Significance of Fire Risk Assessment in the Workplace - Coursework Example

FIRE SAFETY 19TH July, 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Executive Summary………………………………………………………... 3.0 2. Introduction………………………………………………………… ……... 3.0 3. Significance of Fire Risk Assessment……………………………………. 4.0 4. Analysis of Fire Safety Order 2005….…………………………………… 5.0 5. Principles and Application of ‘Means of Escape’………………… …….. 6.0 6. Mechanical and Electrical means of safety……………………………….. 8.0 7. Assistance of Building Regulations in fire prevention……………………. 9.0 8. Conclusion……………………………………………………..………….. 10.0 9. Bibliography…………………………………………………….……….. 11.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Fire risk assessment involves a great deal of information in regards to the standards, procedures, limitations, adequacy of available fire risk assessment data, models and theories. The following report deals with the significance and the relevant application of the fire risk assessment theory to mitigate the fire risks harmful to people, property, and the environment. The various means of escape and the principles behind the appliance of such means is also studied in depth. To prevent and minimize the detrimental affects of blaze, the building regulation laid down by the U.K government has been stressed upon for further assistance. INTRODUCTION To combat the threat of unexpected and unwanted risk of fire outrage, it becomes an utmost necessity to identify the fire risks in the work place and other areas. It is indeed difficult to predict or envisage a disaster but their impacts, consequences can be managed and controlled to an extent if proper safety measures such as the means of escape or use of electrical and mechanical measures of fire control are well designed into the fire risk assessment plan. A well communication strategy must be imbibed in the building structure where people could be timely informed about the mishap and necessary instructions be flown through right methods and channels. In the modern construction era where huge, massive structures are being built on a breakneck pace, it becomes a matter of great concern whether the organizations give due consideration to the Building Regulations laid down by the authorities, as in the case of Great Britain where even the minutest areas of precaution are specified in the schedules drafted for the construction of buildings to ensure safety of lives and property. The fire risk assessment management deals with the organization of the elements responsible for fire prevention and rescue operations. SIGNIFICANCE OF FIRE RISK ASSESSMENT A risk is the future probability of a hazard which might be harmful in some or the other manner while assessment is an exploration or an examination of the use of the hazardous material or operations in the workplace to reduce the risks of life and property. On the whole a fire risk assessment deals with the factors responsible for the fire occurrences and the measurement of the harmful effects of those factors with a corresponding remedial action to control and prevent the fire incidents. The significance of assessment lies in the fact that risks related to the peril of fire need to be evaluated to determine the severity of the occurrence. It s an important tool in the decision making process, where the controllable and uncontrollable factors can be segregated to lay down the priorities for implementing control measures. Fire assessment helps in stating the extent of the injury which might be caused if there is a fire happening in the future, the probability of the harm which a person may be exposed to at the time of a hazard, the frequency and the duration of the exposure. The occupational safety and health are the prime factors for conducting a fire risk assessment. To incorporate the assessment structure, various models can be applies such as the ‘Injury Causation Model’ (Tung. T, viewed on 19th July, 2008) which has a deep link between an error which might lead to a fatal accident causing hazard and leading to injury. According to this theory, the risk assessment helps in the eradication of any sort of error, which means absence of the existence of an accident, thereby complete avoidance of injury. Occupation Hygiene Model gives an idea about the extent of exposure and its related effect resulting in the biological dysfunction. A Multi Hazard Approach can also help in the risk assessment to reach building resilience. The approach helps in the identification of the interaction between the building the system, assessing the vulnerabilities and finding out the remedial measures to reduce them The risk assessment helps in the categorization of the risk level into three types, low, medium and high, based on the formula: Risk = Threat Rating x Asset Value x Vulnerability Rating (Kennett M, 2006). Thus Fire risk assessment is a key feature in incorporating enforcements between different hazards. ANALYSIS OF FIRE SAFETY ORDER 2005 (The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005) was approved by Parliament on 7 June 2005 and came into force in October 2006, in application to the areas of England and Wales. All fire certificates and plans have ceased to be valid and the previous laid standards have been replaced by a system of risk-based assessment.. The order deals with the general fire precautions and other fire safety measures needed to protect 'relevant persons' in case of fire in and around the buildings. The order contains the streamlined regulations under one document. The order emphasis on the responsible person who should carry out a fire risk assessment, focusing on the safety of all 'relevant persons', special measures need to be taken for the disabled and the people with special needs. It is been stated in the order that Fire Protection Officers will be responsible for the fire risk assessments audits and informing the ‘responsible person’ about the observance and conformity of all criteria’s and norms. In times of discrepancies or critical situations FPO may use his discretionary powers to solve matters. Duties expected from the 'responsible person', Fire safety arrangements, elimination or reduction of risks from dangerous substance, Fire-fighting and fire detection, Procedures for serious and imminent danger areas and many other areas are touched upon in the order for clarifications and development of a fire risk assessment structure. PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATION OF ‘MEANS OF ESCAPE’ Construction of buildings must have an adequate provision of different channels for means of escape from fire, integrated into the design of a building; such means are very crucial at the time of crisis and may result in disastrous consequences if not dealt with carefully or meticulously. A great deal of legislation is also attached with the design and control of means of escape. The assessment of means of escape within a building is dependant on the characteristics of the building itself. The escape assessment takes into account the number of occupants, number and location of escape routes, travel distances, parallel evacuation points, width of escape routes, fire safety engineering approach which involves: Recognition time Response time travel time A large number of statutes, rules, regulations and apt guidance have been listed to comply with the necessary conditions for the means of escape in the Building Regulation Act. A special provision for the means of escape for disabled people in new or altered buildings is provided for by building regulations. Use of fire fighting lifts for the normal and the disabled people id mandatory as per the building regulations. The norms state that the lifts should possess means of switching control from general use to the car itself, to enable the operator to choose floors from which disabled people need to be evacuated. (Billington M, Copping A, Ferguson A, 2002) Safe means of escape in fire is the foremost principle required in the design of a building (BRE, viewed on 19th July, 2008), time required for escape (known as RSET) is another important principle for evacuation. Satisfactory Refuges such as an enclosure such as a compartment, protected lobby, protected corridor or protected stairway, an open air such as a flat roof, balcony or podium must be a part of the escape design. Special aid for people with impaired vision or colour perception is laid down in the building regulation. Signage's which are easily distinguishable must be put on for convenience. Good lighting and avoidance of flashy colors must be imbibed. MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL MEANS OF SAFETY In a fire fighting strategy, both mechanical and electrical means of safety measures have to be incorporated for fruitful results. Timely information has to be imparted to the occupants for an early warning in the case of fire. Well knit mechanical and electrical systems can perform tasks such as controlling the building's system to maintaining high-speed data networks and emergency backup power generators. Standards and norms have been stated to prevent injuries from electrical equipments such as proper wiring which must comply with the requirements of the National Electrical Code (NEC), grounding of all equipments; extension and power cords must have a grounding pin, proper insulation of all electrical equipments. Building Bulletin, intruder alarms, audio induction loop, lighting protection, mechanical services including a constant gas and water supply to the main plant rooms and buildings, all are measures for instant fire aid. Use of CCTV for message broadcasting can also be used. Electrical and mechanical measures include use of automatic fire alarms, signage’s, radio communication devices, smoke alarms, heat detectors, sirens on vehicles, emergency evacuation floor plans on every floor, sprinkler system all can be a vital source of help to inform the occupants. ASSISTANCE OF BUILDING REGULATIONS IN FIRE PREVENTION Many of the building works are subject to building control under Building Regulations incorporated in January 2001. Building Regulations control the design and construction of buildings used to safeguard the health and safety, welfare and convenience of people in or about buildings, protecting and conserving fuel and power, preventing waste and contamination of water. In the past decades, the major emphasis in the building regulations have been laid on the conservation of energy and reduction of global warming , continuous and regular improvement in providing access and facilities for disabled people especially with vision, hearing and loco motor disabilities, provision of a more comprehensive approach for fire safety requirements. Any kind of activity linked with the building such as alteration, extension or demolition on the Grade I and the Grade II listed buildings have to be sanctioned by the planning authority. In Great Britain, local fire departments are organized into county, borough, and special district departments, all under a chief inspector of fire services. The part B of the fire safety regulations deals with the six aspects in the construction of the buildings which assist in fire spreading throughout a building: Firstly the design of the building must enable the occupants to escape to a secured place by their individual efforts, secondly the internal linings of the building should not aggravate fire to curb it to spreading far wide, thirdly the structure should be strong enough to take flames for quite sometime, fourthly fire resisting walks and partitions must be provided for, fifthly the spread of fire between buildings must be limited by creating adequate spacing and controlling the number and varied sizes of openings in the boundaries, lastly the building must be designed to aid the fire brigade in the rescue operations to enhance the pace , preventing further damage to other parts of the building. An effective method of controlling the risk of fire is through separating the building into a number of fire compartments by including the fire resisting walls; this helps in restricting the fire into one chamber rather than spreading wide and leaving the other areas unaffected. Segregation among the different buildings should be made in such a manner that both integrity and insulation must be well coordinated to prevent heat and smoke to spread too far (Arup, 2002). The technical space should be separated from all the other areas of the building or at least must be restricted to the quantity of equipment at maximum risk. CONCLUSION Fire risk assessment at the workplace not only reduces the risk of loss of life but they also prevent the loss of irreplaceable damage which might be caused to the historical buildings and grand structures. Risk methods involving both the use of qualitative quantitative results risk analysis (M. K. Dey, 2004) While no amount of fire protection can guarantee absolute protection but a careful analysis of hazards can definitely reduce the potential damage. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Tung. T, OSH Principles and Risk Assessment, viewed on 19th July,2008 , http://www.cityu.edu.hk/fse/safety/Safety_training/Course/osh/index.html.OSH 2. Kennett M, 13th July, 2006, the Risk Management Series: A Multihazard Approach – FEMA, Workshop on Condition Assessment of Critical Infrastructure ASCE/CCI/USACE, viewed on 19th July, 2008 http://ciasce.asce.org/files/pdf/Milakennett.pdf_The Risk Management Series 3. M. K. Dey, 28th July 2004, An evaluation of risk methods for prioritizing fire protection features: a procedure for fire barrier penetration seals*1, Published by Elsevier B.V, viewed on 19th July, 2008, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V4D-4CYNYM6-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=e209c2d42437c1b609f00a70b41637e7 4. Billington M, Copping A, Ferguson A, June, 2002, Means of Escape from Fire, viewed on 19th June,2008 http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/book.asp?ref=9780632032037 5. BRE, Fire Research and Consultancy, Human behaviour in fire and emergency evacuation design, viewed on 19th July, 2008, http://www.bre.co.uk/fire/page.jsp7id = 269 6. Arup, 2002, Building Datacenters, Fire Engineering, Publisher NovaScape, ISBN 0 954260406 http://www.arup.com/_assests/_download/download 378.pdf 7. Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 1541 The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 , viewed on 19th July, 2008 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2005/20051541.htm Read More