Module 4 Learning Outcome

Fire prevention and prevention of spread

Objection

  • Control of combustible materials
  • Control of ignition/heat sources
  • Good housekeeping
  • Smoking
Control of combustible materials:

Combustible materials are materials that are able to catch fire and bur easily. Combustible materials are potential fuel sources for a fire. There is a simple hierarchy of control that can be adopted to reduce the risk of fire posed by these materials.

Eliminate – the best option to reduce the risk of fire posed by combustible materials is to eliminate the combustible materials from the workplace.

Substitute – if you can not eliminate the material, you may be able to substitute the combustible material for one that poses less of a fire risk.

Minimise – If these two preferred options can not be carried out, the amount of combustible material present in the workplace should be minimised.

 

Control of ignition/heat sources

Potential ignition sources should be effectively managed to reduce the risk they pose, for example:

  • Electrical equipment should be routinely tested and inspected, to prevent faults which may cause over heating or produce sparks
  • Cooking and heating appliances should be used with care and should be closely supervised, not left unattended.

Good housekeeping

Good housekeeping includes keeping the workplace:

  • Waste free – removing waste on a regular basis to ensure that it does not build up and increase the fire risk as a fuel source.
  • Tidy – ensuring ignition sources are safely stored away after use
  • Well ordered – keeping ignition sources and fuel sources separate.

Smoking

Discarding cigarette materials is a major cause of fire in the workplace. A discarded cigarette can smoulder for several hours and has potential to ignite a fire.

Fire Extinguishers

Fire extinguishers should only be used by those have been trained to use them. They should only be used at the ignition stage in a fire’s development.

Extinguishers work by:

Cooling – reducing or limiting the temperature to take the heat out of the fire

Smothering – limiting the oxygen available by smothering and preventing the oxygen mixing with the flammable vapour

Starving- limiting the fuel supply by removing the source of the fuel.

A chemical reaction – interrupting the chain of combustion

Extinguishers are typically red with 5% of the surface area of the cylinder colour taken up by a band with the colour that indicates the type of extinguisher that it is.

All red- water

Blue – dry powder

Grey – foam

Black – co2

Yellow – wet chemical

Each type of fire extinguisher is suitable for certain types of fires.

Water extinguisher – Class A fire

Dy powder extinguisher – Class A, Class b, Class c and Electrical

Caron dioxide – Class B and Electrical

Foam – Class A Class B

Wet chemical – Class F

 

RISK ASSESSMENT

Owners, landlords and/or occupiers of businesses or other non-domestic premises are responsible for:

  • Carrying out a fire risk assessment of the premises and reviewing it regularly
  • Telling staff or their representatives of the risk they have identified
  • Putting in place and maintaining appropriate fire safety measures
  • Planning for an emergency
  • Providing staff information, fire safety instruction and training

There are many ways to perform a risk assessment, we shall look at it as a five-stage process.

  1. Identify the Hazard
  2. The first stage is to identify the hazards. In regards to a fire risk assessment, you must ask yourself:
  3. Have you found anything that could be an ignition source?
  4. Have you found anything that could be a fuel source?
  5. Identify who maybe harmed and how
  6. You must identify who may be harmed and how. You must ask yourself:
  7. Who could be at risk? (for example, employees, contractors, members of the public and maintenance personnel)
  8. Who could be especially vulnerable? (for example, disabled people and pregnant women)
  • Evaluate the risk and decide on precautions.

You must then evaluate the risk and decide on precautions. While doing this, you must ask yourself:

  • Have you assessed the risks of fire in your workplace?
  • Have you assessed the risk to staff and visitors?
  • Have you kept any source of fuel and heat/sparks apart?
  • If someone wanted to start a fire deliberately, is there anything around they could use?
  • Have you removed or secured any fuel an arsonist could use?
  • Have you protected your premises from accidental fire or arson?
  • How will you know there is a fire?
  • Do you have a plan to warn others?
  • Who will make sure everyone gets out?
  • Who will call the fire service?
  • Could you put out a small fire quickly and stop it spreading?
  • Have you planned escape routes?
  • Have you made sure people will be able to safely find their way out, even at night if necessary?
  • Does all your safety equipment work?
  • Will people know what to do and how to use equipment?
  • Record the significant findings and implement them

The next stage is to record the significant findings and implement them you must ask yourself:

  • Have you made a record of what you have found, and action you have taken?
  • Have you planned what everyone will do if there is a fire?
  • Have you discussed the plan with all staff?
  • Have you informed and trained people (practised a fire drill and recorded how it went).
  • Have you nominated staff to put in place your fire prevention measures, and trained them?
  • Have you made sure everyone can fulfil their role?
  • Have you informed temporary staff?
  • Have you consulted others who share a building with you, and included them in your plan?
  • Review and update as necessary

Changes occur in the workplace all the time, you will need to review your risk assessments when significant changes occur, in order to keep them up to date. It is also good practice to review them regularly to ensure they remain suitable and sufficient.

You must ask yourself:

  • Have you made any changes to the building inside or out?
  • Have you had a fire?
  • Have you changed work place?
  • Have you begun to store chemicals or dangerous substances?
  • Have you significant changed your stock, or stock levels?
  • Have you planned your next fire drill?

FIRE SAFETY ARRANGEMENTS

Objectives:

  • Fire detection and alarm systems
  • Emergency escapes routes and exits
  • Assembly points
  • Emergency lighting
  • Fire safety signs
  • Procedures for vulnerable people
  • Fire drills

Fire Detection and Alarm systems

The aim of a fire warning system is to ensure that people in the workplace are alerted to evacuate before a fire becomes life threatening.

They should be clearly audible, distinctive and easily recognisable by everyone in the building.

The operation and effectiveness of these alarm systems should be regularly checked and tested as well as being periodically serviced.

A simple system can be used in a workplace where all parts can be seen by the occupants, and it has been determined that non detection or alarm system is required. If there is a fire, people will see the fire and shout ‘fire’.

This may be acceptable as long as the workplace is not so large that some people would not hear that shout.

If so a hand-operated alarm might be used (such as a hand bell or whistle).

The next step up is a fire alarm system that can be manually activated from call points.

These call points are usually buttons behind a clear plastic disc that, when hit, breaks and activates the system.

The system will have a central control box and sounders (and/or lights) at positions throughout the workplace that give the alarm.

If there are rooms that are not normally occupied (so a fire might start there and no-one would notice), then a simple automatic detection and alarm system might be fitted, made up of interlinked smoke alarms.

This consists of individual ceiling-mounted units that detect smoke (sometimes heat) from the fire and give the alarm sound. 

These are linked together so that when one sounder activates, all of the sounders emit the alarm.

An automatic Fire detection and alarm systems may be identified to control the risk.

This is a system made up of automatic detectors and manual call points linked into a central control box that in turn is linked into sounders (and/or lights)

If a person sees the fire, they can activate a manual call point and raise the alarm. If there is no person present then the automatic detectors will activate the systems and raise the alarm.

This type of system is commonly used to protect multi-storey buildings.

A duty of a fire warden is to ensure that the alarm can be heard in all parts of their allocated area to ensure its effectiveness and suitability.

You will also have to check break glass call points (manual call point) are visible and have a break glass point sign and emergency fire action notice adjacent to them.

Emergency escape routes and exits:

It’s essential that everyone can evacuate quickly from the workplace if there is a fire. There must be one or more escape routes available for them to use. The escape route is known as the ‘means of escape’.

The following general principles can be applied when it comes to escape routes:

There should be a means of escape available to every person in a workplace, whether they are in an office, plant room, basement, or on a scaffold on a construction site.

The escape route should allow an able-bodied person to use the route unaided. (So, they should not need to use machinery such as a passenger lift)

The escape route must lead a person directly to a place of safety outside the building where there is no immediate danger.

The Travel distance that a person has to cover, from their location in the building to the final exit out of the buildings, should be as short as possible and must meet maximum distance criteria. The distance should be measured from all parts of the premises to the safe area outside of the building.

  • Two or more separate escape routes may have to be provided so that if one route is blocked by a fire, there is another available.
  • The route that a person has to take should be unimpeded by obstructions, such as stored materials or inappropriate doors.
Escape routes should be wide enough to allow free and fast movements of the numbers of people that might be anticipated (and must normally meet minimum width criteria). A 750 mm door will usually allow 40 people through in 1 minute, so most doors and corridors will be wide enough. However, routes that are likely to be used by people in wheelchairs will need to have a minimum width of 800mm.

Revolving doors are not appropriate to have in an escape route, some sliding doors may be suitable providing they slide open easily and are marked with the direction of opening to prevent delay in evacuation.

It is the duty of the fire warden to check that:

  • Combustible materials are not stored in walkways and corridors
  • Escape routes and fire exit doors are kept free of obstructions
  • Fire doors are not tied, propped or wedged open where they should not be
  • Fire doors are being used effectively

Stairways used as means of escape often have to be protected against fire to a higher degree than other parts of a building, this is to ensure that the stairs and corridors will be free of smoke and flame, so that they can be used as escape routes.

The walls, floor and ceilings will, therefore, be fire resistant and doors will be fire doors.

It is important that stairs and corridors are kept free of any equipment or materials that might start, or become involved in a fire.

The same minimum width as doorways will also apply to stairways (usually a minimum of 750mm)

Assembly points:

The assembly point is the place where workers will congregate once they have evacuated the building.

Once there is a roll call that should be undertaken.

Assembly points should be:

  • A safe distance from the building
  • At a safe location (not in a high-risk area)
  • At a location where people can move further away if needed
  • Out of the way of fire-fighters
  • Clearly signed

Signs will also need to be put at the site of the assembly point.

Emergency lighting

The escape route should be clearly signed and appropriately lit.

Emergency lighting should be provided where necessary in case the mains power supply fails.

In small workplaces it may be sufficient to provide employees with torches, however in larger workplaces it may be necessary to provide battery operated mains lights that will automatically come on if the mains power supply fails. The lighting must:

  • Illuminate the escape route
  • Illuminate fire signs and equipment
  • Be maintained in safe working order
  • Be tested routinely

Fire Safety Signs

The escape route should be easy to follow. Signs should be provided so that people can see their available escape routes quickly and easily, leading all the way to the final exit which should also be signed.

They should be the standard shape (rectangular) standard colour (green) and have a pictogram (which might be an arrow, a running man and a final exit door)

Signs may also be put up to show the location of fire extinguishers and manually operated fire alarms.

Signs may be used to indicate that a fire exit needs to be kept clear.

Procedures for Vulnerable people

Workers and members of the public with disabilities will need special consideration when it comes to an evacuation plan.

Employers will need to:

  • Identify the people who may need special help evacuating
  • Allocate responsibility to specific staff to help disabled people in an emergency situation
  • Consider possible escape routes
  • Enable the safe use of lifts
  • Enable people with disabilities to summon help in an emergency
  • Train staff to help their disabled colleagues
  • Consider safe refuges (a protected location, where a person with impaired mobility temporarily waits for assistance to evacuate the building). It is likely that it will be your duty to check any refuge in their area in case someone is waiting for assistance to evacuate.

Fire Drills:

Fire drills should be conducted on a regular basis. This allows employees to practice the procedure to ensure in a real emergency they are prepared.

It also allows for any short comings to be identified and remedied.