Introduction to Fire Safety Management

factors all of which should be identifi ed during the risk
assessment process. Such factors will include:
➤ Likelihood of the event
➤ Consequences or outcome of the event
➤ Location of the building/s
➤ How accessible the buildings are
➤ Vulnerability to intruders through the perimeter of
the site
➤ Whether there is public access to the site
➤ How good the security system is
➤ Vulnerability of the construction materials to catch fi re
➤ The space and separation arrangements for waste
disposal and storage
➤ Previous history of vandalism and arson
➤ The time it takes the fi re and rescue service to reach
the buildings and fi ght the fi re
➤ The availability of a good water supply for the system
(sprinklers or other water-based systems).
In order to operate effectively any FFS must be able
to detect a fi re, activate and then suppress the fi re.
Systems are available that utilise CO 2 or other gas and
dry powder; these are discussed later. The most common
FFS are:
➤ Automatic water sprinklers
➤ Drencher systems
➤ Flooding and inerting systems
➤ Water mist systems.
These systems are discussed below.
Pressure tank
Network of pipes
Local alarm bell
Control valves
Fire protection in buildings
Automatic water sprinklers
Those who are responsible for fi re safety in the workplace
should be aware that the relevant British Standard
is BS 5306 Part 2: 1990: Fire extinguishing installations
and equipment on premises.
Automatic water sprinkler systems will provide
effi cient means of fi re control throughout most parts of a
building ensuring:
➤ Detection of a fi re at an early stage
➤ Control of fi re growth, fi re spread, heat and smoke
generation, by delivering water to the seat of the fi re
➤ The provision of a local alarm system operation,
and confi rmation of the alarm at the central control
room, and
➤ If appropriately arranged, the transmission of an
alarm to the fi re service.
Figure 9.61 shows the basic elements of any sprinkler
system, which are:
Water supplies – normally there should be two independent
and reliable water supplies for a non-domestic
sprinkler system. It is usual for a town’s water mains to
be supported with a purpose built water reservoir/tank
storage facility on site.
Pipes – pipes are used to move the water from the
various water supplies to the control valves of the system
and then onto the range pipes in which are fi tted the
individual sprinkler heads.
Control valves – the control valves are fi tted between
the water supply and the range pipes and control the
Sprinkler heads
External alarm
Alarm and monitoring unit
Figure 9.61 Typical layout of a basic sprinkler system showing the key components
Town main
FIRE
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