Introduction to Fire Safety Management

The documentation should be written in such a
way as to be easily intelligible whosoever will refer
to it. It should be user friendly and avoid the use of
tech nical jargon as far as possible. Many safe operating
procedures within industry are reproduced as summary
sheets, which are on many occasions posted adjacent
to or on the machinery to which they relate.
Documentary control is an essential part of
managing a successful system and in particular when
introducing a safe system of work. An effective document
management system will ensure that the most up-to-date
system of work is being operated to, particularly when
amendments have been made to reduce the overall risk.
To assist an organisation to record and document
its safe systems of work many will adopt a standard
format such as the use of a template. This is particularly
prevalent in the construction industry sector where
templates for the production of method statements exist.
Whichever format is developed it is likely that it will need
to include as a minimum:
➤ The name of the task or operation
➤ The address or location
➤ A brief description of the operation
➤ The sequence of work or operations that are to be
carried out
➤ The plant, tools or machinery involved
➤ Any chemicals or hazardous substances that may
be involved or produced
➤ Foreseeable hazards associated with the operation
(cross-reference to the risk assessments, COSHH
assessments, manual handling assessments, etc.)
➤ Workplace precautions to be used to minimise the
risks to all persons who may be affected, for higher
risk operations a permit to work may be required
➤ Competency or specifi c training requirements of the
persons undertaking the work or operations
➤ Supervisory management levels
➤ Emergency procedures
➤ Monitoring arrangements
➤ Revision number and associated documentary control
measures.
6.5.5 Permits to work
In circumstances where it is necessary to adopt a highly
formalised safe system of work it is often necessary to
introduce a ‘permit to work’ system. A permit to work
system documents details relating to the work to be
done, the hazards involved, the precautions necessary
and the persons responsible. Typical examples of work
that may require a permit to work system include:
➤ Working with pressurised systems
➤ Working adjacent to overhead crane tracks
General principles of control
➤ Working with asbestos-based materials
➤ Work involving high voltage electrical equipment
➤ Work involving underground services
➤ Any work in confi ned spaces
➤ Hot work.
The permit to work system is more fully described
in Chapter 8 specifi cally as it relates to the control of
hot work.
6.5.6 Safe system of work – communication
Having documented the safe system of work and prior
to its implementation a critical factor that will affect
the success of this procedural control measure will be
ensuring that the information contained in the safe system
of work is communicated to all those involved with
the operation, including the operators, supervisors and
managers.
How the information is communicated will vary from
a briefi ng sheet to a full training programme dependent
upon the complexity, familiarity, competence, etc. of
those needing to receive the information.
It may also be necessary to provide information to
other persons who may directly or indirectly be affected
by the operation, such as the facilities management
team (if isolations are required as part of a permit to work
system).
The content of a typical training programme for
those involved with the operation of a safe system of
work is detailed below:
➤ What a safe system of work is
➤ Why the safe system of work is required
➤ What the work involves
➤ Hazards associated with the work and the fi ndings
of the risk assessment
➤ The control measures that will be adopted including
(if appropriate):
➤ Permit to work
➤ Guarding systems
➤ Isolations
➤ Personal protective equipment
➤ Monitoring (air sampling, health, etc.)
➤ Emergency procedures
➤ How the work will be supervised.
6.5.7 Monitoring, reviewing and revising
To ensure that any safe system of work remains effective
an organisation must establish a management programme
for monitoring, reviewing and where necessary
revising the system of work.
Monitoring of the system is often undertaken by fi rst
line management as part of their job function. It is the
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