Sep
28
Fire Risk Assessment | Fire Safety Audit
September 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment
“You’ll have to pull down that beautiful molded Victorian ceiling and put ½” plaster board on to conform to the fire regulations”.
Before I go any further I would like to state that I think the relatively new laws on having a Fire Risk Assessment produced by the owner of a building or by any person that has some level of control of a premises, there buy removing responsibility for making sure all fire precautions are in place from the then Fire Officers, now Fire Inspectors, is absolutely, 100% correct.
That said the advice that is given by the Fire Inspectors must be collectively identical in identical situations that arises and that the whole extent of options be presented.
I’ve read one or to complaints on the internet with regard to businesses in different parts of the country; having to solve the same fire precaution problem but in totally different way’s and at totally different levels.
The opening statement was conveyed to me by a Fire Officer’s assistant with the fire officer stood beside him making notes. He then went into why it had to happen; the point he made was a very good one and the way it was explained to me anyone would have agreed it had to happen.
It was only that the ceiling was so ornate (1872) and I was in the very early stages of developing a guest house that I said;
“I couldn’t”
“I couldn’t bring down that beautiful ceiling; I’ll do something else with the building”
This kind of flummoxed them a little and prompted them to come up with an alternative, which was go to the room above and put down hard board over the floor boards to create an ½ hour ceiling below.
That is the type of thing that was happening prior to the 2006 introduction of Fire Risk Assessments; the latter cost around £80, replacing the ceiling would have cost a whole lot more.
It still appears to happening today. I was told by our Fire Inspector that he will not tell me what to do, but he will offer me advice. This came in the form of being asked what I though of a situation, having identified a potential problem, and it progressed with, what do you think could happen? How can you put it right?
So I thought it might be a good idea to have some where to record these different problems, how the problems are solved and most importantly what advice you received from your Fire Inspector.
It should be really helpful to all businesses, having some where to vent there frustrations, view what’s happening to other people in other parts of the country, find out the best way to solve a problem and compare Fire Inspectors advice.
The Law states that “Fire Risk Assessments must be carried out by the owner of the building or by any person that has some level of control in the premises, taking reasonable steps to reduce the risk from fire and make sure people can safely escape if there is a fire”.
That in it’s self puts the owner of the building or the person that has some level of control more or less on their own, alone, with all the fire regulations and his local Fire Inspector.
I don’t know all the fire regulations and nether do most business owners and that probable applies even more so to the people who just have some level of control.
So I hope this site will develop into a haven for us all, so where not to alone.
I’ve put together a copy of what our local Fire Inspectors advised me to do in our building, which you can down load from the link above.
Please enter your experiences in the comment section below
And don’t hesitate to ask me any question. I’m not an expert in fire regulations but I’ve been through the process of developing our Fire Rsk Assessment and had the fire inspector call to comment on it .
Vew a copy of our Fire Risk Assessment
Have a good year.
Tony
Sep
24
The Fire Inspector Cometh, Well Nearly.
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Free Fire Risk Assessment Procedure
Ready For the Fire Inspector
On the morning of the 18th February 2009 I had all my bit and bobs, check list for my smoke detectors, plan of the building showing the location of all the appliance’s, a test sample of the fire retardant fabric we used to cover one of the ceilings in a guest room, I made sure all the fire doors were closed, everything was ready.
Don’t forget after we went above six sleeping places we installed a full fire alarm system and received our fire certificate, so I was use to seeing Fire Officers over the last fifteen years, so I wasn’t anxious or stressed.
The Frie Inspector was due at 10.00am, at 10.15 I though funny, there always on timet, I went and read his letter again, yes, 10.00 am 18th February 2009. He must be a busy man, I thought.
At 11am I thought he might have phoned, at 12 noon I phoned him, no answer. There where two phone numbers on the letter I tried them both still no answer, it’s just after 12, there having lunch I’ll phone back after lunch, wait a minute fire department out to lunch I’d better start recording whats going on. I phoned both numbers at 1pm 3pm and 4pm nothing.
Just a thought
I was really surprised looking on the net for the price of fire doors, there is now a product on the market that is like wallpaper, put on with a special adhesive that gives half hour fire resistance to walls and ceilings that will save people a lot of money in the past to obtain a one hour ceiling you had to put up two lots of plaster board.
Fire Risk Assessment Procedure
www.cornerstonesguesthouse.com
Aug
24
No Fire Risk Assessment
August 24, 2009 | 1 Comment
photo credit: namestartswithj89
The Next Day
Fire Risk Assessment Procedure fill in your email on the right.
I’d just turned off the dish washer and put the breakfast dishes away, it was 10am and there was a knock at the door, post, must be a parcel, opened the front door.
“Good morning, I’ll just show you my I.D. before I cross your threshold”
“hhhhhiiii Come in” I had my dazed look going on.
“I’ve come to view your fire risk assessment, is there some where we can sit”.
I showed him into the sitting room the one with the fire door wedged open. O dear. I could have mentioned at this point, so where were you yesterday then, but something told me not to.
“Right, can I see your fire risk assessment”
I thought, now be honest, he is asking you for something I think I haven’t got, quick.
“When you say fire risk assessment do you mean I have an assessment to give you”
“Yes”
“O, I though you where going to do an assessment and I had to carry out any adjustments that may be necessary and maintain it”
“So you haven’t got one”
“No”
I could see that the Fire Inspector was no clip board and he went on to explain that when the Fire Certificates were in use the fire officer came round every year to check the premises, (as I knew) but if anything went wrong in a building say a fire, it was said more often than not by who ever was in charge of the building that, the fire officer past it.
See what happened yesterday in the next post?
Fire Risk Assessment Procedure
Aug
18
Do you have a Fire Risk Assessment?
August 18, 2009 | 2 Comments
photo credit: Eduardo Hulshof
Do you have a Fire Risk Assessment? No but I’ll get one off the Fire Inspector.
Fire Risk Assessment Procedure
So the doors where re-hung and everything was ready ten days before the local Fire Inspector was due on the 18 February 09.
I thought I’d better have a look at the letter I was sent to see if there was anything I’d missed. Once I had recognised that the three fire doors might not be quite up to standard everything else was shelved while I put them right, including the letter from the Fire Inspector.
In the back of my mind I knew that even though fire certificates had been abolished I had carried on doing the same checks as if it was still in place so things could’nt be that bad.
I glanced over the letter and the opening line read.
“You must have a Fire Risk Assessment”
Yes right, he’s going to give me a fire risk assessment and I’ll probably have to maintain it, ok.
I was still thinking of the old regime and I must admit a little of what had happened in the past kept me on those lines.
We had been receiving visits from Fire Officers once a year for the last 18 years and about every two years and on a few occasions every year it would be a different officer and each one had a different take on things.
That shouldn’t be there, to some officers, was ok with others,
“We’re not interested in your private accommodation”.
I was told for a number of years; only to be told by another officer.
“O yes we must see the whole building”
After that visit we had to install, a fire alarm call point with audible bell in our bed room.
It gets a little amusing, serous, and embarrassing over the next couple of posts.
Aug
4
Time to Check our Fire Precautions
August 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment
I Should have read the letter from the Fire Inspector
A Fire Risk Assessment Procedure
So the Fire Offiicer is calling 18th of February, that seemed odd, it was the 15th of January, it’s usually the next day, that gives me a month before he comes. It was a couple of days after the fire officer had left the paper work, still with out looking at the letter and thinking I had a month before he comes, I grabbed a note pad and pen and decided to do an inspection.
At the end of my inspection the job list read,
- Two automatic door closers needed adjusting.
- Three fire doors needed intumescent strips re-gluing.
- Three fire doors were not looking to good and could do with re-varnishing.
The first two items are quite easily done, however re-coating the doors with intumescent vanish is a longish process having done it to most of the doors in the building.
So why not just go out and buy the real thing.
It’s the look, The Cornerstones Guest House was built in1872 and has pitch pine doors though out the building and when striped of all paint look beautiful.
New fire doors cost around £170. With bits and bobs, to upgrade our three old doors, if I was doing it for the first time, would have cost around £130.00 for the lot, however having already striped the doors once and upgraded them with a water based fire resistant varnish some years ago, to get the varnish off this time will cost us £45.00 a door, normaly to strip a door of paint costs £8.00 to £10.00, but still worth it for the look.
I’ll let you know the process in my next post.
How to put toghther a Fire Risk Assessment Procedure