Introduction to Fire Safety Management

1.5 m
35m
Figure 9.72 Plan drawing of siting of portable extinguishing
equipment
0.75 m
Figure 9.73 Mountings for portable fi re extinguishers
extinguishers should not be positioned next to molten
salt baths and water extinguishers should not be sited
near high voltage equipment. Care should also be taken
to ensure that a heavy extinguisher does not itself cause
injuries by being dislodged and falling onto limbs or
bodies. Extinguishers installed under conditions where
they are subject to dislodgement should be installed in
specifi cally designed brackets.
When necessary, the positions of extinguishers
should be indicated by signs, and there should be
a record (conveniently on a plan) of the type, number
and location of the extinguishers within the building or
workplace.
Fire protection in buildings
In some situations, e.g. in schools or police custody
suites, extinguishers may need to be provided in
recesses or secured against unauthorised use.
Managing portable extinguishing equipment
As is the case with all fi re protection systems portable fi re
fi ghting equipment must be the subject of active monitoring.
Persons responsible for fi re safety at work will need
to ensure that extinguishers are provided, sited, inspected
and tested in line with the manufacturers’ recommendations;
this must include an annual test and inspection by
a competent person. In addition, extinguishers should be
periodically inspected to ensure they are in place, are full
and in good condition and have indeed been tested by a
competent person within the relevant period.
9.5.14 Fire detection and alarm systems
It is a requirement of the RRFSO and MHSWR that
employers have adequate emergency arrangements. For
employers or occupiers of a building, an essential element
of ensuring people can safely evacuate is to provide
appropriate and reasonable arrangements for detecting
fi re and raising the alarm.
In some cases, for example in small detached offi ces,
it may well be reasonable to rely solely on the occupiers
to detect a fi re and raise the alarm to others verbally. In
this way a reasonable level of safety for the occupants
could be said to have been achieved. For slightly larger
premises it may be considered necessary to enhance
this very basic system with an electrically operated fi re
alarm that is operated by manual call points.
However, for larger premises or where the owners/
occupiers or responsible persons wish to provide a
higher level of building, some form of automatic system
will be utilised. According to Home Offi ce statistics, 67%
of all fi res in business premises occur at times when the
buildings are closed, i.e. after 6pm and at weekends.
Installing an automatic system that both detects
and raises the alarm will signifi cantly increase both life
and building safety and can bring with it the following
benefi ts:
➤ Early detection of fi res in unoccupied parts of the
building, e.g. store and boiler rooms
➤ Early warning to the occupants of a fi re, to enable
effective escape
➤ The operation of other protective devices, such as:
➤ Automatic door closers or stairway pressurisation
systems
➤ Closing down ventilating and air conditioning
plant
➤ Bringing fi re control systems into operation
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