Anglia Fire Assessments Fire Update

Since the change in legislation in 2023, all places of work (commercial buildings) must have a comprehensive fire risk assessment. It no use just recording the significant findings.
Since the change took place we have audited many holiday lets to help keep the owners compliant and their guests safe.

Unfortunately many of our clients have homes that are not compliant due to the design and location of the staircase in relation to the ground floor living accommodation.
Several of the premises that we have worked in had been prohibited by the fire service in both Norfolk and Suffolk due to the means of escape being non compliant amongst other things.
All is not lost, there are several measures that we can recommend to reduce the hazard to the guests and help keep the client legal and potentially satisfy the insurance company.
Persons don't realise that if you have a fire in a commercial property that is not compliant with expected safety measures that insurance company has the perfect excuse to reduce any payout or not pay at all.
It's like driving a car without an MOT, it's fine until something goes wrong and then your hard earned investment is lost.
Please consider the situation in your lets, if you realise that you do need professional advice, give us a call.

Within the past four months there have been a number of high profile fires involving fires in buildings that provide sleeping accommodation.

In all cases the fire was able to spread virtually through the whole building and destroy it.

One has to ask the question about the standard of fire compartmentation that was present in these buildings to allow such escalation of the fire. Any risk assessment that is worth its salt will identify such failings and hopefully the management will address them.

Hidden voids, breaches in fire compartment walls and ceilings all help a fire to spread to areas of the building that were not initially involved.

Then of course there is the issue of compliant fire doors that should help stop smoke and heat from spreading along corridors and contain fires to the room of origin.

Fire doors need to be certified in the first instance and maintained to a satisfactory standard to remain effective, a fire door that is held open by a wedge is not a fire door.

Buildings need to be audited on a regular basis as they are virtually living things that move and become damaged etc. Fire has no conscience, if you allow it to have life it will under the right conditions destroy your business in minutes .

We are still coming across dry powder extinguishers inside buildings despite the fact that they have not been recommended by the BSI for many years. They are multipurpose extinguishers but if you were to discharge them to deal with a small fire under most normal circumstances you would most likely regret it.

They create a great deal mess, are not friendly to anyone in the area of the discharge and can obstruct both your vision and affect your breathing.

They should only be provided if there is a specific reason for them that has been identified in the risk assessment.

Carbon Dioxide and a Water based extinguisher will be the most suitable in the majority of situations.

Water Mist extinguishers are also very efficient and clean.Where possible ask for extinguishers that have passed the electrical conductivity discharge or dielectric test.
This will make them far safer if operated near to live electrical sources.
Water Mist extinguishers can be safely used on all the types of early stage fires that you are likely to have to deal with in the normal workplace, they reduce the training requirement as one extinguisher can be used in all situations.

The issue of Lithium batteries cannot be overlooked, you will not safely extinguish a fire involving one of these batteries, not only is the fire very rapid in its development but the highly toxic fumes place anyone in the vicinity of the fire at risk. The best advice is to raise the alarm, evacuate the area, isolate it if you can by closing doors etc and wait for the fire service having informed them of the situation.

Do not just accept what the extinguisher provider gives you, ask the question! Ask them to justify their provision, location and type.

Please note that if you want to have a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment undertaken of your premises it should be fully functional. The audit process includes a range of subjects and if the building is not fully functional we can not produce a report that is truly reflective of the business and its managment.

I recently attended a premises where half of it was not completed and in our report we had to say that a second assessment should be undertaken on completion of the building, this wastes your time and money.

This year there have been two serious fires in care homes in England, we have to congratulate the fire service for their brave and untiring efforts in saving so many residents from the effects of these fires. Unfortunately persons did die in one of the fires despite the best efforts of the emergency services.

It appears from the news broadcasts that the fatal fire started in the roof space and spread throughout the building.

The second fire is believed to have started in a timber smoking shelter that was located adjacent to the outside of the building, it is good practice not to locate easily combustible structures within 6 to 10m of any building for this very reason.

A number of serious questions will be asked during the investigation phase of this tragedy that no doubt will be aired at some subsequent inquest or even a court case.

All Responsible Persons should not forget that they have a duty to ensure that fire cannot spread easily within a property and that there are adequate arrangements in place to be able to evacuate the occupiers without the aid of the Fire and Rescue Service.

The clue is in the name, it is the ‘rescue service and not the evacuation service’ as was once stated at a seminar that I attended on the very issue of evacuation.

Review your risk assessment and take care.

Once again we see that a building under refurbishment has suffered a devastating fire.

Whats so special about that you may ask?

This building in Glasgow famous for its architecture was badly damaged by fire just four years ago and now it and two neighbouring buildings have been severely damaged for a second time.

One has to ask what was learned from the first fire?

What procedures did they have in place to monitor the safety of the building and as they have just spent in the region of 30 million in the refurbishment
who is now going to pay for the rebuild for the second time?

When we train staff in fire safety we always state the ‘Contractors burn down buildings’, statistics show that any building where refurbishment is taking place is at a far greater risk than a normally used building.

Ensure that you have a robust fire safety management fire safety system in place to protect the business and its continuity. this also applies to homes ofcourse.

The Fire Safety Act 2021 (FSA), which is now law in England and Wales, is essentially an update and clarification of the Fire Safety Order 2005. The primary role of the act is to bring fire regulations and standards up to date, taking account of the lessons learnt from the tragic Grenfell fire. Though the act only consists of three primary parts, it has major implications for responsible persons.
So if you are the person responsible for any residential building, you could be held personally liable for any future failures.
The Fire safety Act originates from issues with fire safety issues in high-rise structures, but it also applies to any building containing two or more domestic properties, with new or amended rules that apply to the building’s structure, external walls, and any common parts, including the front doors to each flat. Importantly, the act clarifies those references to external walls in the Fire Safety Order order to include ‘doors or windows in those walls’ and ‘anything attached to the exterior of those walls (including balconies)’.

A trading estate landlord from Keynsham has been ordered to pay almost £15,500 for breaching multiple regulations, including fire safety.

Allan Dykes pleaded guilty to five offences under the Building Regulations Act 2010, for which he was fined £13,000 by North Avon Magistrates’ Court on August 26. He must also pay a victim surcharge of £120 and £2,348 in costs to South Gloucestershire Council in relation to the violations at the Bridge Road trading estate in the Kingswood area of Bristol.

Fire safety in remote locations such as the Antarctic is vital as there is no normal fire service to be called upon.Anglia Fire Assessments is therefore pleased to record that Phillip Leeder MiFireE our senior consultant/trainer was asked to travel to this most remote region to carry out a fire risk assessment of Rothera which is the main Antarctic base for the British Antarctic Survey.

Rothera consists of a number of various risks from aircraft hangers to sleeping accommodation and Phillip also reviewed the general fire procedures and the use of breathing apparatus by the small fire crew that is formed from the workforce.

Phillip spent 10 days on this very interesting assignment and was very impressed by the standards displayed by all the staff that he worked with at the base.

Houses in Multiple Occupancy and Holiday lets have particular issues that must be addressed to keep them compliant with current fire safety legislation.

Issues generally noted:

• No acceptable fire detection system.
• Three smoke alarms were fitted, two did not work, they were all battery operated and not interlinked.
• Several of the first floor windows did not meet the criteria for escape windows and as a result of that the property should have had fire doors to protect the escape from the first floor.
• There was in fact no door to the kitchen so any fire in the kitchen would have directly compromised the means of escape from the first floor.
• No first aid firefighting equipment and no fire instructions.
• No Electrical Testing
• Most fatalities occur in house fires, HIMOs are a very high risk.
• Holiday Let’s do not have suitable means of escape.
• Inappropriate fire alarm systems
• No emergency lighting.
• No suitable emergency plan.

If you are responsible for fire safety in such properties, think carefully, its no good having a nice carpet and flowers if the occupants are trapped upstairs and suffering from smoke inhalation or worse!

Contact us for advice on your responsibilities, do not rely on a letting agency that does not understand the principles of fire safety. You are the Responsible Person, its on your head.

The London Fire Brigade have issued a warning about the use of e bikes and scooters and their associated batteries. Many fires have been recorded as having been caused by these devices.

Be careful where you charge these bikes and scooters as if they malfunction the resulting fire can be very serious and potentially life threatening.

Fridge freezers have also been highlighted as being a very potent fire hazard if a fault occurs, be sure to clean the rear of the freezer on a regular basis and do not position it in a place that may compromise your means of escape should it catch fire.

The continuing risk that Lithium batteries present should not be forgotten, treat them with care, do not let them get damp or overcharge them by using the wrong charger.
Consider where you charge any Lithium battery and this means your phone as if it should go wrong then a small fire involving the battery can soon become a developing fire if it is close to an item that will burn easily.
I recently received photographs of a fire that started in a kitchen draw because loose batteries had come into contact with a conductor that caused a short circuit resulting in a fire within the draw.

Whilst in most cases fire detection systems are not required in the common areas,the basis of the fire safety management system is reliant on the standard of entrance door that each flat is provided with.

If you would like assistance to manage the fire safety in your premises please give Anglia Fire Assessments a call on 01603 872984

Your fire safety managment system should be robust and self reliant and your staff should be trained to be able to effectively operate emergency equipment or implement procedures that you have provided or established.

Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans or PEEP’s should be formulated for anyone that frequents your workplace.

Generic Emergency Evacuation Plans or GEEP’s should be formulated for members of the public.

Suitable fire safety advice should be provided to residents and information relating to the flat entrance doors should be refreshed on an annual basis.

If you are selling a flat many organisations require a fire risk assessment these days to ensure that there are no issues connected with the sale.

Fire safety legislation now requires a fire risk assessment on any building that contains two or more domestic dwellings.

If you manage a low rise block of flats or if you need a fire risk assessment as part of the sale process give us a call on 01603872984. You can also contact us at [email protected]