Introduction to Fire Safety Management

Introduction to Fire Safety Management
15.16.9 Arrangements to deal with accidents,
incidents and emergencies – regulation 13
Employers are required to prepare procedures including
fi rst aid facilities and relevant drills to protect the health
of their employees from an accident, incident or emergency
related to substances hazardous to health.
Information on the procedures must be made
available and displayed at the workplace as appropriate.
This information should also be made available to the
relevant emergency services to enable them to prepare
their own response.
In the event of such an accident, incident or
emergency, the employer must:
➤ Take immediate steps to mitigate the effects, restore
the situation to normal and inform those who may
be affected
➤ Ensure that only persons who are essential for carrying
out repairs are permitted in the affected area and
then only if they are provided with appropriate PPE
and any other necessary specialised equipment.
Note: The above requirements are without prejudice to
the requirements for serious and imminent danger procedures
under the Management of Health and Safety at
Work Regulations 1999 (see later section).
15.17 The Dangerous Substances
and Explosive Atmospheres
Regulations 2002 (SI 2776)
These regulations impose requirements for the purpose
of eliminating or reducing risks to safety from fi re, explosion
or other events arising from the hazardous properties
of a ‘dangerous substance’ in connection with work.
Dangerous substances are defi ned as:
(a) substances or preparations which are explosive,
oxidising, extremely fl ammable, highly fl ammable or
fl ammable, whether or not that substance or preparation
is classifi ed under the Chemicals (Hazard
Information and Packaging for Supply) Regulations
2002
(b) substances or preparations which due to their
physico-chemical or chemical properties and the
way they are used or are present at the workplace
create a risk or
(c) any dust, whether in the form of solid particles or
fi brous materials or otherwise, which can form an explosive
mixture with air or an explosive atmosphere.
Dangerous substances include: petrol; liquefi ed petroleum
gas (LPG); paints; varnishes; solvents; and dusts
374
which when mixed with air could cause an explosive
atmosphere, for example dusts from milling and sanding
operations. Dangerous substances can be found, in
varying quantities, in most workplaces.
An explosive atmosphere is an accumulation of
gas, mist, dust or vapour, mixed with air, which has
the potential to catch fi re or explode. An explosive
atmosphere does not always result in an explosion, but
if it caught fi re the fl ames would quickly travel through
it and if this happened in a confi ned space (e.g. in plant
or equipment) the rapid spread of the fl ames or rise in
pressure could also cause an explosion.
15.17.1 Employers general duties – regulation 4
The employer must:
➤ Carry out a risk assessment of any work activities
involving dangerous substances
➤ Provide measures to eliminate or reduce risks as far
as is reasonably practicable
➤ Provide equipment and procedures to deal with
accidents and emergencies
➤ Provide information and training to employees
➤ Classify places where explosive atmospheres
may occur into zones and mark the zones where
necessary.
15.17.2 Employers’ specifi c duties – regulation 5
Employers are required to carry out suitable and suffi -
cient assessment of the risks to their employees where a
dangerous substance is or may be present at the workplace.
This is also a requirement under the Management
of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (regulation 3):
‘Risk’ is defi ned as meaning ‘the likelihood
of a person’s safety being affected by harmful
physical effects being caused to him from
fi re, explosion or other events arising from
the hazardous properties of a dangerous
substance in connection with work and also
the extent of that harm’.
Employers are required by these regulations to eliminate
or reduce risk so far as is reasonably practicable. Where
risk is not eliminated, employers are required, so far as
is reasonably practicable and consistent with the risk
assessment, to apply measures to control risks and mitigate
any detrimental effects (regulation 6(3)).
The risk assessment shall include consideration as to:
(a) the hazardous properties of the substance;
(b) information on safety provided by the supplier,
including information contained in any relevant
safety data sheet;