PSISeptember2017

FIRE SAFETY
Following the Grenfell
Tower fire in June,
BAFE’s CEO Stephen
Adams focuses on
the subject of fire risk
assessments and the
need for genuine
measures of
competence to be
included for individual
assessors as part of
legislative
requirements
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www.bafe.org.uk
Assessing Fire Risk
n a recent statement issued by BAFE, we said:
I“While there can never be absolute certainty
that even the most experienced fire risk
assessor will be able to inspect and analyse
every part of a building’s construction – for
example, there are parts of a structure that will
be inaccessible when a building’s completed
and, without extensive re-examination, material
test reports have to be taken at face value – a
competent assessor will recognise and highlight
any potential concerns.”
Unfortunately, Grenfell Tower highlighted a
situation wherein the external materials used
were apparently not suitable for the building
and would require extensive re-examination by
a testing authority to confirm this point.
This tragedy has also shone the spotlight on
fire risk assessors and the law behind this
process. With a suitable assessment, actions
may have been raised to ensure that common
areas of the building were as safe as possible in
order for residents to evacuate.
Grenfell Tower was an horrific tragedy with a
large loss of life, but we would also highlight
another major fire at the Rosepark Care Home in
Scotland during January 2004 that took the lives
of 14 elderly residents. Sheriff Principal Brian
Lockhart, who led the fatal accident inquiry,
stated that “some or all” of the deaths could
have been prevented and also said: “The
management of fire safety at Rosepark was
systematically and seriously defective. The
deficiencies in the management of fire safety
contributed to the deaths.”
As a result of the Rosepark Care Home fire,
the Regulation and Quality Improvement
Authority in Northern Ireland issued information
to the managers and proprietors of all regulated
residential care establishments. This stated that
all new fire risk assessments should be
performed by a competent provider holding the
appropriate registration or certification (which
includes the BAFE SP205 Life Safety Fire Risk
Assessment Scheme).
While this isn’t a fully-mandatory
requirement, it’s certainly a step in the right
direction for fire safety.
Despite the various national legislation
requirements which came into force over ten
years ago (changing the responsibility from the
Fire and Rescue Services to the ‘Responsible
Person’ or duty holder), there are still no
statutory requirements in place to measure the
competence of a fire risk assessor, even in care
homes or other high risk premises.
Reforming the system
David Sibert, an experienced firefighter and
qualified fire engineer who advises the Fire
Brigades Union, informed the BBC that the
Government had failed to respond to demands
from the fire industry to reform the system
following the Lakanal House blaze in July 2009
that claimed six lives.
In fact, Sibert said: “There are no controls on
who can be a fire risk assessor or over the
competence or skills that they should have.”
Stuart Edgar, chief fire officer for
Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service and
chairman of the Protection Committee of the
National Fire Chiefs’ Council, told ITV Tonight
that they would encourage third party
certification of fire risk assessors.
After the Lakanal House fire, a Competency
Council comprising experts from across the fire
industry was established and produced a ‘Guide
for Choosing a Competent Fire Risk Assessor’
which is now available through the Fire Sector
Federation, CFOA and the BAFE website. This
highlights the need for assessors to be qualified
through a professional body and that companies
providing such a service should be third party
certificated by a UKAS-accredited certification
body (even if they’re a sole provider). The
largest of these company certification schemes
is the BAFE SP205 register.
BAFE considers it imperative that genuine
measures of competence for fire risk
assessments are included as part of legislative
requirements. While we’re pleased with the
recent announcement from Government relating
to a review of the Building Regulations,
mandatory fire safety requirements need to be
introduced to help in identifying where there are
potential life safety risks before there’s another
tragedy. All businesses must adhere to fire
safety legislation and it’s imperative that they’re
using competent providers to help them fulfil
their duties, primarily to protect life, but also
the buildings themselves and their contents.
www.risk-uk.com