Fire Procedure

INTRODUCTION

THE FIRE SAFETY ORDER

New Fire Safety Legislation under the Regulatory reform (Fire Safety) order 2005 (RRO) came into affect on the 1st October 2006.

The order replaces previous fire safety legislation. Any fire certificate issued under the Fire Precautions act 1971 will cease to have any effect.

If you have already carried out a fire risk assessment under the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 as amended 1999, and this assessment has been regularly reviewed then all you will need to do is revise the assessment taking account of the wider scope of the order.

The order applies to England and Wales. It covers general fire precautions and other fire safety duties, which are needed to protect ‘Relevant Persons’ in case of fire in and around most premises. The order requires fire precautions to be put in place ‘where necessary’ and to the extent that it is reasonable and practicable in the circumstances to do so.

Responsibility for complying with the order’ rests with the responsible person (e.g. Manager or designated person). If you are the responsible person you must carry out a fire risk assessment, which must focus on the safety of all relevant persons. It should pay particular attention to those at special risk, such as disabled people, those you know have special needs and children, and must include consideration of any dangerous substance liable to be on the premises. Your fire risk assessment will help you identify risks that can be removed or reduced and decide the nature and extent of the general fire precautions you need to take.

There are some other fire safety duties you will need to comply with:

  • You must appoint one or more competent persons, depending on the size and use of your premises, to carry out any of the preventative and protective measures required by the order (You can nominate yourself). A competent person is someone with enough training and experience or knowledge and other qualities to be able to implement these measures properly.
  • You must provide your employees with clear and relevant information on the risks to them identified by the fire risk assessment, about the measures taken to prevent fires, and how these measures will protect them if a fire breaks out.
  • You must consult your employees (or their elected representatives) about nominating people to carry out particular roles in connection with fire safety and about proposals for improving the fire precautions.
  • You must before you employ a child, provide a parent with clear and relevant information on the risks to that child identified by the fire risk assessment, the measures you have put in place to prevent/protect them from fire and inform any other responsible person of any risks to that child arising from their undertaking.
  • You must inform non-employees, such as temporary or contract workers, of the relevant risks to them, to provide them with information about who are the nominated competent persons, and about the fire safety procedures for the premises.
  • You must consider the presence of any dangerous substance and the risk this presents to relevant persons from fire.
  • You must provide the employer of any person from an outside organisation who is working in your premises (e.g. agency providing temporary staff) with clear and relevant information on the risks to those employees and the preventative and protective measures taken. You must also provide the employees with appropriate instructions and relevant information about the risks to them. If you are not the employer but have any control of premises which contain more than one workplace, you are also responsible for ensuring that the requirements of the order are compiled with those parts over which you have control.
  • You must provide appropriate information, instruction and training to your employees, during their normal working hours, about the fire precautions in your workplace, when they start working for you, and from time to time throughout the period they work for you.
  • You must ensure that the premises and any equipment provided in connection with fire fighting, fire detection and warning, or emergency routes and exits are covered by a suitable system of maintenance, and are maintained by a competent person, in an efficient state and in working order and in good repair.
  • Your employees must co-operate with you to ensure the workplace is safe from fire and its effects, and must not do anything that will place themselves of other people at risk.
FIRE PROCEDURES

The Purpose of Fire Drills

The responsibility for carrying out fire drills rests with the owners/occupier of the premises. A fire drill is intended to ensure by means of training and rehearsal, that in the event of fire: -

(a)The people who may be in danger act in a calm and orderly manner. Where necessary, those designated carry out their allotted duties to ensure the safety of all concerned.

(b)The means of escape is used in accordance with a pre-determined and practised plan.

(c)If evacuation of the building becomes necessary, it is speedy and orderly.

Practice fire drills Will be carried out by ______?______at least twice a year. Where there are alternative means of escape, the drill should be based on the assumption that one or more of the escape routes cannot be used because of the fire. During these drills a member of staff who is told of the supposed outbreak should operate the fire alarm and thereafter the fire routine should be rehearsed as fully as circumstances allow. This may raise some difficulties where members of the public are present, but such a procedure is still desirable. In such a case, if times are chosen when relatively few people are present and advance notice of the drill is given, many of the difficulties will be overcome.

In many organisations it is the practice to appoint a small number of people, usually safety representatives and managers, to observe fire drills, informing them beforehand that the drill is about to take place, where the supposed fire outbreak is and which escape route is to be obstructed. Afterwards the observers, who have by then consulted their colleagues, meet with senior management to discuss the fire drill and identify any failings. This practice is to be commended.

When fire precautions are drawn up for the workplace, it is important that all staff are considered, including any disabled employees and those who may be less fit than others, but without a visual impairment. It is also advisable to involve trade union and safety representatives. Staff should also be told to alert management to any personal problems (even if temporary), which could affect their ease of escape from the workplace. Experience shows that employees naturally look to their supervisors for direction if an emergency occurs, so it is important that all managers know the procedures to follow if there is an alarm of fire and the role that they play in such an emergency. Firm guidance may be necessary as members of the public and untrained members of staff cannot be relied upon to act rationally in the event of fire.

Supervisors should know which members of staff require special consideration and help if evacuation is necessary and of their special needs in an emergency. There is a British Standard (BS 5588: Part 8, Code of Practice for means of escape for disabled people), which explains about means of escape and evacuation procedures for the disabled and in appropriate cases this should be used in determining the means of escape from the premises.

Wheelchair users and staff with impaired mobility should be asked how they can best be helped as in some circumstances, e.g. where stairs must be negotiated, it may be necessary for these staff to be carried. If this situation is likely to arise, managers should consider training able-bodied members of staff in the correct methods of doing so. Advice on lifting and carrying disabled people may be obtained from the Fire Brigade, the Ambulance Service, the British Red Cross Society or the St. John Ambulance Brigade. Lifts must not be used in the event of a fire except lifts which are specially designed for the evacuation of the disabled as specified in British Standard 5588: Part 8.

The type and location of fire safety signs may be specified in a fire certificate, but in all cases the signs should be sited so that they are easily seen and readily distinguishable. Staff with impaired vision may nevertheless experience difficulty in identifying fire safety signs and should therefore be encouraged to familiarise themselves with escape routes, especially those which are not in general daily use.

It is often useful for a member of staff with impaired vision to work near a normally sighted person who can then warn their colleague in the event of a fire and accompany him or her along the escape route. The sighted person should normally lead, inviting the other person to grasp his or her elbow or shoulder lightly, in order to gain information about doors and steps etc. Assistance should be offered to guide dog owners and in these cases it is recommended that the helper hold the leash and not the dog’s harness.

Supervisors should ensure that after leaving the building, staff with impaired vision are not abandoned but led to the assembly point which is a place of safety, for role call purposes where colleagues should remain with them until the emergency is over.

Staffs who have impaired hearing may have difficulty in hearing the fire alarm, but they may not be insensitive to sound. Many people with severe impairment have sufficiently clear perception of some types of conventional audible alarm signals to require no special provision. Where this is not the case, there will in most situations be colleagues about, who can alert them to the need for evacuation and it will be reasonable to rely on those other staff to provide the necessary warning.

In certain work situations, such as premises where there are a significant number of profoundly deaf staff, alternative types of alarm may be necessary. Technical advice on the selection of suitable devices may be obtained from the Royal National Institute for the Deaf. 105 Gower Street, London, WC1E 6AH

Supervisors should ensure that any mentally handicapped staff are reassured in the event of fire and led to the assembly point, which is a place of safety, for role call purposes. They should not be left unattended.

If it is proposed to employ persons for the first time who are physically impaired by any of the above disabilities, you are advised to contact the Fire Authority for advice to ensure adequate fire safety provisions.

FIRE PROCEDURE

The attached documentation contains full details of the procedure to be adopted if there is a fire at ______?______

It is essential that all occupants are made aware of the procedure to be adopted. It is incumbent upon all Tenants to ensure that their staff, including temporary contract personnel, are made fully conversant with these procedures.

ATTACHMENTS

FIRE PROCEDURES

FIRE INSTRUCTIONS

ASSEMBLY POINTS MAP

ASSEMBLY POINTS

ASSEMBLY POINT LOCATIONS FOR TENANTS

PLAN OF FIRE ZONES

FIRE MARSHALS

CHIEF MARSHALS

DUTIES OF FIRE MARSHALS

DUTIES OF CHIEF MARSHALS

FIRST AIDERS

SECONDARY ASSEMBLY POINT

LOCATIONS OF SECONDARY ASSEMBLY POINT

FIRE PROCEDURE

Any person discovering a fire:

  1. Sound the alarm.
  1. Attack the fire if possible using the appliances provided (Do not take risks).
  1. Call the Fire Brigade (or ensure this has been done).

On hearing the fire alarm:

  1. Leave the building by the nearest exit. Do not return for any reason until authorised to do so.

Remember:

  1. Do not stop to collect personal belongings.
  1. Do not wait for further warnings.
  1. Do not re-enter the building.

FIRE INSTRUCTIONS

All occupants should find out where the alarm points are on each floor of the building, and how the alarms can be made to work by breaking the glass.

Locations of all fire exits on each of the floors, including the Ground Floor, are imperative.

If a fire is discovered, the nearest alarm should be operated. On hearing the alarm, occupants should leave the building immediately. Occupants should not stop for personal belongings.

  1. Occupants should leave the building by the nearest fire exit and assemble at their relevant Assembly Zone in order of their respective companies, so that a check can be made by the Fire Marshal to ascertain where or not the building has been cleared. Occupants must not run or push other personnel leaving the building. The available exits will allow an orderly evacuation of the building within two or three minutes. A person is to be nominated by each company to act as Fire Marshal to ensure that their premises are cleared as quickly as possible.
  2. Occupants entertaining visitors must escort them to the Assembly Point.
  3. The building should not be re-entered after it has been evacuated until the Fire Brigade or Chief Marshal has given instructions.
  1. The fire alarm is tested every ______at ______by a short ringing of the fire alarm bells. Fire drills will take place at lease twice a year. Fire drills must be conducted according to the procedure outlined above and should not differ from that followed in a real emergency.

Assembly Fire Points

ZONE 1------

ZONE 2------

CHIEF MARSHALS

An employee of ______?______Limited will undertake the role of the Chief Marshal.

DUTIES OF CHIEF MARSHALS

  1. To take up a position at the assembly points.
  2. To receive details of safe evacuation of all floors from Fire Marshals.
  3. To report to the Fire Control Point – Main Entrance – to direct the Fire Brigade.
  4. To inform the Fire Brigade of the results of the evacuation.
  5. To give instructions for the re-occupation of the building when safe to do so.

DUTIES OF FIRE MARSHALS

  1. To ensure that everyone within their respective companies is informed of the Fire Evacuation Procedures and has knowledge of the Primary and Secondary Means of Escape from their work areas.
  2. During an evacuation, ensure that everyone is directed to the nearest safe escape route.
  3. To make appropriate arrangements for the safe evacuation of any disable staff or visitors.
  4. To check the toilet areas, rest rooms, meeting rooms, etc., on their floor, to ensure personnel are evacuated.
  1. To report to the Chief Marshal on safe evacuation of building section and confirm areas have been checked.
  1. To prevent staff from re-entering building before the all clear has been given.

To arrange, in the event of their absence, for a responsible person to be appointed to take over the role of Fire Marshal

DUTIES OF ? CHIEF MARSHALS

During office hours (Monday to Friday______) procedures for evacuation are as follows:-

Traininer?To train staff.

Marshal 1: To headcount Zone 1 (Reserve Marshal 2)

Marshal 2:To headcount Zone 2(Reserve Marshal 1)

Please note, out-of-hours fire alarm will automatically notify Alarm-Response/Security and Fire Brigade.

DO NOT ENTER BUILDING UNTIL ALL CLEAR IS GIVEN BY THE FIRE OFFICER

RECEPTION (located ______)

Note: The fire alarm system is/is not connected to the fire Brigade.

(This area to be configured according to the specifics of the site)