Open-Air-Events-and-Venues-NI-Fire-Safety-Guide-Final-Draft-from ...

RadiationRadiation heats the air in the same way as an electric bar heater heats a room.Any material close to a fire will absorb the heat until the item starts to smoulder and thenburn.Smoke produced by a fire also contains toxic gases which are harmful to people. In mostcases, the greatest contributor to the risk to people is whether they are in the open air orin an enclosure where smoke can spread quickly, block exits, and affect people’s ability toescape.It is essential that the means of escape and other fire precautions are adequate to ensurethat everyone can make their escape to a place of total safety before the fire and its effectscan trap them.In evaluating the risk to people, you will also need to consider situations such as:• the evacuation of large numbers of people, e.g. a music concert or festival;• fire and smoke spread from fires external to your event/venue, such as grass firesaffecting occupant means of escape;• a fire developing in an unoccupied space, such as a storage area in a hospitality unit,that people have to pass to escape;• fire spreading rapidly between concession stands due to there close proximity with eachother and presence of combustible materials;• rapid fire spread in areas with highly combustible piled storage, e.g. bails of hay;• fire and smoke spreading due to poor installation of fire precautions, e.g. incorrectlyinstalled fire doors or incorrectly installed services penetrating fire walls;• the impacts of fences or corralling on the movement of people;• hazardous materials present.Further guidance on fire risks is given in Part 2 Section 1.3.3 Remove or reduce the hazardsHaving identified the fire hazards in Step 1, you now need to remove those hazards ifit is reasonably practicable to do so. If you cannot remove the hazards, you need to20