Fire Safety Rules and Fire Fighting Facilities - Term Paper Example

Fire Safety Management and Legislation Table of Contents Introduction 3 Building Regulation and Legislation 4 Means if Detection and Warning In Case of Fire 4 Provision of Means of Escape at All Times 5 Provision of Means of Fire Fighting 5 Stability of Structure in Case of Fire 5 Portable and Automatic Fire Fighting System 6 Access for Fire Fighting and Fire Fighting Facilities for the Fire Service 7 Internal; Fire Spread and External Fire Spread 8 Population Density 9 The Number of Units of Exit Widths 9 The Number of Exits Required 10 Consider the Limitation on Travel Distance 10 Floor Plan 12 References 13 Introduction The Anywhere community centre offers various services to the local folks. Support services are offered by the community centre. It is also and educational center, and caters to those who needs care and counseling in the community. The community centre is also used for other purposes such as community meetings, fellowship or religious meetings, family gatherings, wedding receptions, seminars and other related functions. With the different services offered by the centre, an expansion and enlargement of the centre was decided upon by the management. The centre's management decided to have a new building built. It will have a common hall, a room with a stage, a chapel, several offices, a room for the youth, a room for babies of infants, a pantry or a kitchen, an oil room, a storage or utility room, and rest rooms for both men and women and other facilities needed for the growing needs of its clients. With all these factors being considered, the building code requirements for fire safety are included. A fire safety strategy is needed to give satisfaction to the functional requirement of the building. With the plan provided, the fire safety measures must have the adequacy of means to prevent fire. There must be early warnings by automatic detection. The standard means of escape must be provided. There is also the provision for smoke control and control of rate of fire growth. The adequacy of the structure to resist the effect of the fire, the degree of fire compartment, The fire separation between buildings or part of buildings. The standard of active measures for fire extinguishment and control, the facilities to assist the fire service, training of staff in fire safety and fire routines, the continued control under other legislation to maintain and test fires safety measures and management of fire safety. Internal fire spread as well as external fire spread control limitation is into a great consideration. In understanding the nature of service installations from the builder's perspective, the importance of building services must be identified together with the methods used for fire protection. Building Regulations and Legislation The building regulations 2000, Approved Document B is the guidance on how to meet the building regulation on fire safety. This means that the building must allow adequate means of escape in the event of a fire. The ultimate concern of the Document B is the protection of the building occupants and not the building itself. Generally, fire safety requirements includes the following which are to be implemented in the construction of the new building. Means of Detection and Warning in case of Fire The means of detection and warning in case of fire includes the installation for fire appliances and assistance to the fire service such as fire extinguishers which are to be installed at places of relevance. Sprinklers must be set in strategic places. Hose reels are also needed, and must be placed in a location that is reachable to everybody. A fire alarm is a must to give early warning to the occupants in case of fire in the building. A design for compartmentation of the building is necessary to avoid the fast spread of fire. In section B1 of the approved Document B, smoke alarms should be positioned in places where fire is most likely to start. The most probable locations for the smoke alarms would be the kitchen and the oil storage room. These smoke alarms are to be mounted on the ceiling and should be linked so that the detection of smoke by one unit of the smoke alarm would signal all the other units of smoke alarms. Installation of these smoke alarms should be at least 300 mm from walls and light fittings and 25 mm and 600mm below the ceiling. Smoke alarms should not be installed near heaters or air-conditioning outlets, bathrooms, showers and boilers for the simple reason that these areas don't have stable temperature. It is stated that "there is a link between the provisions of means of escape and the control of fire growth, fire containment, and the facilities for the fire rescue service" (approved Document B, 2006, p.9). Provisions of Means of Escape at all Times The criteria for the means of escape is that there should be an alternative means of escape from situations. These alternative escape routes must lead to a safe place in an open air away from the possible effects of the fire. In the floor plan of the building, the escape would be possible through the lobby, a small door near the kitchen and into a narrow hall near the office. Provisions of Means of Fire Fighting There are provisions of means of fire fighting. One is the adequacy of means to prevent fire. The early warning of fire by automatic detection is one of the provisions. The standard means of escape which tackles the route needed for the building occupants to go to a safe place, and the provisions of smoke control and the control of rate of the growth of fire. The adequacy of the structure to resist the effects of a fire termed as passive protection. Other provisions include the degree of fire compartments, fire separation between buildings or parts of buildings, the standard of active measures for fire extinguishers and control and the facilities in the assistance of the fire service. Implementation of fire resistance materials to be used in the construction is very important for the reduction of spread of flame over surfaces of walls and ceilings. Providing sufficient means of escape safely in case of fire, and the measure in relation to the means for the detection of fire on the premises and giving warnings in case of fire. Stability of Structure in the Event of Fire The structural stability of the building to resist fire or reduce the risk of fire in spreading from one building to another must be taken into considerations. In addition, there must be an emergency map located near the main entrance or at the lobby of the building in order for the building occupants to notice the map upon entering the building. The general principle of designing the appropriate means of escape is that when faced with a fire, one can turn away from it and make a safe escape. The guiding principle for the community centre is to ensure that, all routes to emergency exits from the premises and the exits are to be kept clear at all times and free from obstructions. Moreover, the emergency routes and exits must lead to a clear and safe place. Evacuation of the place must be done in a very quick and safest manner possible. The number, distribution and dimensions of emergency routes and exits must be adequate with regards to the equipment and dimensions of the premises and the maximum number of persons who may be present there at any time. Emergency doors must be open in the direction of escape, while sliding or revolving doors must never be used for exits especially those exits intended for emergency purposes. Emergency doors must be checked and serviced regularly in order to assure the occupants who may require using them in emergency situations. Emergency routes and exits must be provided with illuminations in case of failure of the normal lighting, together with signs or arrows leading to the exits. Most importantly, there is a clear understanding in the UK of evacuation and should not place reliance on the emergency services to assist evacuation including the disabled persons. The design of means of escape and the provision of other fire safety measures such as fire alarm system are to be based on the assessment of the risks of the occupants in case of fire. The assessment should be in consideration with the nature of the building structure, the use of the building, the processes undertaken, and materials stored in the building (Communities and Local Government 2007, p.18). Portable and Automatic Fire Fighting System Portable and automatic fire fighting system are included in the requirements. Smoke alarms are required in all buildings under the current legislation and building regulations, such as The Fire Precautions Act 1971. There must be automatic detection of fire, because in emergency situations, people may not be able to raise the alarm. Similarly, manual systems should also be included. Smoke or heat detection falls under the automatic category while the break glass call points falls under manual category. Automatic system is used in buildings where the occupants are not regular occupants and at times the building design is very complex and the people may not be aware of the location of the fire fighting system. In these cases, the detection systems are conventional smoke detectors, beam detectors, and heat and flame detectors. Access For Fire Fighting and Fire Fighting Facilities For the Fire Service The access for fire fighting and fire fighting facilities for the fire service is a very essential factor to consider. Manual fire fighting facilities must be located at points where it can be easily reached. The break glass call points or fire extinguishers must be located in hallways or lobbies. They must be easily reached by hand. Another manual fire fighting facility is the hose reel. The hose reel must be located near doors and there must be water source near the hose reel. When fire fighters come for fire control, the design of the building must be in a manner that the fire truck or any fire fighter vehicle could be parked at s strategic location for the easy access of the fire fighting equipments. The construction of modern buildings in accordance with the building regulations, have been provided with fire fighting facilities, that allow fire engine to approach and park at a distance reasonable enough, so that the fire fighters can use their equipments without having a hard time entering the building. It is important that these facilities are properly maintained and available to be used all the time. (Communities and Local Government, 2006). There are two elements that deals with the Approved Document B to building regulations for access of vehicles. One is the vehicular access to a proportion with the perimeter of the building and the access to the perimeter for ladder. Approved Document B, states the recommendation of the fire service vehicle should be accessible within 45 meters to the door that does not have fire mains fitted. Internal Fire Spread and External Fire Spread In the internal fire spread, the building must be designed and constructed to maintain its stability for a reasonable period. The construction of common wall must be designed and constructed to resist the spread of fire between or among the buildings. To avoid the spread of fire within the building, it must be sub-divided with fire resisting materials to the extent which is appropriate to the size and the extended use of the building. In the design of the building, the unseen spread of fire and smoke within the concealed spaces in the structure and fabric is avoided. The use of fire resistant materials for construction are to be considered and that the design must be within the compliance of Document B3. The document also imposes additional requirements such as car parks, which is applicable to new buildings. In addition, the materials to be used in the construction or separated part of the structure that would be enclosing the car park, should be non-combustible, unless a surface finish is applied to the floor or roof of the car park. The external fire spread depends on the external walls of the building that will resist the spread of fire over the walls and spreading the fire from one building to another. The roof of any building will resist the spread of fire over the roof and from one building to another. In order for the building to comply with this, the standards will be met if the external walls are constructed to resist ignition (B4, 13.5) Population Density From the provided floor plan, we can compute for the population density. The factor from Table C1 will be used to determine the capacity of every room Hall factor = 0.5/m2; 8.535 x 9.16 = 78.18m2 ; 78.18/0.5 = 156 persons Stage factor = 1.5/m2 4.74 x 9.16 = 43.42m2; 43.42/1.5 = 29 persons Chapel factor = 0.5/m2 8.53 x 4.58 = 39.09m2 39.09/0.5 = 78 persons Infants Room= 1.0/m2 4.85 x 4.58 = 22.23m2 22.23/1.0 = 22 infants Store factor = 30/m2 4.85 x 2.00 = 9.71m2 9.71/30 = 1 person. Kitchen factor = 7.0/m2 4.85 x 2.5 = 12.14m2 12.14/7.0 = 2 persons Entrance factor = 1.0/m2 8.53 x 4.58 = 39.09m2 39.09/1.0 = 39 persons Youth Room = 1.0/m2 8.53 x 4.58 = 39.09m2 39.09/1.0 = 39 persons Office factor = 6.0/m2 4.74 x 4.58 = 21.71m2 21.71/6.0 = 4 persons Total Occupancy = 331 persons. The Number of units of Exit Widths In consideration to the number of units of exit widths, the list below which was taken from Table C would justify that the number of exit points in the floor plan is just right. There is no need to have additional exit points. Width of Escape Exits Maximum number of persons Width of exit (meters) 60 0.750 110 0.850 220 1.050 220 and more 5 per person The limitation on travel distance, as seen in the floor plan, is indicated with red broken arrow lines. The escape route is situated so that the distance to be travelled from any point to the nearest exit points does not exceed the required travel distance of 45 meters. (Approved Document B, 2006, p. 43). The Number of Exits Required The building is single storey, and as seen in the plan, it has 3 exit points. Referring from the plan, the exit points are: the lobby or main entrance, the door coming from the chapel and office, and another exit point would be on the left side of the building or the door coming out of the youth room. Consider the Limitation on Travel Distance As seen in the plan, the travel distance from the infant's room to the main entrance is about 13 to 15 meters. In this case, the 13 meters distance is sufficient enough to comply with the safe travel distance. The other travel distances inside the building satisfies the maximum travel distance of 45 meters. In conclusion, the travel distance from anywhere in the building is safe. As indicated in the floor plan, there are at least 18 sprinklers to be installed. In addition, smoke detectors are also present in some areas where fire is likely to spark. The travel routes are indicated by the arrows signified by red broken lines with arrow heads that will indicate the direction of the travel route. Fire extinguishers are placed where it would be easy to reach. Hose reel is located just beside the door of the entrance lounge so that it would be of easy access for fire fighters. Fire Safety Management Strategy In providing a development of Fire Management Strategy for Anywhere Community Centre, a step by step guide to follow is recommended to assist them to comply with the requirements of Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The design and construction of the building provides reasonable facilities in the assistance of fire fighters for the protection of life There must be reasonable provisions to be made within the premises of the building to enable fire appliances to gain access to the building (101). There must be a sufficient means of external access to enable the fire fighting personnel and appliances to be brought in for use. The building must be provided with adequate means for ventilation of heat and smoke, and with fire mains and facilities to aid fire fighters with their tasks. (B51:102). Since there is a room allocated for the storage of oil in the building premise, health and safety of the employees must be in consideration (Health and Safety Welfare Regulations, 1996). It would also be important to consider the disability issue. The Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 will require compliance with which it prohibits discrimination in relation to premises. Since Fire Precautions Act of 1971 requires any person exercising control over premises to take reasonable steps to reduce the risk from fire and ensure safe escape in the event of fire (Regulation 8), it would be safe for the building administration to take the following steps in order to have fire safety in the premise. Appointment of a responsible person to take the responsibility of ensuring the occupants that the premise is safe from fire and other accidents that may occur in the building due to negligence. Employees must be provided with clear and relevant information regarding fire safety measures. Regular consultation with employees regarding the presence of dangerous substances and risks and fire fighting education, and to ensure suitable means of contacting emergency services. Regular training and seminars of employees must always be held in order to guide them to establish their responsibility in the event of accidents that may occur to them. References 1. Approved Document B 2. BS Code of Practice 5588 - 6; 1991 3. Building Regulations 2000 4. Construction Health & Safety Regulations, 1996 5. Disability Discrimination Act, 1995 6. Oil Firing Technical Association for Petroleum Industry 7. www.oftec.org 8. www.opsi.gov.uk 9. www.planningportal.gov.uk 10. www.ribafind.org.uk Read More