Importance of Risk Assessment, Electrical and Mechanical Means of Protection - Coursework Example

Table of contents Table of contents 1 1.0 Introduction 2 2.0 Importance of risk assessment 3 4 3.0 Means of escape 4 4.0 Electrical and mechanical means of protection 7 5.0 Building regulations 8 7.0 Recommendation 9 8.0 Conclusion 10 1.0 Introduction The fire and safety order 2005 stipulates that buildings have to adhere to the set laws and regulations. This order was made in accordance to 2001 reform Act. All premises have to adhere to the order including those that are non-profit making. The responsible person for the premises always has to ensure that risk assessment is carried out. It is a requirement that the assessment report be submitted to the relevant authorities in order to establish the degree of compliance to set regulations. (Coleman, 2005) Fire and safety order puts in place rules and regulations that help the responsible person to put in place preventive measures for fires to occur. This in general plays a great role in protecting life and property. Fire safety is more so important in workplaces. They include the following; i. Offices and shops ii. Schools iii. Residential care premises iv. Hospitals v. Cinemas and theatres etc 2.0 Importance of risk assessment The question as to why one should carry out risk assessment of premises has been asked by many concerned stakeholders. Fire risk assessment is a very important venture. In this case systematic evaluation of any potential harm that is fire related within the building is carried out. The fire safety order requires that constant risk assessment of buildings be carried out. This is the requirement even if previous assessments of the building were carried out. This helps in curbing any risks that could have cropped up since the last assessment. (DeHaan, 1991) Fire risk assessment of business premises enables management to know whether the building is compliant to the law of the land. This simply gives the management the peace of mind. It also helps in avoiding any charges that could be demanded by relevant authorities for non-compliance to set regulations. This means that there is no risk of the organisation or business closure for non-compliance. It is quite essential to carry out risk assessment because it enables management of commercial building to put in place alerting systems. These include smoke and fire alarms that alert the occupants early enough so that they leave the premises. Other steps include training employees on how to escape and how to use various means of escape within the premises. This training can be carried out frequently so that employees don’t forget. This plays a great role in saving lives. Fire risk assessment also helps in making management put in place necessary plans on how to extinguish fire in case it occurs. Fire risk assessment can also be described as an eye opener. It enables management at the workplace to identify any hazards within the premises that can cause harm. In this case, proper measures are then taken to reduce or eradicate the risk depending on its nature. This is considering that there are some risks that cannot be totally eliminated but can only be reduced. This helps in reducing the risk of loss of life and property. (Diamentes, 1998) Fire risk assessment helps the responsible person to put in place proper measures to mitigate the fire effects. This means that when a fire occurs, the destruction will not be to a higher degree. Fire risk assessment also helps the responsible persons at the workplace to make proper plans concerning means of rescue to affected people when fire occurs. 3.0 Means of escape Means of escape are facilities that are put in place within buildings in order to allow occupants to get to safety when building is on fire. It is usually very important that means of escape be considered during construction of a building. This is an area that has had many scholars carrying out research. This is considering the fact that it was noted that very many people were losing lives in fire scenes as they tried to get out of affected building. (Hall, 2004) Many people have lost lives in the past as they tried to rush out of a burning building using a single outlet. In this case some people are literally trampled on as people strive to get to safety. It was noted that in many fire scenes, the lifts fail to operate when there is no power. The fire and safety order 2005 requires that every building has means of escape put in place to enable easy evacuation. It should however be noted that it is not enough just to put in place means of escape at the workplace. Managers need to go an extra mile and train employees on how to use the available means of escape when there is a fire. One of the most important means of escape is doors. It is very important that buildings have many exit ways through which people within the building can use to get to safety. The exits can be placed in different wings of the building. For instance, the exits should be placed in the back and front yard so that there is no squeezing during evacuation. Pressurized stairways can also be used as means of escape. Means of escape also includes facilities which are out within buildings to aid in escape. This includes the evac chair. The entire building can have protected stairways such that they don’t easily catch fire. In this case, the stairways are made of fire resistant material. Such stairways have to be on every floor of the building so that people on any of the floors can easily get out to a place of safety. Windows can also be used as means of escape when they are well positioned on the building. In this case the windows are positioned at a height that one can easily reach. This also includes the positioning of stairways such that they are easily accessible. (Hoetmer, 1998) There are various considerations that have to be put in mind when putting in place means of escape. One of the most important factors is the risk and the number of people that are expected to be in the building. When a building has many floors and is expected to have many people, then adequate means of escape have to be put in place. This helps in ensuring that all the people within the building can get to safety unaided. The floors have to be considered because the people on the top most floors could have a higher risk of being adversely affected than the people on the ground floor. This means that more means of escape should be placed on the higher floors compared to those on the ground floor. There are sometimes that buildings or workplaces have physically handicapped people. Appropriate means of escape have to be incorporated to help them when fire occurs. This means that management at the workplace have to consider this when planning for means of escape at the work place. The following considerations should be put in mind when designing means of escape; (Hogan, 1995) How people on ground floor can get to safety How people on various floors can get to the ground level How people from affected room can escape 4.0 Electrical and mechanical means of protection Both mechanical and electrical means of protection have to be put in place in any building. This is because it has been noted that people get injuries that are both electrical and mechanical based. Research carried out in the year two thousand and seven in United Kingdom shows seventy percent of injuries are electrical and mechanical based. This shows that proper measures have to be put in place in order to prevent such cases. It is very important that professional personnel are hired to put in place electrical connections and appliances. Electrical wires have to be well insulated to avoid any shocks to people who may come into contact with them. Fire rating within the building helps in protecting many lives. This comprises of areas like ceilings, stairways and exits. The floors should also be fire rated so that fire does not easily reach other floors within the building. This is especially when the workplace building is storied. Other mechanical precautions include proper ventilation at workplace so that flammable gases don’t pile up. Flammable liquids at workplace also have to be well stored. (NFPA, 1993) It is a requirement that early warning be given to occupants within buildings in case of fire so that they can get to safe place in good time. Smoke and heat detection alarms help in giving early warning. Heat detection alarms help the management to deal with any fire in its initial stages. This, in a real sense lowers the risk of property being destroyed without any person noticing. It also helps to lower the risk of people around the area getting hurt as they will receive an early warning. (Hogan, 1995) These alarms enable prompt action that reduces the risk loss of property or even life. The smoke detectors can be placed all over the building at ceiling level. In this case the detectors will alert all rooms of fire. Other features that help in giving early warning to occupants in case of fire include indicator panels that show there is fire and also voice alarms. 5.0 Building regulations Building regulations in United Kingdom have been put in place by secretary of the environment in the state. This is in accordance to the Building and Regulations Act. These regulations generally consist of set standards that buildings have to adhere to. These standards have been approved by a team of specialists. The purpose is to ensure that buildings are constructed in such a way that fire cannot easily spread out to the whole building. These regulations also ensure that fire in one building does not easily spread out to neighbouring houses. (DeHaan, 1991) Most of buildings in United Kingdom usually have cavities inside the walls. These cavities can make a fire to spread very fast throughout the entire building. Analysis shows that fire can easily spread through the cavities without anyone noticing. Building regulations require that breaks be put inside the cavities during construction of buildings. This helps in preventing fire from spreading from wall to wall and burning the whole building. (Hoetmer, 1998) It is also a requirement that floors, ceilings and stairways in buildings be fire rated. This also prevents the spread of fire from one room to the other and throughout the entire building. Fire tight compartments have to be placed between different wings of building such that fire in one section does not easily spread to another section. The material that is used in construction should not be that which can easily ignite. This means that any fire that occurs in any room will not easily spread out to the whole house. Another requirement is whereby buildings have walls fitted with linings of fire resistant material. This is a requirement that has been tested and approved and has helped prevent spread of fire to the whole building in many instances. . Government regulations require that ceilings and also wall surfaces be made of non-flammable materials. Other aspects include the ability of smoke to spread in the whole building. Appliances that produce heat that are permanently situated within the building have to be placed in a position where they cannot easily allow fire to spread to the entire building. This has to be a place where fire can easily be quenched in case it occurs. (Hoetmer, 1998) 7.0 Recommendation It is highly recommended that managers or responsible people at workplace strictly adhere to building regulations. This helps in preventing fires, loss of lives and property. 8.0 Conclusion It is a requirement of the fire and safety order 2005 that buildings adhere to set standards. This includes measures that prevent spread of fire throughout building and means of escape. Means of escape comprise of pressurized stairways and well positioned windows. When adhered to building regulations are also very important as they help prevent fire spread within a building. This includes lining the walls with fire resistant materials. On the other hand mechanical and electrical means usually help in reducing the chances of occurrence of fires. When all these factors are adhered to, they help a great deal in saving lives and destruction of property. Read More