Four Peterborough bars flagged up as fire safety risks
The Safer Peterborough Partnership has identified four city centre bars as having breached fire safety regulations, possibly putting their customers and staff in danger.
The Partnership – made up of a number of organisations dedicated to reducing crime and antisocial behaviour in the area – sent out a task force to conduct spot checks on five city centre bars, with the aim of discovering whether they were following fire safety regulations or not.
The task force revealed that four out of the five drinking establishments they visited had breached fire safety regulations in some way, either with blocked or otherwise obstructed fire exits or fire doors that were left open.
The owners of the bars have now been advised to review their fire training practices and arrange for these relatively minor problems to be rectified as soon as possible.
Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service safety officer Steve Robinson said:
“Fire safety standards were found to be poor in four out of five of the premises we inspected on the night.
“This means that the safety of those inside had been put at risk and demonstrates why these inspections are so important.”
Fire risk assessments: the all-important checklist
If you are responsible for fire safety in your business or organisation, undertaking a fire risk assessment is the first thing you should turn your attention to.
The fire risk assessment underpins and informs every other fire safety procedure you may put in place at your work premises. It helps you to identify risks and problems and find ways to address them, as well as generally improving safety for everyone within the business. More importantly, conducting and reviewing a fire risk assessment is legally required for all UK business premises.
The following is a series of questions and points to consider when undertaking your fire risk assessment. Remember – your risk assessment won’t be complete until you have looked at everything the checklist.
Identifying hazards – look for:
• Sources of ignition (i.e. heaters, electrical equipment etc)
• Flammable materials and their proximity to sources of ignition
People at risk
Although everyone is at risk in a fire, the risk may be greater for some people e.g. visitors, children, disabled and elderly people.
Taking action
After evaluating your findings, you can start to remove risks and implement fire safety measures accordingly. These measures include things like planning escape routes, fitting fire alarms and implementing fire awareness training.
Record your findings
Keep a detailed record of your findings and actions, so that they may be used as part of future fire training.
Review
Make sure to review your risk assessment regularly, especially if you change your building in any way.
FPA claims UK is behind Europe for fire safety in food manufacturing
The Fire Protection Association (FPA) has claimed that the UK lags way behind the rest of Europe when it comes to the use of fire safety measures such as sprinkler systems in food warehouses.
The FPA states that in order for sprinkler systems to become mandatory, UK factories and commercial/industrial warehouses must span more than 20,000 square metres. When compared to the rest of Europe, this is 10 times more than the legally enforceable threshold in countries like Denmark, France, Spain and Germany.
In another comparative analysis, the FPA’s technical director Dr James Glockling revealed that the cost of fire (i.e. damage to property, business losses) to UK businesses in 2008 was £865 million. Meanwhile, businesses in Germany in the same year only paid out £400 million in fire-related costs.
Speaking of the importance of using fire prevention measures such as sprinkler systems alongside fire alarms and proper fire safety training for staff, the FPA’s associate director Simon Bird said:
“In recent years we have seen a number of large fires at food industry facilities and, in the majority of these cases, it is our view that sprinkler protection would have made a very significant difference in terms of safety of occupants, reduction of economic loss, business continuity and preservation of jobs”.
Fire Service voices concerns over fire safety in Welsh pubs
Following a series of recent audits and inspections of licensed premises, officers from North Wales Fire & Rescue Service have expressed their concern over the inadequate levels of fire safety measures they found.
The fire service, which is responsible for enforcing the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, unearthed alarming fire safety deficiencies in the bars, pubs and clubs it inspected. These included problems with fire alarm systems, fire doors, exits and escapes, emergency lighting, fire risk assessments and fire safety training for staff.
As well as explaining how these deficiencies could be putting members of the public in jeopardy, a North Wales Fire & Rescue Service representative outlined what could happen to business owners whose premises aren’t up to standard. Business Education Manager Mark Kassab warned:
“We have the power under the legislation to issue enforcement notices to make responsible persons improve standards and restrict or close the premises where the risk of injury or death from fire is unacceptable.
“We can also ask for the Local Authority to review a licensed premises where we have found significant problems. Failure to comply with the Fire Safety Order can result in prosecution with fines and imprisonment for offences.”
Who fire training courses are aimed at
It is important for business owners, employers and those in control of premises are aware about current regulations regarding fire safety in the workplace. This means that as the person responsible for ensuring that this legislation is being followed correctly, you need to determine which members of staff should go on fire training courses.
According to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which states that you “must ensure that your employees are provided with adequate safety training”, this requires you to send every member of staff on a suitable fire awareness course.
Whether they are working for you as a permanent employee or on a part-time basis, even as an external contractor in something like security, you still need to make sure that they have had fire awareness training.
Once this has been achieved you also need to comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2006 which expects you to have enough competent individuals to perform evacuation duties in addition to carrying out regular checks on the fire safety systems installed on your premises, so that they are in full working order. To this end, you need to consider sending selected members of staff on a fire warden training course too.