Introduction to Fire Safety Management

Reactive monitoring – reporting, recording and investigation
Evidence of The rate of fi re growth from induction to a fully developed fi re will give an indication of the presence or otherwise of
fi re growth fuel and oxygen. In the case of a slow developing fi re, glass and plaster tend to remain intact and the affected room
becomes heavily smoke logged and therefore sooted.
Evidence of The most obvious sign of the presence of some form of fi re accelerant is the smell. Petrol and other fl ammable
accelerants liquids tend to soak, unburnt, into carpets and other furnishings. Flammable substances will often continue to
vaporise after the fi re has been extinguished and therefore can be detected by smell or specialist sensing
equipment. Another classic sign that a fi re has involved fl ammable liquids is the presence of circular or ‘running’
burn patterns on fl oors or walls surfaces.
12.5.5 Identifying causes and risk control
measures
It is important to reduce the chances of a recurrence to
identify the immediate, underlying and root causes of a
fi re. The immediate causes of the fi re will often involve the
initiators of fi re. Whereas the underlying causes will be
factors that lead to the initiators starting a fi re. The root
causes, as with all adverse events, will be failures in management
systems. Unless the root causes are ‘identifi ed’,
adequate measures to reduce the risk cannot be taken.
Root causes are generally failures of management
systems, for example:
➤ Lack of adequate fi re risk assessment of the
workplace
➤ Failure to provide appropriate work equipment
➤ Inadequate information to/training of employees
➤ Failure to actively monitor the workplace.
It can be seen that for each example in Table 12.9 one of
the root causes of all fi res is likely to be an inadequate
fi re risk assessment (FRA). It may be that the FRA failed
to identify a particular fi re risk or that the fi re risk control
measures that the FRA identifi ed were not fully effective
or in place. It may also be that the FRA had identifi ed
Table 12.9 Examples of fi res and their possible causes
Figure 12.16 Immediate cause of burnt carpet is obvious.
But which management systems have failed?
additional risk control measures but there had been a
failure to implement them.
Fire risk control strategies, included in the fi re risk
assessment, will need to refl ect the hierarchy of control
Event Immediate cause Underlying causes Root causes
Spontaneous combustion Cotton rags soaked in oil and Lack of employee training Lack of management commitment
of oil soaked cotton rags left in the workplace Provision and use of to health and safety
inappropriate work Lack of adequate purchasing, training
materials and housekeeping policies
Poor housekeeping Lack of adequate fi re risk assessment
Deliberate fi re set in Criminal action by person/s Inadequate security Lack of adequate fi re risk assessment
premises overnight unknown arrangements
Lack of effective perimeter
security/window locks
Accidental fi re in dust Dust ignited by heat from Lack of maintenance of Failure of planned preventive
extract ducting overheated extractor fan extract system maintenance programme for the
bearing extract system
Failure of management to monitor the
PPM system
Lack of adequate fi re risk assessment
301