Fire Safety Management Plan - Example

FIRE SAFETY MANAGEMENT PLAN IN BUILDING Literature Review Table of Contents Contents Contents 2 1. Introduction “Fire is a constant threat to all premises” thus it is critical to always ensure the safety of building occupants from fire. UK fire statistics shows that there were around 71,200 building fires (dwelling and other buildings) from 2011 to 2012, majority of these fires were accidental, and the most common cause of death is being overcome by gas, smoke or toxic fumes at 34%. Moreover, the main causes of these fires are cooking and faulty electrical appliances at 54 and 13% respectively while one third of fires occur in premises with no smoke alarm . However, compared to previous years, these fire incidents and associated fatalities are less mainly because fire safety issues are being address. According to , organisational and individual awareness of fires safety matters significantly improve responses to fire such as fire safe design of buildings, widespread installation of smoke alarms and fire suppression systems, shorter occupants evacuation time, vigilance, and better fire safety management. The following sections discusses several fire safety issues in building, the principle behind fire safety, the impact of legislations on fire and fatalities reduction, the role of fire safety management, and the importance of creating and implementing fire safety management plan in buildings. 2. Fire Safety Issues in the Built Environment Designed and constructed by humans, the built environment includes buildings, sport complex and facilities, vehicles, and so on. In terms of fire safety, the built environment is associated with a number of fire-related deaths and injuries such as the 1911 factory fire in New York that killed 146 people because the main entrance was engulfed with flames, alternative exists were locked, and the fire escape collapsed. Another is the deadly 1942 Coconut Grove Night Club fire where absence of emergency lighting, presence of flame-retardant decorations, and use of revolving doors as principal exits are identified fire safety issues resulting to death . In the United Kingdom, the costly destruction and death of significant number of people in Bradford, Hillsborough, and Woolworth’s fires were caused by fire safety issues involving structural design, occupant behaviour, early warning, and delayed evacuation response . These fire safety issues led to establishment of legal control seeking the safety of people from fire and associated heat, smoke, and toxic gases. In the UK for instance, legal control such as the Fire Safety Order 2005 recognised the importance of the physical layout of premises and the location of risks within the premises in reducing the occurrence and fatalities of fire . Specifically, this legal control is focused on two main fire safety issues such as the need for risk assessment and looking after the general safety of building occupants . By analysis, this risk assessment as discussed in the following sections is actually a method of determining which items or arrangement in the premises is a potential fire hazard. A faulty electrical equipment for instance is a fire hazard simply because short circuit can lead to fire. Similarly, rubbish containers filled with combustible materials such as paper and others are also potential hazard because it can contribute to growth and spread of fire when ignited. The concern of legislation about the general safety of building occupants on the other hand came from the fact that fire is not entirely preventable because there are instances that fire is started deliberately. The specific concern here is the safe and timely evacuation of occupants rather than fighting the fire on their own. 3. Principle of Fire Safety Historically, fire caused significant number of deaths and injuries and depressing health and economic effects. For this reason, legislations concerning fire safety in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe are seeking the elimination and control of hazards and risks associated with fire . The principle used in these legislations according to is closely related to the morality of human consequences of fire that in reality is controllable and can be manage effectively. For this reason, the responsibility for reducing the occurrence and consequences of fire is within those who are aware of potential hazard and risks associated to fire occurrence and in the position to assess and prevent fire. For instance, the sufferings of people victimised by fire and their relatives has moral, legal, and financial consequences thus often central to the promotion of high standards of safety. This is because aside from death and injury, fire victims suffer emotional stress, financial hardship, loss of social amenity, and other depressing circumstances. Managing fire safety in premises helps reduce the likelihood of fire and its depressing consequences thus many organisations plan and take necessary action to eliminate fire hazards. According to , fire safety is closely associated with hazard control which is the process of eliminating or reducing the opportunities for fires to start and minimise their impact whey they actually occur. These hazards are factors that produce or contribute to ignition of a fire, materials that can be easily ignited, and those that can help a fire to grow and spread. For instance, smoking materials are fire hazard because they are ignition source while waste materials provide opportunity for a fire to grow. Considering the triangle of fire – fuel, oxygen, and ignition- it is somewhat evident that fire will not start or grow if one or more of its component is missing. According to , fire control strategies often succeed when all three sides of the fire triangle are manage correctly and as shown in the figure below. Figure 1- The Fire Triangle The above figure suggests that fire cannot start and propagate without heat transfer of energy to both fuel and air. Similarly, fire if the mixing of fuel and oxygen is prevented. This is because all materials will burn if its molecules breaks and give off vapour due to heat. This vapour or gas will result to more heat and further reactions resulting to fire . Therefore, reducing the risk of fire in buildings requires separation of sources of fuel, ignition, and oxygen . For the ,above reason, fire safety strategies are commonly developed with three important elements that include fire prevention, safe evacuation of people, and protection from fire . Fire prevention involves identification and evaluation of situations and risks that are likely to result in unwanted fire and developing control measures to eliminate or reduce fire risks to acceptable level . Safe evacuation on the other hand is often applied when fire prevention fails and involves measures to help people escape quickly to a place of total safety . Fire protection is closely associated with prevention in terms of fire hazards identification and reduction but more complex as it involves fire detection and control such as strategic installation of warning and fire suppression systems . By analysis, both fire prevention and protection are essential components of fire safety because fire detection not only detect fire but trigger immediate fire suppression (in some system) and therefore fire prevention in its own right. Note that they both perform fire hazard identification and the probable reason of fire protection strategy here is to determine where the fire is likely to occur and the strategic location where the alarms and suppression system should be. 4. The Positive Impact of Legislations on Building Fire Safety Some of the known positive impact of legislation on building fire safety includes the reduction of fire caused by electrical sources by setting minimum standard for electrical supply and related systems. Another is improvement of health and safety in the workplace through compulsory maintenance of equipment, ventilation, lighting, doors and windows. The employers greater concern over flammable substances that can cause fire and explosion in the workplace and protection of the environment through controlled emissions, discharges, and waste including those resulting from fire . The purpose of fire legislation and imposition of related statutory requirements in the UK is not to police or watch over premises but to place responsibility to building owners, employers or “responsible person” the identification, elimination or reduction of risks commonly associated with fire . In other words, each organisation is responsible and need to organise for its own safety. For this reason, it is important for the person in charge of the building to conduct a risk assessment and implement and maintain a fire management plan . The commonly recommend approach to ensure compliance to fire safety legislation is to adopt a risk-based strategy and initially conduct a risk assessment of the building before implementing a fire management plan. This risk assessment include nominating a competent person that will carry out risks and hazards identification, identify people who are at most risk, eliminate or reduce risks as far as reasonably practical, provide additional fire safety measure when necessary, and create a fire safety management plan . Some of the most common risks associated with fire are shown below. SOURCES/ITEMS ACTION Ignition sources Electrical Equipment Remove unnecessary sources of heat Remove naked flames and radiant heaters Ensure electrical fuses and circuit breakers rating are correct Implement permit to works system on hot work Implement no smoking policy Matches, lighters, candles, smoking materials Flames of sparks for a work process Electrical extension cables Fuel Sources Remove flammable materials and substances Ensure adequate separation distance Ensure proper storage and disposal Paper, card, book, files, waste bin Fabric and clothing Flammable liquid based products Plastic, rubber, and foams Table 1- Some ignition and fuel resources and recommended actions 5. Importance of Effective Fire Safety Management The importance of fire safety management is often attributed to its ability to reduce the numbers of fire and its associated effects. However, not all fire safety management is effective because the ability to prevent fire can only be achieved through structured approach, incorporation of best practices and principles, consistent inspection and assessment, regular test and drills, well-informed and appropriate actions in case of fire. In other words, the fire strategy should have four interlocking components – prevention, maintenance, training, and fire action plan as shown below . Figure 2- Recommended components of an effective fire safety strategy Effective fire safety management according to , prevent fire entirely or slowed down the initial growth of fire in case prevention fails. It enables early detection of fire and provides ability for automatic or manual suppression. It prevents fire spread and allows building occupants to reach a safe location. More importantly, fire safety management prevents catastrophic financial losses; protect people and the community from the deadly effects of fire. 6. Development of Fire Safety Management Plan The initial stage in the development of fire safety management plan is establishing its intent and scope, goals and objectives, the legal and regulatory requirements, the procedure required to implement and maintain the plan. Some organisation creates a separate risk assessment and management plan while others with special needs developed a hazardous and waste management plan . However, regardless of approach and selected strategy, a fire safety management plan should be documented and specifying important information and procedure that everyone can understand and follow. Following the recommendation of a typically fire safety management plan is discussed below. A fire safety management plan for Company A for instance, should include a policy statement indicating the purpose of the policy such as the need to create a fire-safe environment for employees. The intent and scope should describe the extent of the policy and how such policy is to be accomplished. These for instance include ensuring proper operation of fire detection, alarm, and suppression through regular maintenance and testing, provision for portable fire extinguishers, investigation and correction of deficiencies, failures, and errors in the system, training and education, establishment of safe evacuation routes, and improvement through tangible performance measures . The procedure part of the fire safety management plan on the other hand should contain detailed description of prohibited materials, specific date of fire drills and the role and responsibilities of staff. These include procedures on when and how to sound fire alarms, the timing and procedure on how contact fire responders, the process of smoke and fire containment, evacuation of people with limited mobility, proper use of fire extinguishers, and preparation for building evacuation . The fire safety management plan should also detail the maintenance aspects of warning and suppression devices such as testing intervals for initiating devices and fire detection and alarm, duct detectors, electromechanical releasing devices, manual fire alarm boxes, and smoke detectors. Other important matters include inspection of fire department connections such as risers and pumps, and documentation of testing and maintenance details . Generally, best practices in fire safety management are focused on policy that aim to keep heat away from combustible materials and the precautions that must taken in case a fire broke out. Therefore, more consideration is often given to elimination of fire risks, sounding of fire alarm, effective means of escape, and the means of fighting fire . Fire safety check is also common and some organisation actually developed a safety checklist that include aspects of good housekeeping such as rubbish removal frequency and combustible materials quantity, status and content of storage areas, smoking policy compliance, flammable substances and gas containers in critical area, equipment maintenance frequency and procedures, and review of fire risk assessment and emergency plan . According to ,fire safety management is best achieved with prevention and control in mind and this is accomplished by elimination of heat and ignition sources, separating incompatible materials, providing adequate means of fire fighting, proper construction and selection of storage container, proper ventilation to reduce vapour build-up, and providing workers with unobstructed means of escape . 7. Conclusion Fire remains a threat to life and property thus fire safety management of buildings is critical. A good strategy is one that is aware of fire safety matters and issues concerning fire safety in building. Fire safety-related legislations placed the safety responsibility to building owners and leaders of organisations as they can directly asses the risks with their respective premises. The benefits of having an effective fire safety management include the ability to prevent fire, catastrophic losses, and needless deaths and injuries. Best practices in developing and implementing fire safety management include creating a plan indicating its intent and scope, goals and objectives, regulatory requirements, and the detailed procedure on when and how things should be done. Another way is to focus on prevention or precautions and efforts to eliminate fire risks and regular fire safety check. In summary, an effective fire safety management plan incorporates all the relevant practices to prevent fire, maintained and consistent in its goals and objectives. 8. References Barham, R. (2013). 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