Fire Risk

, March 16th, 2010

Assess the risk right and you can fight fires the best way possible: through prevention.

The risk of fire is a threat to all buildings, regardless of age or size. While the condition of a building will inevitably influence how fire safe it is, a good risk assessment, clear fire safety plan, the right equipment and well-trained people will all mitigate the danger.

Prevention is obviously better than any cure and many fires can be avoided through the right precautions. If a fire does break out, the effects can be minimised by having effective controls and procedures in place.

Start by knowing who is in charge. If, as an FM, you are not taking personal responsibility for fire safety, know who is. If you are delegating the responsibility, pick more than one person, but make sure you have clearly assigned duties.

It’s obvious that those chosen need to be able to cooperate with each other, as well as communicate clearly with other interested parties, such as the building’s occupants. But they also need to be aware of and able to deal with the serious responsibility, taking care that everyone who uses the premises, would be able to escape in the case of a fire, or other building-related emergency.

While the majority of people who may be in a building will be able to manage by themselves, consideration needs to be given to everyone who might be on your premises, including employees, visitors or members of the public. Particular attention will have to be paid to anyone who may need special help, such as elderly or disabled people, or children.

A thorough risk assessment is the first step. If it’s something you or your colleagues have not done before or are unfamiliar with, get professional help. In many premises achieving fire safety is likely to be a matter of common sense, providing the responsible people make enough time available to go through all the necessary steps.

A risk assessment is a process driven exercise that starts by identifying hazards. Hazards are simply anything that may start a fire, such as naked flames, heaters or commercial fixtures, such as cookers or hot-air dryers.

Anything that can burn should also be considered in the risk assessment. This can include piles of waste, display materials, textiles or other flammable products. Things that may intensify the fire, such as sources of oxygen from air conditioning, medical products or commercial oxygen supplies must also be considered and accounted for in any actions.

The people most at risk from the hazards need to be identified. These include those who work close to, or with, the hazards in question and people who work alone, or in isolated areas.

Once you know what the hazard is and who is at risk from it, the next step is to remove or reduce it as much as possible. That means shifting the piles of waste, replacing flammable materials with safer alternatives and keeping anything that can start a fire away from things that can burn.

It’s worth a note here about asbestos. This is still being used in some Gulf building projects. So let’s be clear, it is not a safe alternative material. If it’s already in your building it should be removed, by experts.

With risks reduced as much as possible, you are then left with the process of introducing safety measures to counter the risks that remain.

Special measures will need to be taken if the building is still being worked on, whether this is initial construction, or in alterations or extensions. Considerations will have to include how fire safety is designed into the building, as well as issues such as access and ventilation.

A system of smoke detectors and alarms must be in place and escape routes should be clearly marked. Smoke doors and other means of limiting the spread should also be employed.

For an occupied building, tenants should be put through a regular fire drill. While many companies will provide a warning of a fire drill, this will not provide a realistic picture of the response and evacuation time.

A fire drill, conducted without any prior notice, will quickly provide a picture of how effective the warning and evacuation measures are.

Building occupants, be they tenants or employees, should all have some rudimentary knowledge of what to do in the case of a fire, which means providing them with some basic training.

You must provide all employees with instruction and training so that they know what to do in the event of a fire. Some items may seem very rudimentary, but it is best to cover everything with everyone, to be certain of the message’s reach.

Some basics you should be sure everyone knows include how to raise the alarm if they find a fire, how to contact the fire brigade, how to use fire fighting equipment, how to evacuate the building, and where to assemble once they’re outside the danger area.

This information has to be proofed against changes of personnel. The simple way to make this possible is to keep a comprehensive log of everything, from fire hazards in the building, to the last training sessions run, as well as the emergency plan for your building.

These records need to be working documents, not a doorstop file created once and then ignored. In fact, they need to be maintained and updated as much as the equipment you will rely on in a fire, so once the initial risk assessment is done, schedule check ups at regular intervals. If significant changes are made to the building, a new wave of employees or tenants arrive, or even if there is a fire, the procedures should be reviewed and updated again.

Everything from alarm systems, fire doors to the on site fire fighting equipment must be checked and maintained on a regular schedule. Many manufacturers of such key equipment provide after-sales service as part of the purchase package. This should be taken into account when selecting products and assessing their lifecycle cost.

Keeping a fire plan updated and equipment in good working order could save lives in an emergency. Make sure you know who is responsible for doing this in each building under your care and make sure it happens.

Training
Fire fighting skills can be gained through short training courses. Training providers, such as Gulf Technical and Safety Training Centre, offer courses covering the correct use of a simple portable fire extinguisher, or basic fire fighting skills, through to more specialist training for hazardous environments. There are also courses offering training for would-be fire marshals.

Equipment
Portable fire extinguishers are one of the most common pieces of firefighting equipment seen in the workplace. When the fire hazards have been evaluated, decisions can be made about the type and capacity of fire extinguishers needed.

Fire extinguishers come in several classes, depending on the type of fire they are designed to combat.

Class A fires include wood, paper and textiles
Class B fires include flammable liquids
Class C fires include electrical equipment
Class D fires include metal powders and shavings
Class K fire extinguishers are required for commercial and restaurant kitchens

Fire extinguishers should be securely mounted on the wall or inside a cabinet. They must be accessible at all times. Furniture and storage materials should not block access.

Inspection, maintenance, and testing are required for fire extinguishers. They must be fully charged and in operable condition at all times; when they are removed for service, equivalent equipment must be provided.

Fire risk tips

Carry out a fire-risk assessment and identify possible dangers and risks
Think about who might be particularly at risk - you may have disabled employees, or people who work with hazardous chemicals
Get rid of the risk from fire, as far as reasonably possible
Put in place fire precautions to deal with any risks that remain
Make sure there is protection if you use or store flammable or explosive materials
Have a plan to deal with emergencies
Record your findings and review them as and when necessary