to be unobtrusive. Generally, there are numerous opportunities for cameras to be hidden, such as above the ceiling with a cut out for the camera lens.

The voluminous, often unusual, spaces created by new designs present their own set of challenges The Gherkin, for example, has a lobby that reaches 6.5 metres and has 6 light wells with a depth of 25m. Such spaces can be challenging for fire detection, especially in relation to smoke stratification.

Smoke stratification occurs when air containing smoke particles from the fire source is significantly hotter than the surrounding air, making it less dense and effectively buoyant. This air rises and as it rises it cools. When the building height allows, the smoke’s temperature will cool to a point where it no longer is sufficient to displace the air above it and as a result the smoke levels out and hangs in the air.

When smoke stratification occurs the smoke particles never reach ceiling mounted detectors, so any technology that relies upon air sampling will fail to detect the fire.

Moreover, air flow behaviour can vary greatly in voluminous areas, and so complex and sometimes unpredictable smoke behaviour must be addressed when selecting any fire detection solution.

Fire detection solutions

The main fire detection solutions for high value properties are Visual Smoke Detection (VSD), Infrared (IR) and Aspirating Smoke Detectors (ASD). ASD has heightened sensitivity and is ideal for giving early warnings, being especially effective for situations where fires are not yet visible or in the very earliest stages.

VSD offers high value property buildings a system that can detect fire at source, without sensors having to be triggered.  Using visual monitoring, large voluminous areas can be surveyed, focusing on areas of particular concern if required. The challenges of smoke stratification are significantly reduced.

The system works by detecting smoke patterns as well as changes in brightness, contrast, shape, motion, colour matching, content and loss that could indicate the early stages of a fire. Visual verification, on or off site, can determine the response required.

The key to a successful solution is not centred on compromise, but on a creative approach balanced with the most effective fire detection solution.

Rob Turner FireVu

www.firevu.com

The post Fire detection for high value properties appeared first on City Security Magazine.