FIRE SAFETY
How post-Grenfell fire safety has ‘changed for good’
Dr Louise Webb, Project director, and David Butler, Authorising Engineer – Fire Safety, of DRLC, discuss the changes in fire safety brought about since the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, and some of the key legislation, standards, and guidance, in this key area for healthcare estates management teams to take note of.
Fire Safety changed for good in June 2017, when the Grenfell Tower fire caused 72 people to lose their lives, and a further 70 to be injured, with 223 people escaping the blaze. The disaster prompted a government inquiry which was chaired by Dame Judith Hackett, and reported in May 2018 in a document titled Building a safer future: Independent review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety: Final Report. Dame Judith Hackett’s report following the inquiry into this incident has resulted in a new Building Safety Act, which came into force in April 2022. This legislation raises the bar for competency requirements for all those involved in high-risk buildings, and shines the spotlight on culture change within the construction industry in order to – as Dame Hackett comments in the Executive Summary – ensure that ‘residents are safe and feel safe’.1 One of the report’s main findings
was that a mixture of ignorance of the regulations and guidance, a disregard for quality in construction driven by cost-cutting, a lack of clarity as regards roles and responsibilities, and woeful regulatory checks, had led to a culture within the sector which could be regarded as the ‘lowest common denominator’, caused either through lack of knowledge, an uncaring attitude, or because the regulatory system in place at the time did not reward or encourage good practice. It concluded that there was insufficient focus on delivering the best quality building possible in order to ensure that the residents were safe, and also that they felt safe. Since the disastrous fire in Grenfell
Tower, fire safety guidance and legislation have moved on and changed to encompass the lessons learnt from this incident. A new regulatory body known as the Building Safety Regulator2
has been
established as a part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). There are now new regulations regarding fire safety in buildings,3
for planning requirements and fire safety,4
regulations.5 106 Health Estate Journal October 2022 Figure 1: Fire compartmentation plan for an NHS operating theatre department.
Fire incidents in the NHS In March 2020 the Estates Returns Collection (ERIC) NHS data showed that the total number of hospital sites in England was 1,261.6
Keeping a large NHS hospital estate safe
The definition of
an NHS England hospital site is either a site with a footprint of over 500 m2
, or a in addition to new regulations and changes to existing building
site with over 10 inpatient beds. The new regulations define ‘higher-risk buildings’ as those structures that are more than 18 metres in height or have more than seven storeys – due to the height of the building being seen as a significant factor affecting the necessary fire precautions. In 2020 there were 274 NHS England hospital buildings over 18 metres in height. A further 714 hospital buildings were between 11 metres and 18 metres high. Fires recorded in line with the requirements of HTM 05-01 totalled 1,175 in this same period. There were 19,556 false alarms, of which 5,742 resulted in attendance by the Fire and Rescue Service. In the same year 51 people were injured in hospital fires, and two during evacuations. There were no deaths from hospital fires in this period.
John Calvert, Hospital Fire Safety manager at The Royal Brompton and Harefield, explains the issues involved in keeping a large NHS hospital estate safe from fire: “The Estates and Capital projects teams, along with myself, meet on a weekly basis, and we employ the services of an independent Authorising Engineer for Fire Safety. Together with my appointed Deputy Fire managers at each site we effectively deliver fire safety across our Clinical Group, with the intention of ensuring continual improvement to maintain the safety of staff, patients, and visitors. “Our Trust has recently merged with
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, which makes robust policies and procedures even more important as the two Trusts learn to work together, and in particular throws the spotlight on the need for robust consultation procedures with fire safety management for all capital schemes and major refurbishments.”
Courtesy of Liverpool Heart and Chest NHS Hospital
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