NEWS
COVID-19 Sector response to COVID-19 pandemic continues
THE FIRE sector response to the pandemic saw cladding removal pledged to continue; sprinkler maintenance and servicing’s importance reiterated; the fire and rescue services (FRSs) offering extra assistance and receiving extra funding; and the NHS providing fire risk assessment (FRA) guidance for temporary COVID-19 wards.
Cladding removal
PBC Today reported that the government believes ‘making buildings safe and maintaining measures to ensure buildings are safe ahead of remediation […] remains a priority’, and that ‘this work is critical to public safety’, with additional project management support put in place to help oversee remediation. This has reportedly been
done by appointing project managers with construction expertise, and this ‘additional support will identify blockers to progress’ as well as ‘work directly with those responsible for remediation to support individual projects’. This new team will work with those responsible for remediation and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to ‘understand the impact’ of the pandemic on cladding remediation projects. It will also ‘identify ways to
reduce the impact on pace’, and with construction sites having ‘not been asked to close’, the government believes ‘work can continue if it is done safely’, with employers ensuring workers on site are ‘able to follow the public health guidance’ and consider ‘responsible arrangements’ for worker travel ‘in line with this’, such as ‘staggering site hours to reduce public transport use during peak periods’. In addition, the government confirmed that ‘it is possible for construction work to continue in the current context, and those commissioning and undertaking
building safety work such as cladding remediation are asked to ‘consider how best to proceed and/or mitigate the risks arising from such work being paused’.
Sprinkler maintenance
The British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA) reminded those responsible for buildings that, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, systems ‘must be tested and maintained’. BAFSA stated in a press release
that automatic fire sprinkler systems ‘are a reliable and effective means of saving lives, protecting firefighters, reducing fire damage and mitigating fire risk’, provided that they are ‘properly designed, installed, and maintained’. However, it reminded building managers and responsible persons that ‘even within this challenging situation’, such critical suppression systems and life safety protection systems ‘must be tested and maintained’.
It added that postponing
such checks, maintenance and servicing ‘may result in equipment failure should defects not be noticed’, which in turn may cause system failures ‘under fire conditions’ and ‘impact on your insurance cover’. Additionally, there is a legal requirement under both health and safety and fire safety legislation to ‘ensure these
10 JUNE 2020
www.frmjournal.com
systems are tested, maintained and serviced’, and make sure that the systems are ‘effective and in good repair’.
Members of BAFSA are
‘continuing to carry out’ service and maintenance work ‘where possible within the government guidelines and within the restrictions set up by those responsible for buildings’, with those ‘in doubt as to your responsibilities for maintaining and servicing’ sprinklers to contact insurers.
FRS assistance
Recently, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and national employer confirmed that additional activities to assist other key services during the pandemic had been agreed for FRS staff. These tasks included delivering personal protective equipment, administering COVID-19 tests, driving ambulances and training others on driving them. An agreement between the
FBU, NFCC and FRSs resulted in 300 London Fire Brigade (LFB) firefighters driving ambulances and assisting paramedics in the pandemic response in London after last month’s news that firefighters would aim to protect the vulnerable in society by avoiding hospitals and care homes, as part of an agreed ‘critical risk-based service’.
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