Autumn

Date: Thursday 13 th September 2004

The launch of a major new fire safety initiative for commercial and public buildings was hosted at City Hall, London, home of the Greater London Authority, on 12th August 2004. Councilor Colin Tandy, Vice Chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, introduced the Premises Information Box, which has been developed by the London Fire Brigade in association with Gerda Security Products.

The launch was attended by delegates with an interest in building safety from a wide range of professions, including fire safety, fire engineering, facilities management, insurance and the heritage sector.

Roy Watkinson, Commercial Lines Business Manager of AXA Insurance and Chairman of the Fire Protection Association, welcomed the initiative and spoke about the advantages of the Premises Information Box from the perspective of the insurance industry:

"The Premises Information Box helps to encourage [the] pre-planning process and if kept up to date will help raise awareness for managers particularly of those issues that are important to the fire strategy for their building . it becomes in effect a focal point for emergency action." Roy Watkinson, AXA Insurance

The Premises Information Box is a system designed to provide crucial information to first response emergency services to enable them to make safe and effective intervention in the case of fire or other emergencies. Assistant Commissioner, Malcolm Kelly spoke about the considerable time and effort the London Fire Brigade have invested in progressing this concept and working with Gerda Security Products on the system specification, harnessing the advantages of Gerda's tried and tested lock and key management technology. Alastair Thompson also welcomed this partnership approach.

"Gerda as a group prides itself on developing products quickly and with flexibility to match customers' specifications, ensuring high quality and long term performance with the emphasis on security. The development process has been quite involved with many meetings and prototypes being produced in our production facility and after all this hard work, by both organisations, we are pleased to be able to launch the product officially today." Alastair Thompson, Managing Director, Gerda Security Products

The launch of the Premises Information Box is an addition to more traditional forms of risk reduction and all involved in the launch hope that the adoption of this system will enable the fire service to bring an incident under control with the minimum of risk to the building, its occupants and the fire fighters themselves.

Please see attached link for information.

Further information is available about the Premises Information Boxes in Fire Safety Guidance

Note: Number 70

Contact 0800 174222 for information on UK approved stockists

Date: Thursday 12 th August 2004

A major initiative in fire safety management for commercial and public buildings will be revealed on 12 th August at City Hall, home of Greater London Authority.

The new Premises Information Box is a system designed to provide crucial information to first response emergency services assisting them to make safe and effective intervention in the case of fire or other emergency.

London Fire Brigade has invested considerable time and effort in the system from conception and through its development, working with Gerda Security Products Ltd on the system specification. The Premises Information Box has been designed to provide essential building information in a readily accessible format for the firefighter, whilst harnessing the advantages of Gerda's tried and tested lock and key management technology. There is no reliance on individuals being present to access the Premises Information Box, which is important for fire safety.

For an incident to be dealt with effectively, it is important for fire crews to refer to building information such as alternative means of access and information on hazards and dangerous materials. Building specifications are also becoming increasingly complex, and exciting new architectural concepts present growing challenges to building designers and engineers. Likewise, fire safety in such buildings is achieved through detailed fire-engineered solutions combining automatic fire detection, sprinklers, smoke ventilation, emergency lighting and evacuation management in one integrated system. Consequently fire crews attending incidents need to use increasingly complex information.

"To ensure that Fire commanders are able to adopt the best tactics to deal with an incident, minimise risk to the building's occupants, to firefighters, and mitigate damage to property, they need access to relevant, up to date and practical information about fire safety systems in the affected building. We have invested time in developing a simple, effective and secure system working with Gerda. The Information Premises Box is a practical solution for first response emergency services, giving immediate access to building information" Ken Knight, London's Fire Commissioner.

Fire legislation applies to all businesses and workplaces and, amongst the employer responsibilities, there is a duty to carry out a Fire Risk Assessment and a duty to provide information for the Fire Service. Information which could further assist emergency services: M&E File; Safety File (CDM Regulations); Asbestos Register; Contingency Plans and Fire Safety Manual may be stored in cd rom format in cases located on the inside of the door.

Further information is available about the Premises Information Boxes in Fire Safety Guidance

Note: Number 70

Contact 0800 174222 for information on UK approved stockists

Russ Timpson stresses the need for buildings to have firefighting response plans to ensure a successful recovery from extreme events

THE UK Government has issued new guidance for the assessment and protection of buildings against possible terrorist threats involving chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) material. The document, Precautions to minimise effects of a CBRN on Buildings and Infrastructure , gives practical advice on the risk management steps that can be taken.

The guidance places a heavy emphasis on risk assessment and pre-planning. The initial actions of building occupiers and emergency services dictate the success or failure of a response to an extreme incident, such as a terrorist attack. Many building owners have yet to heed the message that relatively modest investment in pre-planning can considerably reduce the risk of serious loss.

The Fire and Rescue Services Bill, which received Royal Assent in the UK Parliament in July 2004, endorses this approach. Section 7, Part 2 (d) and (e), states that fire and rescue authorities must in particular, 'make arrangements for obtaining information needed for the purpose [of extinguishing fires, protecting life and property]', and, 'that reasonable steps are taken to prevent or limit damage to property resulting from action taken [during firefighting]'.

Accurate plans

One measure that can be put in place quickly is the provision of accurate plans for the responding fire service. These plans can save vital time by highlighting access and egress points, resources and hazards. This was one of the lessons learnt from the 1987 fire at King's Cross Underground station in London. The seminal investigation report into the fire stressed it was important that, ' London Underground shall produce and maintain up-to-date station plans, and place them in boxes it has provided, at all locations agreed or specified by the London Fire Brigade' .

It is surprising that many buildings do not have plans available in a format that emergency services require, or a robust process for the provision of such plans. The events in New York on 11 September 2001 highlighted the vulnerability of relying on control room and security staff to liaise with responding emergency services. A major event may well overwhelm these personnel, or even cause them to be 'first impact' casualties.

Providing emergency services with reliable information on building layout, structure and risks offers significant advantages. Without reliable information, valuable time and resources would be expended in 'survey searches', which by their nature must progress at a slow speed. In large complex buildings that are heavily smoke-logged, this also represents a high risk of injury to firefighters.

As well as occupant and firefighter safety, the building's responsible person should also consider the impact of a fire on neighbours and the surrounding community. In the UK, the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 places a duty on building operators to identify the presence of asbestos within their building, and make plans to control the risk. Experience has shown that a serious fire can cause asbestos to be carried on fire plumes and distributed over a wide area; a fact that should be considered during pre-planning.

Asbestos is only one of a number of common 'legacy risks' that may be present in buildings, lying dormant until a fire occurs. Others include:

• polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cabling
• redundant chemicals
• combustible sandwich panels
• radioactive sources
• impact and fall hazards

Knowledge of legacy risks prior to a fire confers a definite duty of care on the building owner for the safety of both firefighters and surrounding residents. An easy step to discharge this duty is to make details available within the firefighting initial response plans.

Commercial protection

In addition to the moral imperatives of life safety, there is a strong commercial need to protect vital business equipment or, as the Business Continuity Institute calls them, 'mission critical assets'. Even with the greatest of care, serious fires will probably also incur some degree of firefighting water damage. Sensitive computer or data equipment, laboratory systems or even priceless paintings and manuscripts will suffer if subjected to high-pressure water jets. Not forgetting that water applied in a high area of a building will find its way down somehow.

Once firefighters have dealt with the priorities of life safety and immediate building preservation, they are very adept at protecting valuable property - but only if they know about it. Insurers, too, are keen that consequential damage is kept to an absolute minimum, by identifying equipment and systems that can be protected or moved during firefighting operations.

In today's political environment, we must accept that terrorism will be part of our lives for some time to come. Steps should be taken to reduce the risk of plans that show firefighting information from falling into the wrong hands. The blueprints for the World Trade Center in New York were available on the Internet prior to September 11, due to an earlier terrorist bomb incident at the site in 1993. Plans must be kept secure and only available to the intended readership.

When the long-awaited Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order comes into force in England and Wales next year, fire certificates may well be consigned to the history books. As we look forward to risk-based regimes of fire safety management, we would do well to remember that plans showing the location of fire exits and compartment walls, life safety equipment and so on, are - and always will be - a good idea q

Russ Timspon - Fire Strategy Co

Precautions to minimise effects of a CBRN on Buildings and Infrastructure is available from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister website, www.odpm.gov.uk

In conjunction with the fire service, an intra-industry group of fire professionals are developing voluntary protocols for the type, style, symbology and use of premises plans for initial firefighting response. If you would like to be involved in the intra-industry group, contact Russ Timspon on e-mail: russ@firestrategy.fsnet.co.uk