HEALTHCARE FIRE SAFETY


best use of available resources and comply with legislative requirements.


n What do I need to do? Ensure that an emergency plan has been developed and tested, which may include a ‘seek and search’ protocol to reduce the incidence of UwFS ‘as far as reasonably practicable’.


Next article The next article in this series will take a close look at HTM 05-03 Part A, which now solely covers fire safety training. In addition, NHS England will be hosting a webinar on the new 05 series HTMs, and is continuing to work on reviewing the HTM 05 series, the next of which will be HTM 05-01 on fire safety management.


A smoke alarm in a staff residential kitchen.


service. A robust protocol should be established and disseminated to all staff concerned, to ensure that the appropriate procedures are followed for each alarm signal generated. These arrangements should be included in the fire risk assessment, fire safety policy, and emergency plan for the healthcare facility, and will be dependent on the healthcare facility, its occupancy, and use. In addition to using information from the facility’s users, modern technology provides a range of options for confirming the cause of an alarm. The best way to prevent false alarms from being transmitted as UwFS to the fire and rescue service is to stop them on site. On activation of an alarm, the


fire response team should be sent to investigate the incident without compromising their safety. Those staff sent to investigate should be appropriately trained, and have sufficient means of readily contacting the central point from which the incident is being controlled. On arrival at the area where the alarm activation occurred, attending staff should communicate the status of the incident immediately to the central control point. This allows the fire and rescue service to be summoned at the earliest opportunity, or the alarm to be cancelled, and a call to the fire and rescue service avoided as appropriate. If there are no signs of fire apparent, but


the fire alarm will not reset, and there is no obvious cause (such as a broken call point), the fire and rescue service should be called to assist in the investigation. There should be a suitable timing device used to assess the ‘seek and search’ time. This may form part of the fire alarm panel. The system should be fail-safe, and result in a general fire warning without intervention.


30 Health Estate Journal June 2024


Suitable communication There should be suitable communications between the fire investigation team and the switchboard or other person responsible for calling the fire and rescue service. Seek and search teams are responsible for identifying if there are any signs of a fire, not the fire itself. These include sounds, smells, and signs of smoke. They should always operate with a minimum of two people, and should never put themselves at risk. If the cause of the alarm is not identified within the pre-determined time, and the fire alarm reset, the fire and rescue service should be called.


Generally, the fire and rescue service


would be summoned where an investigation by trained hospital staff has resulted in the discovery of a real-time fire incident requiring intervention from the service. However, the following situations should always result in the fire and rescue service being summoned: n A telephone call from a member of staff on the designated emergency number (even if the fire alarm is not actuating) indicating that there are signs of fire (sight, sound, smell).


n More than one device (call point, fire detector, etc.) actuating on the fire alarm.


n Actuation of the fire alarm in an area where there are very high dependency patients.


n Conclusions HTM 05-03 part B introduces an opportunity for those responsible for fire alarm systems in complex healthcare premises to develop their own protocols for the management of maintenance, false alarms, and unwanted fire signals. There is scope to develop systems which make


References 1 Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety: final report. Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, 17 May 2018. https://tinyurl. com/5n84cvym


2 HTM 05-03: Firecode – Fire Safety in the NHS – Operational Provisions. NHS England, 12 April 2024. https://tinyurl. com/bdezc5xm


Mazin Daoud


Mazin Daoud, head of Fire Safety at NHS England, spent 30 years working with the London Fire Brigade. Among his roles he was Group manager for Fire Safety for the North of London, Fire Safety Enforcement Team leader for several London boroughs, Senior Fire Safety officer, Station Commander at Heathrow fire station, and Fire Safety Inspecting Officer.


Projects he has worked on include Terminal 5 at Heathrow and Wembley Stadium. He has been the Fire Safety Advisor to two major London teaching hospitals, and the fire engineer/subject matter expert for Sodexo, covering the UK and Ireland.


Anthony Pitcher, NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership


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