Latest News

Celebrity hair salon fined for ignoring fire safety laws

Posted: 19/11/2012 13:21

A West End hair salon has been fined £40,000 including costs for ignoring fire safety laws.

The prosecution follows a fire at a celebrity hair salon in Conduit Street London where a member of staff was badly burnt when candles in the salon, which were being used to create a more relaxing atmosphere, lit her skirt. The member of staff was taken to hospital where she was found to have suffered third degree burns.

Although the Fire Brigade were not in attendance during the incident, they did attend later to conduct a fire safety inspection and found a number of serious fire safety issues.

Fire doors were found to be wedged open, storage was found to be obstructing corridors and the fire detection in the building was found to be inadequate. In addition no fire risk assessment had been undertaken, no procedures on what to...

Fire Safety Management (ii)

Posted: 19/11/2012 9:39

Training
Testing & Maintenance
Record Keeping
Fire Risk Assessment

Regular staff training and evacuation drills are a legal requirement for any business. This should usually be carried out every six months, though in some professions such as healthcare it is normal to train night staff every three months. Different levels of training will of course be required for staff with different levels of responsibility, and at least some staff should receive practical training in the use of fire fighting equipment.

All training and drills should be recorded in detail, as should testing and maintenance of fire safety equipment and systems. This information should be kept carefully in a Fire Log Book, ideally stored with the Fire Risk Assessment, and be readily available for inspection by a local authority fire officer or other authorised person.

The policy must make provision for carrying out,...

Fire Safety Management (i)

Posted: 15/11/2012 11:55

Policy
Procedures

To safeguard employees, to protect premises and contents, to ensure continuity of the business and comply with legal obligations, it is essential that a Fire Safety Policy is drawn up and fully implemented.

The policy must detail the agreed procedures for responding to an outbreak of fire or actuation of the fire alarm. It should detail the responsibilities of managers and others with specific responsibilities (such as fire wardens or marshals) and describe the fire safety features of the premises and procedures for regular testing and maintenance.

The policy manual should incorporate plan drawings of the premises, detailing the means of escape, assembly point(s) and fire precautions. This could be a simple drawing of the premises to accompany the Fire Risk Assessment.

Like all aspects of the policy and procedures, this plan must be kept up-to-date. The procedures must be disseminated to all staff at all levels, with...

Passive Fire Precautions (iii)

Posted: 29/10/2012 17:04

Fire-resisting Construction
Compartmentation
Fire Stopping

Many of the structural elements of a building are designed to provide, or benefit from, a particular standard of fire resistance. This will usually be specified at the planning stage, or at the time of subsequent alterations.

To protect means of escape, the normal specification is 30 minutes (for example in walls, doors and glazing forming a protected corridor or stairway) though in some cases this is increased to 60 minutes or even higher, depending on the location and use.

The comparatively safe areas created by this method are known as 'compartments', being separated from all other parts of the building in a way that will limit the spread of fire and smoke throughout the building. This will allow time for the occupants to escape and assist the fire brigade in fighting the fire safely and effectively.

For day to day fire...

Passive Fire Precautions (ii)

Posted: 26/10/2012 14:20

Fire Exits
Locks & Opening Mechanisms
Exit Signage

Know the location of all fire exit doors, and how to open them in an emergency. These are the external doors allowing people to escape to open air.

Depending on their location, they may be fitted with one of a variety of opening mechanisms, including panic bolts, push pads, thumb-turns and security devices. However, their operation (in the direction of escape) must not depend on the use of a swipe card, security code or removable key.

Fire exits will usually be clearly marked as such (by a sign incorporating the 'running man' symbol), except for any door that forms the normal means of entering and leaving the building.

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