FIRE SAFETY MANAGEMENT
Fire warden software proves a worthwhile investment
The Fire Safety advisor at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust in south-west London has praised a software system that enables closer, more effective control of the Trust’s Fire Warden network. The system not only tracks the location and number of fire wardens around the Trust’s sites, and provides a framework for fire safety checks, but also delivers and collects fire safety information from wardens, and reports inspection outcomes for appropriate action. HEJ editor, Jonathan Baillie, met with Jamie Keay, a former London Fire Brigade firefighter, to discuss how the system – from Digital Missives – has improved fire safety compliance at one of south London’s busiest acute hospitals.
The software – Fire Compliance Online (FCO) – is a recent introduction from specialist software house, Digital Missives, and has been in use at Croydon University Hospital for three years. Digital Missives is well-known in healthcare engineering for its popular web-based water compliance management software, L8guard (see panel on page 46). Digital Missives describes FCO as ‘an innovative new software system that enables fire officers to manage fire warden distribution, local fire safety checks, and full fire risk assessments, across multiple sites and buildings’. There are currently two modules: the Fire Wardens module, and the Fire Risk Assessment module. The Fire Wardens module was first trialled at Croydon University Hospital, and has been successfully in use there for the past two years. The Fire Risk Assessment module has been developed with input from the Croydon University Hospital fire team, and will be launched as part of the complete Fire Compliance Online software suite this month.
The Fire Warden module The Fire Warden module defines the user’s premises in terms of its buildings, ‘sectors’, and departments, and then creates a register of fire wardens in each location. The module will monitor and report on training compliance so that induction and refresher training can be planned. The system stores ‘optimum’ and ‘minimum’ numbers of fire wardens in every location according to risk, which is assessed with reference to guidance in Health Technical Memoranda and the Fire Safety Order (RRO).
Digital Missives explains: “The fire safety checklists generated by the software comprise a user-customisable question set. The questions are emailed at an agreed frequency, and fire wardens are required to complete and return them promptly electronically online. The questions typically require them to check Means of Escape, and basic fire safety provisions, such as extinguishers and accumulated waste.” At Croydon University Hospital, the FCO Fire Wardens module automatically emails all
nominated fire wardens every Monday morning with the checklist, along with a reminder to complete the safety checks for the week. Any recorded non- compliances, e.g. a defective fire door, are automatically reported to area managers, the Fire Safety advisor, and Fire Safety manager, for necessary action. The system can also inform the Estates ‘helpdesk’, to ensure that works are completed. The software also automatically monitors for responses, and raises escalations to senior managers if a checklist, due back from a particular department, is not promptly returned.
Fire Risk Assessment module The Fire Risk Assessments module works with the same physical location structure, but provides a more detailed tool, for in-depth risk assessments by personnel who are competent to undertake the role. It is designed to be compatible with all modern tablets, PCs, and Apple Mac computers, without the need for a separate ‘app’. Users simply need to begin the risk assessment process and answer
The main entrance to Croydon University Hospital – one of south-west London’s busiest acute hospitals, which has been using the Fire Compliance Online software for the past three years, and the hospital’s Emergency Department.
42 Health Estate Journal November 2020
©Croydon Health Services NHS Trust
©Croydon Health Services NHS Trust
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85
