Fire Safety
Specific Legislation covering the prevention of fire and the safety of people requires a full assessment to be conducted to both assess risks and determine the suitability of the following:
! measures to prevent risk of injury from fire;
! provision and maintenance of fire-fighting equipment, fire detectors and alarm systems; ! accessibility to fire-fighting equipment which is not automatic;
! fire-fighting equipment;
! indication of fire-fighting equipment by suitable signs; ! waste disposal and limitation of flammable products; ! escape routes, lighting levels and signage.
Each workplace under the control of the company shall be subject to specific fire prevention management control procedures. Contractors and personnel working under their control are required to comply fully with and implement such procedures.
Common to each workplace will be:
! the appointment of a fire warden;
! the means of ensuring all workers are aware of what to do if they discover a fire; ! selection and provision of fire fighting first aid equipment;
! siting, frequency, marking and maintenance of dedicated fire points;
! establishment, maintenance and marking of emergency evacuation routes and assembly points;
! arrangements for the identification, storage and use of designated flammable, highly flammable and extremely flammable materials and containers;
! the issue of hot-work permits for assessed safety critical tasks and operations, and locations; ! dedicated access area for the siting of emergency service vehicles.
When applicable, trade contractors shall be required to identify in their safety management submission how they will comply with the project-specific fire prevention management policy, and how they will introduce their own, individual controls for any hot-work processes and flammable, highly flammable and extremely flammable materials and containers.
Note: In the event of an outbreak of fire, regardless of how apparently minor, the local fire brigade shall be called and an investigation conducted to establish the cause.
Adequate Fire Procedures
Adequate and suitable procedures to take in the event of fire must be established for workplaces. These should include:
! the action to take upon discovering a fire; ! the action to take upon hearing the fire alarm;
Fire Procedure Notices
At conspicuous positions in all parts of the workplace, printed notices should be exhibited stating the essentials or the action to be taken upon discovering a fire and on hearing the fire alarm.
Safe Means of Escape
Ideally means of escape should be planned so persons are able to turn their backs on a fire and travel unhindered to a place of safety within a specified distance of travel. To achieve a satisfactory standard for the means of escape it may be necessary to provide protected routes. This means that the fire resisting construction of walls, floors, ceilings, doors and any components that form part of these protected areas must meet certain criteria.
All stairways, whether internal or external, should be provided with protection against persons falling by the provision of walls, partition or balustrades to landings and handrails to flights of stairs. If however there are any doubts about such provision, the local Fire Authority should be consulted. Fire Exit Doors
Doors for the means of escape should open in the direction of the escape and should be suitably signposted in accordance with the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations. These doors must be kept unlocked or unfastened whenever anyone is working within the premises. Where security is a problem, fire exit doors can be fitted with panic bolts or latches which allow the door to be opened from one direction only or a single security bolt with a break glass tube facility for emergency use can be used (e.g. Redland or Wellington bolts).
All fire doors should be fitted with self-closing devices which are not fitted with ‘hold-open’ facility. Fire doors must not be propped open as this defeats their purpose which is to prevent the spread of smoke and preserve the integrity of means of escape routes.
Gangways and Passageways
All gangways or passageways that form an exit route must always be kept clear of obstruction. Where necessary, consideration should be given to clearly and permanently marking the boundaries of gangways so that indiscriminate stacking or storage of materials is avoided.
Notices
At suitable points along an escape route, from where an exit cannot be seen or where a person escaping may be in doubt as to the location of an exit, a notice should be provided bearing the appropriate lettering and the necessary running man pictogram. Such notices should be fixed in conspicuous positions wherever possible approximately 2.1 metres above floor level.
Where there is a danger that a door that is a fire exit may become obstructed because its importance as a fire safety measure is not appreciated (e.g. a final exit door opening into a car part or storage yard or a seldom used intercommunicating door between rooms), a conspicuous notice should be displayed on the appropriate face of the door.
Fire doors which are required to be self-closing should bear a notice stating ‘FIRE DOOR - KEEP SHUT’ on each side of the door at or about eye level. Fire doors to cupboards, if not rendered self- closing, should be provided with a conspicuous notice ‘FIRE DOOR - KEEP LOCKED’.
Any door fitted with a panic bolt or panic latch should have the words ‘PUSH BAR TO OPEN’ in conspicuous lettering of an appropriate size printed on the door immediately above the push bar. All signage must be in accordance with the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations. Lighting
All escape routes from a building including external routes where appropriate, should be provided with sufficient artificial lighting for occupants to see their way out safely when there is not enough natural light.
In situations where escape routes are without external windows or the benefit of borrowed light (e.g- street or permanent outside lighting), emergency lighting should be provided to ensure persons can escape in safety upon the failure of the normal lighting system during a fire.
Emergency lighting should not only illuminate corridors and stairways but also any notices identifying them as exits or escape routes.
Emergency lighting systems should be independent of normal general lighting maintained in full operation during the hours of darkness. Alternatively, they may be arranged to operate automatically upon failure of the general lighting or of individual lighting circuits.
It is recommended that emergency lighting systems are checked on a weekly basis to ensure that each unit is working effectively. This can be achieved by ensuring that the charging indicator neon lamp, if fitted, is illuminated.
Fire Warning Systems
Means of raising the alarm in case of fire can be either automatic, manually operated or based on a verbal warning. An automatic or manually operated fire alarm system would be required in any certificated premises and will be indicated on the fire certificate for those premises. The system should be tested on a regular basis and the results recorded.
Automatic fire alarm systems can be activated by smoke and/or heat detectors and may also have a break-glass call point system for manual operation. In order to ensure that this system remains operational at all times, it is advisable to test the alarms weekly. This is best achieved by activating the alarm from a different call point on a set day and time each week so that all persons within the premises are aware that regular tests are run.
It is a legislative requirement that procedures for giving a fire warning are present in all workplaces and these should be set down in a written format and displayed throughout the workplace.
All persons working within the premises must be made aware of the procedures to take in the event of fire and this should be carried out at the induction stage of a new employee and at routine refresher training.
Fire Fighting Equipment
Fire safety legislation requires an organisation to provide and maintain appropriate fire fighting appliances and that employees be trained to use them effectively.
It should be remembered that portable fire extinguishers are classed as being for first aid fire fighting only. Nearly all fires develop slowly at first which means that if suitable fire fighting equipment is to hand they can be extinguished before any serious damage is done providing there is no personal danger in doing so.
There are four main classes of fire:
! Class A Fires - Fire involving ordinary combustible materials, such as wood, paper, cloth. etc. Cooling by water is the most effective way of extinguishing them.
! Class B Fires - Fires involving flammable liquids, such as oils, spirits, fats, greases and paints, etc. Smothering or extinguishing chemically with foam or powder is the most effective.
! Class C Fires - Fires involving flammable gases, such as propane and butane must be extinguished by closing the valve or plugging the leak. Extinguishing the gas fire before the supply is cut off may risk a gas explosion.
! Class D Fires - Fires involving burning metals. These should only be dealt with by using special extinguishers and personnel trained in the handling of such situations.
Fires Involving Electricity - Electricity itself does not ignite. It does however ignite various other materials and after isolating the supply the fire can be dealt with according to the classification of the types of fires indicated above.
Siting of Equipment
An adequate number of fire extinguishers should be provided for all premises and arrangements should be made for the inspection and servicing of these. All fire fighting equipment must be inspected and serviced at least annually and whenever they are discharged (either completely or partially).
Equipment should be so placed as to be readily available for use. It is recommended that fire appliances are wall mounted at a convenient height, preferably at recognised fire points. All such fire points should always be kept clear of obstructions so that the appliances are readily available for use in an emergency. Consideration should be given to the provision of a suitable sign fire point to show the location of the fire extinguishers.
Good Housekeeping
The need for good housekeeping cannot be over emphasised. Poor housekeeping is the greatest single cause of fire. The risk is higher in an area which is infrequently used. The following are essential guidelines:
! Combustible waste and contaminated rags should be kept in separate metal bins with close filling metal lids.
! Cleaners should, preferably, be employed in the evenings when work ceases. This will ensure that combustible rubbish is removed from the building to a place of safety before the premises are left unoccupied.
! Rubbish should not be kept in the building overnight or stored in close proximity to the building.
! ‘No Smoking’ should be strictly enforced.
Record Keeping Requirements
! Maintenance information, including tests, inspections, and faults relating to any fire warning and detection systems and fire-fighting equipment.
! Details of any persons designated as the Fire Warden/Marshalls to oversee fire safety on site.
! Details of all training, information and instruction provided to employees, including fire evacuation drills and any specialised fire training.
! Maintenance records of all work equipment and appliances, etc, especially where there may be recognised fire risks, such as faulty electrical equipment.
Training
All employees should be instructed and trained to ensure that they understand the fire precautions and the action to be taken in the event of fire. The aim should be to ensure that all staff receive instruction and training appropriate to their responsibilities in the event of an emergency. It should be based on written instructions.
Instruction should be given frequently by a competent person, at such intervals as will ensure that all employees are instructed at least once every 12 months.
Instruction and training generally should provide for the following: ! the action to be taken upon discovering a fire;
! the action to be taken upon hearing the fire alarm;
! raising the alarm, verbally or manually activating the fire alarm system. This should include the location of alarm points, internal fire alarm telephones and alarm indicator panels (where applicable);
! the correct method of calling the fire brigade; ! the location and use of fire fighting equipment; ! knowledge of escape routes;
! appreciation of the importance of fire doors and of the need to close all doors at the time of a fire and on hearing the fire alarm;
! stopping any machines, etc. and isolating power supplies, where appropriate;
! evacuation of the building, (where members of the public are present this will include escorting them to exits, etc).
First Aid
To comply with statutory requirements, first aid facilities must be available to all employees whilst they are at work. These facilities must be under the control of an Appointed Person or Trained First Aider. These are defined as follows:
Appointed Person
A person must be appointed by the employer to take charge of the situation, (e.g. to summon an ambulance) if serious injury or major illness occurs at the workplace in the absence of a First Aider. First Aider
A First Aider is a person who has been trained and holds a current First Aid Certificate issued by an organisation or employer approved by the Health and Safety Executive for the purposes of the Regulations.
In certain circumstances additional training will be necessary specific to the hazards encountered in the processes undertaken by the organisation.
It should be noted that there must always be at least an Appointed Person on the premises during working hours. In order to establish if trained personnel are required, advice from the Health and Safety Supervisor/Contract Manager should be sought.
First Aid provision needs to include any item deemed necessary due to work undertaken and the likely injury type, for example welders may suffer burns, so heat/burn treatment and protection provision would need to be included.
No drugs, creams, lotions or potions should be administered or given to anybody unless specific authorisation is given by the individual, e.g. diabetics.
The contents of a basic first aid kit would include:
Item
Number of Employees
1-10 Up to 50
First Aid Advice Leaflet 1 1
Sterile w/proof plasters - Pack of 21 assorted size 1 3
Triangular bandage 4 6
Sterile small (eye) wound dressing 2 4
Sterile medium wound dressing 6 8
Sterile large wound dressing 2 4
Skin cleaning wipes - alcohol free 10 10
Resusci faceshield 1 1
Gloves 1 2
Safety Pins - pack of 6 1 1