FIRE SAFETY
A ‘belt and braces’ approach To that end, NHS Trusts and private sector care providers are found to be adopting a ‘belt and braces’ approach to installing and upgrading entire buildings with doorsets that offer the highest standards of protection to staff and patients. Many are also developing rigorous training plans for staff to ensure awareness and individual responsibility to be certain that the fire doors within their workplace are maintained and used correctly.
Yorkshire Trust showcases blueprint for success
Karen Byard, Maintenance & Fire Safety manager at Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, which provides mental health, community, and learning disability services for residents in Bradford, Airedale, Wharfedale, and Craven, joined the Intastop team at the recent event held at our Doncaster headquarters, and showcased her blueprint for successful implementation of fire door safety and associated policies in challenging circumstances.
The Trust speaker, who has a Master’s Degree in Healthcare Fire Safety Management, said: “With over 10,000 doorsets under the care of our Maintenance team, it is unquestionably a challenging job – one that requires a team effort to ensure that our standards are delivered. The key to this is education, and we view this as a programme of continuous improvement. As part of staff induction, all staff, including those from agencies, are given fire door safety training, which makes all personnel aware both of our responsibilities, and the appropriate reporting channels where they perceive that integrity to have been compromised.
“The training highlights why designated fire doors need to remain closed at all times, and that propping them open for ventilation or to facilitate access is not acceptable. Furthermore, our staff are aware of how fire doorsets work, and that should frames, doors, or any of the doorset components become damaged, then the performance of the fire door is put in doubt. Recognising the importance of timely reporting and repairs helps to keep our standards high, and our staff and patients safe.
Impact protection
“In addition to compliant doorsets,” Karen Byard added, “we also specify impact protection, which also has to be fire rated to the same level to ensure that the integrity of the door remains. To alleviate ligature risk on acute wards, continuous hinges need to remain compliant and provide protection for our patients. “Progressive horizontal evacuation is also adapted in our buildings, and training to implement this plan is carried out in situ on each ward. This ensures that staff and all those concerned have the maximum understanding as to how the plan works in each part of the building, how patients can be removed to safety, and how fire doors
32 Fire-rated doorsets.
work to temporarily halt the fire and the damaging effects of smoke.
“In conclusion, education and training is the key to ensuring that the products that facilities managers install are used in the correct way. We feel that there are still pockets of inadequacy – driven both by the lack of legislation, and a lack of awareness as to the pivotal part that fire doors play in protecting buildings and their users. Working with companies such as Intastop shows that there is much work being done to support the public and private sector, and that with continued drive, enthusiasm, and partnership working, greater things will be achieved.”
Industry professionals leading the way
To support industry sectors and business – including the healthcare sector, and within it, NHS Trusts and private healthcare providers, the team at Intastop continues to invest heavily in research to facilitate the development and testing not only of its own products, but also how they ‘sit’ within doorsets. This is critical to ensuring the overall integrity of the doorset solution, and we work with leading manufacturers across the UK who share the same values as we have in product development, rigorous testing, and the need for the introduction of governed standards and legislation.
Working with partners such as Doorset Technology, Intastop develops entire doorsets for use in a wide range of settings.
Speaking at our fire safety event, Frank Gallagher, a director at Doorset Technology who works with manufacturers, governing bodies, and key industry sectors, to encourage the creation of mandatory minimum standards and regular certification of fire doors – both at the time of installation and throughout their life – said: “Our doorsets are suitable for a wide range of applications, and we work with partners such as Intastop in driving forward enhanced fire door safety awareness, and, in the longer term, appropriate legislation. Currently, fire resistance and smoke leakage performance criteria for doorsets result from a combination of interconnected British Standards, regulations, and legislation. Compliance with the appropriate legislation is paramount for Doorset Technology, and all our fire and smoke- rated doorset solutions have undergone extensive testing by UKAS-accredited test laboratories and successfully achieved certified performance levels to BS 476 Part 22 for FD30 to FD120, and BS 476 Part 31.1 for smoke leakage.
“These are the two critical elements that highlight the effectiveness of a doorset in providing the maximum fire protection to building users and occupants, and it is fire doors certified to such levels that we recommend are fitted in all public areas, educational establishments (including student accommodation), hotels, healthcare buildings, and any other areas where the public utilise the building and indeed sleep there.”
John Angel, Key Account manager at Intastop (at the lectern), and Frank Gallagher, a director at Doorset Technology, answering questions at the fire door seminar in Doncaster.
Karen Byard, Maintenance & Fire Safety manager at Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, explained that the Trust’s Maintenance team has over 10,000 doorsets under its care.
JULY 2019 | THE NETWORK
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