Station Manager Adrian Moyse BFS Engagement and Partnerships
Station Manager Adrian Moyse BFS Engagement and Partnerships “Supporting you to protect your business” “Yn eich cefnogi chi I ddiogelu eich busnes”
Fire Safety importance
Aims To Discuss • Fire Risk Assessments • Fire Risk Assessor Competency • Specialised Housing Guide • Evacuation strategies
Objectives • Understand the purpose of a FRA • Understand how SWFRS determines if a FRA is ‘suitable and sufficient’ • Understand ‘competency’ of a Fire Risk Assessor • Be aware of specialised housing guide • Be aware of Evacuation Strategies
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (Fire Safety Order) Any person who has some level of control in premises must take reasonable steps to reduce the risk from fire and make sure people can safely escape if there is a fire
FSO Duties (Articles 8 – 13) 8. Take general fire precautions 9. Carry out risk assessment 10. Apply principles of prevention 11. Fire safety arrangements 12. Elimination of risks (dangerous substances) 13. Fire fighting and detection
FSO Duties (Articles 8 – 13) FSO Duties (Articles 14 – 19) 14. Emergency routes and exits 15. Procedures imminent danger/danger areas 16. Additional measures (dangerous substances) 17. Maintenance 18. Safety assistance 19. Information to employees
FSO Duties (Articles 14 – 19) The Fire Safety Order and Compliance SWFRA enforces the FSO 2005 NOT the guides. It is up to the defendant to prove that he/she has complied with the requirements of the FSO. If there is deviation from the Guides, a rationale must be presented.
Risk Assessment Article 9 - Fire Risk Assessment • Responsible person must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed……. to identify general fire precautions……. to comply with the requirements/prohibitions imposed by the order
Five steps to risk assessment Step 1: Identify hazards, i. e. anything that may cause harm. Step 2: Decide who may be harmed, and how. Step 3: Assess the risks and take action. Step 4: Make a record of the findings. Step 5: Review the risk assessment.
FRA- ‘suitable and sufficient’ • The premises Fire Risk Assessment is the foundation for all Fire Safety measures • SWFRS will audit premises and compare FRA against fire safety of premises as found to determine if ‘suitable and sufficient’. • Over provision-e. g. Fire Extinguishers • Deficiencies- excessive travel distance, FR not correct
Getting it wrong!!! • The manager of The Dial Hotel and Market Inn, in Mansfield, pleaded guilty to 15 offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, while the fire risk assessor from Mansfield Fire Protection Services pleaded guilty to two offences under the legislation. He was ordered to pay costs of £ 15, 000. • John O’Rourke (43), who runs Mansfield Fire Protection Services, was jailed for eight months and ordered to pay £ 5, 862 after admitting two breaches of fire safety requirements
Croftwood Care Home, Halton Lodge, Runcorn • Graham Foote, 70, of Beverley, Yorkshire, was handed a sentence of four months in prison suspended for 12 months for providing a ‘woefully inadequate’ fire risk assessment in his capacity as a private consultant. He must also pay £ 1, 600 in costs • Generic template type document that did not relate directly to the premises for which it was written
Croftwood Care Home • The care home company who had commissioned the risk assessor also pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to provide a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment. Minster Care Management was sentenced over four counts of failing to comply with the Fire Safety Order 2005 legislation over problems at Croftwood Care Home in Halton Lodge. The company was fined £ 40, 000 plus £ 15, 000 in costs over fire safety breaches.
Restaurant, Newton Abbot • A fire risk assessor was found guilty and ordered to pay £ 7, 383 in fines after carrying out an inadequate risk assessment. Mr Craig Richard Stonelake was prosecuted by the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service under Sections 9 and 18 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. (April 2015)
SWFRS Fire Risk Assessor -Mr. Fakir • Followed 2 serious fires in SWFRS area • FRA reviewed- not ‘suitable and sufficient’ • 13 charges relating to failures in carrying out risk assessments at St David’s Hospice Care shops across South Wales • sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years and ordered to undertake 180 hours of unpaid community work.
Choosing a Fire Risk Assessor Competency A person is regarded as competent where they have sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities to enable them properly to implement their role. Competent for types (complexity) of premises FIRE RISK ASSESSMENT COMPETENCY COUNCIL Competency Criteria for Fire Risk Assessors Version 1 Published : 21/12/11
When choosing a FR Assessor 1. Ensure they are on a professional register that and that they meet the competency criteria established by the Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council 2. Check that they have experience of undertaking firerisk assessments for your kind of business and premises 3. Request references from previous clients in premises of your type
When choosing a FR Assessor 4. Ensure that the scope of the work you want carried out is agreed 5. Ensure that you provide the assessor with access to all areas and information 6. Obtain alternative comparable quotes 7. Ask for proof that they have sufficient insurances 8. Keep records of the steps you took in selecting your fire risk
How to find a competent fire risk assessor • It is important that the person who carries out the fire risk assessment is competent. There are two principal methods by which people can demonstrate their competence; • Professional Body Registration schemes • Certification by a Certification Body that is UKAS accredited for the activity • The Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council has published national competency criteria
FR Assessor-The Future? • ‘Building a safer future’ Hackitt review • Working Group 4 -the competency of Fire Risk Assessors and how it might be improved • Different tiers of Fire Risk Assessor • ‘Register of registers’ • Section 12 - code of behaviour for FR assessors • Duty to report ‘dangerous situations’
Report Working Group 4 Fire Risk Assessors
Specialised Housing Guide This guide is intended for buildings, and parts of buildings, in which there is housing intended specifically for people who, by virtue of age, mobility, medical, mental health or cognitive impairment, are, to an extent, vulnerable or dependent, and who benefit from living with as much independence as possible in an environment that meets their particular needs.
Purpose and History of Guide The guide is intended to meet the needs of housing providers and enforcing authorities for guidance tailored to specialised housing. It is intended to assist Responsible Persons to comply with the FSO and Housing Act 2004. Accordingly, it is expected that enforcing authorities will have regard to this guide.
Legal Standing of the document • The guide has not been adopted by the Secretary of State under Article 50 of the Fire Safety Order • However, it was commissioned by the National Fire Chiefs Council • Therefore, it can be used as a guidance document but the ‘adopted’ guides take precedent
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (Fire Safety Order) Article 50 The secretary of state must ensure that such guidance is available to assist the RP in the discharge of the duties imposed by articles 8 -22 “This is distinguished by premises type”
Enforcing the FSO- Guidance Documents
Specialised Housing guide • This current guide is intended as a “sister” guide to the Local Government Association guide. Although there is some overlap between the two guides, it is intended that, for sheltered housing, this guide supersedes the Local Government Association guide, though nothing in this guide conflicts with the more limited guidance on sheltered housing within the Local Government Association guide. (Page 6 of Specialised Housing Guide)
Specialised Housing Definitions ‘Any proposal to avoid the scope of this guidance, simply by adopting a different name for housing that by the nature of its objectives and intended residents, can equally be described as specialised housing, would be subject to strong disapproval and open to a robust challenge. Extra Care-Sheltered-Supported’
SHG and Vulnerable People • In England, around 2 per cent of housing stock comprises units of sheltered and extra care housing • Yet, during 2010 -2016, around 7 per cent of dwelling fires occurred within this type of housing • Around 1. 1 per cent of the English population live in sheltered and extra care housing. • Yet, during 2010 -2016, nearly 5 per cent of all fire deaths in dwellings occurred in this type of housing.
Vulnerable People
Relative Risk Age as a factor
Relative Risk FSO Duties (Articles 14 – 19) Those living in specialised housing can be amongst the most vulnerable to hazards such as fire. Compliance with the Building Regulations alone is not necessarily sufficient to address the protection of vulnerable residents from fire. What can be done?
Looking beyond the Fire Risk Assessment FSO Duties (Articles 14 – 19) • The PREMISES Fire Risk Assessment is the foundation for all Fire Safety measures • But this supported by the PERSON CENTRED FIRE RISK ASSESSMENT in Specialised Housing.
Person Centred Fire Risk Assessment (2. 1 page 13) much of the person-centred approach contained in this guide can, and should, be applied to protect highly vulnerable individuals living in general needs flats and houses. Community Fire Safety involvement.
EVACUATION • Strategy is based on the Premises FRA. • Must suit premises and residents. • Must have appropriate alarm system. • Must be communicated to residents and any staff/persons who are involved.
Types of Evacuation • Stay put • Depends on compartmentation. • Most general purpose built blocks of flats. • Simultaneous Evacuation • Must consider ability of residents to evacuate. • Escape routes must have sufficient capacity.
Evacuation or Rescue? Evacuation To move people from a dangerous place to somewhere safe. Rescue To help someone or something out of a dangerous, harmful, or unpleasant situation https: //dictionary. cambridge. org/dictionary/english/situation
Fire service perspective Evacuation To move people from a place of potential danger to a place of relative safety. Rescue To help someone or something in imminent danger from a dangerous place to a place of relative safety. Adrian Moyse 2020
Evacuation plan considerations • Type of proposed evacuation? • Does premises structure support this? • Is it suitable for residents? • PEEPS/vulnerable persons information • Are there suitable numbers of staff available? • Is suitable alarm and fire detection system present?
Fire Service Role in Evacuation Para 3. 4. 3 Escape Routes • Once a fire has started, been detected and a warning given, everyone in your premises should be able to escape to a place of total safety unaided and without the help of the fire and rescue service. However, some people with disabilities and others with special needs may need help from staff who will need to be designated for the purpose. CDLG Guide Fire Safety in Sleeping Accommodation
Fire Service Role in Evacuation (54) Evacuation of disabled occupants or occupants that require assistance to escape Providing an accessible means of escape should be an integral part of fire safety management in all residential buildings. Fire safety management should take into account the full range of people who might use the premises, paying particular attention to the needs of disabled people. NOTE 1 It is the responsibility of the premises management to assess the needs of all people to make a safe evacuation when formulating evacuation plans. An evacuation plan should not rely on the assistance of the fire and rescue service. BS 9991: 2015 - Fire safety in the design, management and use of residential buildings .
Fire Service Role in Evacuation While the design of the means of escape and other fire safety measures in these premises is not based on external assistance, there will, ultimately, be reliance on RESCUE by the fire and rescue service in the event that some individual residents cannot escape by themselves. Specialised Housing Guide
Fire Service Role in Evacuation …. the role of the fire and rescue service does not involve routine evacuation of premises. Accordingly, in specialised housing with a simultaneous evacuation strategy, such as most supported housing, management of evacuation is not the responsibility of the fire and rescue service. If assistance is required for evacuation of residents beyond the accommodation in which a fire starts, this should be provided by staff on the premises, though the fire and rescue service may be involved in rescue of a person in whose accommodation a fire occurs. The fire and rescue service may also assist with evacuation if it is not completed by the time of their attendance. ( SHG 17. 15 Page 45)
Fire Service Role in Evacuation It is, therefore, a fundamental principle that escape route design in specialised housing should not rely on external rescue by the fire and rescue service. ( SHG 17. 2 Page 43) In supported housing with a simultaneous evacuation strategy, characteristics of residents need to be taken into account to ensure that, if residents cannot evacuate themselves, sufficient assistance to evacuate is available without the need for intervention by the fire and rescue service. (Page 89)
Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans • A bespoke plan which is designed to meet a person’s particular needs to evacuate. • Hence, assistance will need to be provided and staff will need to be provided for this. • When a PEEP is identified the RP must provide the staff/persons to facilitate this at ALL times.
Local Government Association – Fire Safety in Purpose Built Blocks of Flats • In general needs blocks of flats, it can be… expected that a resident’s physical and mental ability will vary. It is usually unrealistic to expect landlords… to have in place special arrangements such as personal emergency evacuation plans. Such plans rely on the presence of staff and others to assist the person to escape in a fire. • Hence PEEPS not required- better to have vulnerable persons ‘information’
Summary • FRA ‘suitable and sufficient’ • FR Assessor competency • Specialised Housing Guide’s scope. • Person Centred Fire Risk assessment. • Design of Evacuation plan and considerations. • FRS role regarding evacuation. • Plan for Evacuation not RESCUE. • PEEP-consider staff requirements.
Thank you for listening and if you have any questions please ask.
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