INSTITUTE NEWS
IHEEM and NAHFO launch new initiative to jointly pilot Fire Risk Assessor register
A new initiative from IHEEM’s Fire Safety Technical Platform is about to be piloted which may result in a collaborative approach to meeting an identified need for a healthcare-specific register for fire risk assessors, writes Platform Chair, Maz Daoud, who is Fire Safety Officer, NHS England and NHS Improvement. He said: “The development follows the December 2020 publication of the final report of the Competence Steering Group for Building a Safer Future (set up under the auspices of the Industry Response Group, established in the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell tragedy), entitled Setting the Bar, and a recommendation therein regarding higher-risk buildings, as follows: ‘Accredited third party certification of fire risk assessors and organisations should be introduced with registers of persons assessed by organisations accredited by others.’”
IHEEM and NAHFO (the National Association of Healthcare Fire Officers) are working together with their respective expertise, the latter with a wealth of knowledge and experience in fire safety in healthcare, the former with the expertise in AE appointments, Engineering Council backing, and available resources. The aim is to establish a registration process for Fire Risk Assessors based on guidance and recommendations from: n The Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council.
n Setting the Bar. n PAS 79. n HTM 05-03 Part K.
This will be utilising a peer-reviewed
process similar to that for registering AEs. The register will only be for high-risk healthcare premises where there are at least dependent patients, although this may include mental health facilities. Maz Daoud explained: “The register will consider the specific premises and hazards within healthcare buildings, and ensure that the competency of the assessor is sufficient to complete a ‘suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed for the purpose of identifying the general fire precautions which the responsible person needs to take’. In addition, there is likely to be some inclusion of business continuity and emergency planning, due to the significant indirect life safety issues which may be caused by the loss of healthcare facilities due to fire.”
The verification process will be designed to assess certain competencies and abilities in order to provide information on an applicant’s knowledge, training, experience, and other qualities, which together will form part of their competence to provide a fire risk assessment in healthcare premises providing treatment or care. Items which the assessor must show a suitable knowledge of will include the dependency of patients, the presence of potential
hazards such as oxygen (MGPS and cylinders), fire compartmentation and ventilation and how they will affect fire growth and spread, plus an emphasis on human behaviour, and management and assessment of training of staff. The assessment will include reviewing fire risk assessments which have been completed by the applicant.
“Initially a pilot will be run to trial the process and should commence imminently,” Maz Daoud explained. “Following this, it is anticipated that the process will initially be open to all UK individuals who provide fire risk assessments as outlined above, in line with UK legislative requirements, whether the premises are run by the NHS or privately.” Anyone currently undertaking fire risk assessment in healthcare premises who would like to take part in the pilot should contact Maz Daoud by email at:
mazin.daoud@nhs.net
Maz Daoud.
Your chance to share expertise and knowledge produce good article
One of the key purposes of Health Estate Journal is to keep readers informed and up-to-date on some of the latest advances in technology, examples of best practice in running and maintaining key plant and equipment in hospitals and other healthcare facilities, and the latest thinking on all aspects of healthcare engineering and estate management.
Accordingly, the Editor is always on the lookout for good article content, and while many suppliers to the sector
8 Health Estate Journal July 2021
material, a greater number of feature articles with a more independent, technical bias would be hugely welcome, especially from IHEEM members – on anything from medical gas pipeline systems, infection control and the built environment, and the upkeep and optimal use of HVAC systems plant, to making the most efficient the use of existing estate.
If you have an idea for a feature article, please in the first instance email a synopsis to the Editor, Jonathan Baillie,
at:
jonathanbaillie@stepcomms.com, setting out what you would cover. Articles in HEJ are based on an approximate word count of 750 words per page, and should ideally be anything from a minimum of two and a half, to a maximum of four and a half, pages in length, and accompanied by a concise author biography, and hi-res photo (minimum 300 dpi resolution, at a minimum size at that resolution of about 15 cms wide or deep), plus at least a couple of other supporting hi-res images per page of text.
Completed articles targeted at publication in a particular issue should reach the Editor around five weeks prior to publication date, which is between the fifth and the eighth of each month.
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