FIREX International 2018


images showed serially poor practice regarding fire prevention, storage of dangerous substances, firefighting and detection, emergency routes and exits, and maintenance and repair. These examples included the dangerous use


of extension leads in kitchens, overflowing waste, piles of combustible cardboard stored in an underground car park, and a shelf built around a call point making it inaccessible! Wooden pallets with cardboard boxes full of flammable hairspray stored in a warehouse near an electrical distribution board; emergency exit routes blocked or hindered by obstacles and with no emergency lighting provided; and exit signs indicating a fire exit that was boarded up, were other horrors. The solution? Training for building and


facilities managers on legislation and the basics of fire risk assessment, as well as information on third party certificated services and products. Contractors should be taught the principles of fire compartmentation, dangers of breaching fire stopping and correct use of firestopping products. He pointed to Hackitt recommendation 3.4,


which states the duty holder for an HRRB should demonstrate that the fire risk assessment for the whole building was undertaken by someone with relevant skills, knowledge and experience. RISCAuthority’s RC66: Recommendations for sourcing fire safety products and services and the Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council’s Guide to Choosing a Competent Fire Risk Assessor provide invaluable guidance. NSI offers third party certification – which is


recommended as a minimum in paragraph 5.22 of Dame Hackitt’s report – and has approved more than 1,800 companies. It is licensed to deliver schemes on behalf of BAFE providing life safety fire risk assessment; systems for fire detection and alarm, fire suppression and emergency lighting. NSI also offers certification for the monitoring of fire alarms under its Gold and Silver Schemes.


Dynamic response


Elsewhere, Curtis Massey of Massey Enterprises discussed ‘High rise advanced operations – a moving target’, from his long experience as a US firefighter. ‘Complacency rules the day after Grenfell’, he said, warning that while recent high rise incidents have attracted much attention, ‘they will happen again and again, because people don’t learn from history’. US fire departments are under great pressure


from complex fires such as in non sprinklered buildings with mixed use occupancy. Key areas commonly overlooked include controlling lobby doors, securing airways and ensuring that stairs (especially the ‘attack stair’) are pressurised (and


FOCUS


not vented). He explained that as soon as a door opens, air gets drawn towards, then logs, a stairwell, resulting in zero visibility. As ‘air races across lobbies and up lift shafts taking smoke with it’, lift doors need closing and unused lifts taking out of the lobby. Loading docks/entryways need securing too. Two stairwells are essential: an attack stair for


firefighters/hoses and an evacuation/search and rescue stair. People nowhere near the fire have died from inhaling gases such as carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen cyanide, Mr Massey said. All 17 victims of four recent fatal high rise fires in Chicago, New York and Toronto died from CO poisoning and were found in the attack stair, well above the fire floor. Mobile app technology is being used to


view simple pre fire plans to help make sound operational decisions. Urgent messages (‘do not use stairwell B’; ‘stay in your apartment’ etc) can be sent in real time to warn firefighters, security, fire wardens and occupants of a changing situation and first responders can be guided when treating casualties at the scene. This has ‘altered the landscape of every major US city’, he said, and will be especially important with larger, more complex mixed use developments coming on stream. Association for Specialist Fire Protection chief


executive Niall Rowan also discussed passive protection; chair of the Residential Sprinkler Association Nigel Chantler outlined the cost of high rise sprinkler retrofits (See also ‘High level’, F&RM April 2018, pp46-47); and Peoplesafe’s Mike Steere gave personal safety advice for lone workers on call


William Roszczyk and Jan Wassall are editor and production editor of Fire & Risk Management. For more information, view page 5


www.frmjournal.com JULY/AUGUST 2018 39


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