FOCUS Fire Sector Summit


we’re in danger of losing something we were very good at’.


Chris Blacksell, chief fire officer for Humberside FRS


and strategic lead for the National Fire Chief Council (NFCC)’s fire investigation team,‘agreed completely’, highlighting NFCC work to ‘resolve’ this, though ISO accreditation and firefighter competency ‘may cause budgets to go elsewhere’. A 2017 code of practice for investigation and criminal justice ‘lays out what to expect’ from court cases, featuring methodology and peer reviews, and FRSs ‘will be closer going forward to achieving’ a better standard of investigation, with a competency framework available by April 2018. The inspectorate takeover meant ‘obvious work


as to requirements for competency’, with two tiers of Skills for Justice, Levels 2 and 5, focused on ‘sensible requirements needed’ for firefighters attending, and for investigators. A regulatory report into forensic science found


that, by 2020, all investigations need to meet ISO 17020. This has been ‘costly, time consuming and required administration work’, with services not having a ‘statutory duty to investigate fires’. This means they ‘could decide not to’, a number considering this in what he called a ‘backward step’. Investigations find fires are ‘about human


behaviour, activities and other factors beyond who or what did it’ – FRSs are then able to target preventative resources. They will not have such data if not investigating, and if they stop, the police will take over and ‘don’t know’ how to investigate fires. They will also likely have ‘no intention’ to prosecute via the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order [FSO], his view being that for them it is ‘not about the FSO but about how the fire began’, with UKAS accreditation for FRSs something he hoped many would ‘piggyback on’. The issues pose a ‘real problem to the entire


system. Prosecutions would go down, and the point of investigations is that we are looking at behaviour to prevent future fires from taking place’.


Social housing


On managing social housing fire risks, the FPA’s principal consultant Howard Passey noted we ‘need to protect buildings to be more resilient’, pointing to ‘key objectives of escape’ and evacuation regulations. This includes escape times and ‘trying to get people out safely’, a key element being the ‘incorporation of resilience’. Despite engineered solutions and fire engineering existing, these are ‘quite complex’ and offer a ‘different, designed approach’ that is ‘not prescriptive’. Fire engineering is ‘not a cure for everything’,


and we ‘need to be careful that we’re not looking at value engineering’, he said, moving to define regulations in each UK country, the role of the


responsible person, risk assessment types and competency. His view was it is ‘imperative that when ensuring fire safety will work, use competent people’. Stay put ‘can only be relied upon when


compartmentation works’, and he marked the significance in social housing of tenant modifications, which can degrade fire protection. Frankham RMS associate director Tom Gilbert said social housing risk is ‘difficult to manage’, explaining the cycle of procurement, mobilisation and delivery. In terms of FRAs, ‘quality of output is equally as


important as the tick in the box’ for consultants and auditors. While it might satisfy them, it may not satisfy an enforcement agency or, should a fatality occur, the coroner; Mr Gilbert asking ‘can you deliver on the actions given?’ He asked whether maintenance programmes


are appropriate, as most social housing groups ‘don’t have checks or balances – will you have someone competent to visit every building?’ On procurement, he asked whether a 100% focus on price was a good idea, before presenting a series of steps landlords should follow. The first was ‘formalise a fire risk management


system’, which can provide ‘significant benefits’ when communicated to assessors, as well as minimising duplication, produced in accordance with PAS 7. Second is to define scope and limitations, as ‘outcomes will vary’ and context can provide issues in a portfolio including age, location, construction type, tenure and previous fire experience. Owners should consider if an assessment should be obstructive, and whether to enter lofts or roof voids to fully establish risk. There is however ‘no guidance on what type 2 or 4 assessments should consist of’, and confusion over what percentage of flats or homes are checked. The third point was to ‘choose a suitable or


sufficient method of documenting’ FRAs, as there is ‘no one right way’. Fourth was to ‘decide how you verify or challenge outcomes’, including reviews of FRA findings and considering third party certification.


42 DECEMBER 2017/JANUARY 2018 www.frmjournal.com


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