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London Fire Risk Assessments are important because they help to identify potential fire hazards in a building or premises and determine the appropriate measures needed to reduce the risk of a fire occurring. A Fire Risk Assessment helps to ensure that a building is safe for its occupants and visitors, and that it complies with the fire safety regulations set out by the government.

Conducting a Fire Risk Assessment is a legal requirement for most businesses and organizations in the UK, including those in London. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires that a responsible person carries out a Fire Risk Assessment and takes reasonable steps to reduce the risk of fire. This is especially important in buildings where large numbers of people congregate, such as office buildings, schools, and hospitals, as the risk of a fire occurring in these types of buildings is higher due to the increased number of people present.

A Fire Risk Assessment involves identifying potential fire hazards, assessing the risks posed by these hazards, and determining the appropriate measures needed to reduce the risk of a fire occurring. This may include installing fire detection and alarm systems, providing fire extinguishers and other fire-fighting equipment, and creating and implementing an evacuation plan. By identifying and addressing potential fire hazards, a Fire Risk Assessment helps to ensure that a building is safe for its occupants and visitors, and that it complies with the fire safety regulations set out by the government.

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These large warehouse fires in East London were attended to by over 100 London Firefighters over the 21st and 22nd September.  The blaze spread between warehouses which would have meant the need for a large-scale evacuation. Hopefully nobody was hurt in the blaze.
 
It goes to show the importance of considering adjacent and attached buildings when carrying out a fire risk assessment. Many fire risk assessors only look at the building they are assessing which is correct in one sense, but you should also consider the building as a whole.  By considering the construction of the building, age, party walls and how buildings are connected you can then imagine how a fire in one building could potentially spread to another building. How many floors? Are there hidden voids? Areas where a fire could spread undetected? Is automatic detection required/provided and it is linked? Does it need to be? 
What about the perimeter of the building? Is a neighboring property leaving combustible materials and waste nearby or skips to close to the building. If that caught fire, could it ignite the building you are assessing? All questions that a competent fire risk assessor will consider. By asking the responsible person of the building you are assessing to speak to the company next door and get that skip moved, you could just be preventing a fire from happening. You can’t measure that as you won’t know but don’t under estimate the little suggestions that could be making a world of difference.

For all London Fire Risk Assessments please visit:
 

This is the first time I have heard of a retail shop being used by a Fire and Rescue Service to offer free fire safety advice.  Normally it would mean a phone call or an email to contact the local fire safety team and ask a question.

Its good to see and credit to Westfield Shopping Centre and London Fire Brigade (LFB) for this new venture.  Visitors to the shopping centre will be able to walk in and request a free fire safety visit from LFB.  It’s a good idea as it will also show LFB what concerns London’s residents the most and they will be able to advice accordingly.

Lets hope this idea catches on and we start to see more walk in fire safety centres.  It all helps.

Building Safety Act 2022

This is a new bill which has been made to make provision about the safety of people in or about buildings and to the standard of buildings.  The bill was introduced to amend the Architects Act 1997 and also to amend provision about complaints made to a housing ombudsman.

It came into force on April 28 this year (2022).

The Act extends the limitation period under the DPA from 6-15 years in respect of any work carried out on or after 28 April 2022.  This includes new builds, refurbishment and rectification works) and, retrospectively, to thirty years for any work completed before 28 April 2022.

Therefore as fire risk assessors, we have to take into account the external façade of the building and also using PASS 9980 as a guide, make a decision as to whether any changes are required to these areas for life safety assessments.

The internal fire safety measures in a building will also play a huge part in making this determination and a good suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment will come up with suitable, common sense and justified recommendations.

For all London and Southeast Fire Risk Assessments please visit:

These field fires near Crawley were extinguished from firefighting crews from West Sussex including a team from East Grinstead.  During the hot weather, fire crews all over the country faced a very busy spell and field fires were among the most common of jobs.

The dry weather had left the fuel in these fields very dry and if ignited by a discarded cigarette or another careless act, can easily ignite and spready very rapidly. On a windy day, these flames can take hold and spread very fast often endangering nearby residential properties.

One of the first jobs that firefighting crews must consider is whether any of these nearby properties require evacuation.  This can of course include commercial properties.  It is unlikely to be something considered during a fire risk assessment of a property that a nearby field could potentially catch their building alight. However, it goes to show how a fire start from somewhere a significant distance away but still cause problems during certain weather conditions.

This recent fire in Bexleyheath, London was started in a shop with flats above.  The fire was believed to have started in an electrical cupboard.

There are implications here for fire risk assessors when assessing shops because you have to consider the escape of the occupants above and whether a fire in the shop could impact upon their means of escape.

The key things to look for are whether adequate separation is provided between the commercial and residential premises and whether an interlinked fire detection warning system is required.  What is the construction, age and conversion details.  Do the occupants of the flat have to escape down an internal staircase and is that adequately compartmentalized to provide a safe escape for them. Perhaps they have an external rear metal escape staircase which could reduce the risk.

When dealing with a fire incident, fire crews have to consider surrounding properties and whether there is the need for these places to evacuate. 

Whether dealing with an actual fire or carrying out a fire risk assessment, we have to consider the building as a whole and not just what we first walk into.

This article highlights how work was not correctly completed or completed at all at Marie Curie House in London.  Once again, here we have issues with contractors work not being up to scratch.  It also highlights failures with the qualifications of fire risk assessors and how items were missed on the assessment during subsequent years.

This is where it is important that everybody works together to manage fire safety within a building.  From architects, building control officers, contractors, responsible persons and fire risk assessors it is imperative that everybody is on the same wavelength and works together to achieve the correct goal.

You can see how one failure from an unqualified risk assessor can lead to the wrong findings or no findings and work not getting completed by the contractors.  This is then only picked up at a later stage either after a fire or after an inspection from the fire service.