Element 1 - Managing Fire Safety Flashcards
(14 cards)
Moral implications of inadequate fire safety
Death, injuries, pain and suffering.
Loss of jobs, security, livelihood.
Legal implications of inadequate fire safety
Legal requirement to comply with fire legislation.
Risk of enforcement notices or prosecution for non compliance
Unplanned remedial costs to comply with notices
Financial implications of inadequate fire safety
False alarms cost downtime. Lost production, interuptions.
Costs for preparation and defending legal action.
Diverting resources of the fire service to a false alarm
The duty of care owed by the occupier of the building
Owners of premises have a common law duty of care to take reasonable care for those that might foreseeably be affected by their actions or ommisions.
Includes, lawful visitors, contractors.
Multi-occupancy including owner of different must cooperate/coordinate
Costs of inadequate management of fire safety
Average loss figures to Insurance companies in 2015 are around £1.3 billion, average costs of £3.6 million per day.
Vital to ensure that detailed, robust, updated and tested business continuity plans are in place. This gives organisations a chance to recover in the event of severe fire
Following a disaster;
25% of businesses never re-open
80% of companies that don’t recover within a month are likely to go out of business
75% of businesses without business continuity plans in place fail within 3 years
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRFSO) 2005
Difference between English, Scottish and Northern Ireland law
English = “Responsible person”
Scottish = “Duty holder”
Northern Ireland = “Appropriate person”
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRFSO) 2005
List exemptions where the fire safety order does not apply - (Article 6)
Domestic premises (single private dwelling)
- Offshore installations (defined under Regulation 3 of the Offshore Installation and Pipeline (Management
and Administration) Regulations - Ships (normal ship board activities, master and crew only)
- Fields, woods or land forming part of agricultural or forestry undertaking (not inside buildings and away from
main building) - Aircraft, locomotive or rolling stock, trailer or semi-trailer used as a means of transport or a vehicle licenced
under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act - Mines defined under the Mines and Quarries Act (other than building on surface of mine)
- Borehole sites under the Boreholes Sites and Operations Regulations.
The Order self-employed in England and
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRFSO) 2005
Duties of the responsible person
- Ensure compliance with the (RRFSO) 2005
- Ensure that suitable and sufficient fire risk assessments are carried out
- Implement any preventative or protective measures as required to ensure the safety of all ‘relevant persons’
- Appoint ‘competent persons’ to assist him or her in implementing the measures as required
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRFSO) 2005
Meaning of the responsible person
The responsible person may be the employer, owner, landlord or occupier of business or other non-domestic premises
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRFSO) 2005
Meaning of the relevant persons
- Any person who is lawfully on the premises
- Any person in the vicinity of the premises who is at risk from a fire on the premises
Absolute and Qualified duties
What do the following terms mean?;
Absolute
Practicable
Reasonably practicable
ABSOLUTE = no choice as to whether to take action, MUST be done.
PRACTICABLE = MUST be done in light of current knowledge or invention
REASONABLY PRACTICABLE = MUST take action weighing up balance of risk vs costs
The roles and powers of enforcement agencies and other external agencies in relation to fire safety
Fire and Rescue Authority
- Promoting community fire safety, with the aim of preventing deaths and injuries in the home and reducing
the impact of fire on the community as a whole. - Planning and providing arrangements for fighting fires and protecting life and property from fires within its
area; for receiving and responding to calls for help; and for obtaining information to exercise its functions.This last might include, for example, information about the nature and characteristics of buildings with in the
authority’s area or availability of and access to water supplies - Rescuing persons from road traffic accidents and for dealing with the aftermath of such accidents
- Responding to particular types of emergency, as defined by order, such as flooding and terrorist incidents.
- Equipping and responding to events beyond its core functions provided for elsewhere in the Act. A Fire and
Rescue Authority is free to act where it believes there is a risk to life or the environment. This would allow
for example, specialist activities such as rope rescue.
The roles and powers of enforcement agencies and other external agencies in relation to fire safety
Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE (HSE)
The HSE is appointed as an enforcing authority under the RRFSO 2005 for
- Nuclear installations.
- A ship, including navy, which is in the course of construction, reconstruction or conversion or repair by
persons who include persons other than the master and crew of the ship. - Construction sites
The HSE is also the enforcement authority for the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations
(SSSR) 1996, DSEAR 2002 and RIDDOR 2013, all of which may be impacted upon by fire safety matters.
What does Ian say 5000 a day?
“In regards to”
