Fire safety

There is an increasing awareness in society that disabled people should be able, as a right, to enter and use modern buildings, whether to work, study and learn, be accommodated, or engage in leisure activities. Equally, once in the building, disabled people must be safe from fire.

The right of access is now enshrined in legislation, such as the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, and the need for safe egress follows from this. Disability takes many forms, but usually the fire safety context relates primarily to means of escape for non-ambulant people, particularly those in wheelchairs. There is also a need to consider facilities for blind and profoundly deaf people.

Guidance on this subject is contained in BS5588: part 8 (Fire precautions in the design, construction and use of buildings – code of practice for means of escape for disabled people). As with other parts of BS5588, the code is intended primarily for new buildings undergoing substantial refurbishment. However, an appendix to the code considers the application of the code to existing buildings. It is recognised that, for an existing building, compliance with the code is not always possible. Nevertheless, it is recommended that alternative ways of meeting the objectives of the code should be sought.

The code also stresses that non-compliance with its recommendations should not be regarded as adequate grounds for excluding disabled people from a building.

Much of BS5588: part 8 is concerned with structural measures to enable escape from a fire by the physically disabled. However, it stresses that management procedures are an essential part of arrangements for escape by disabled people. The procedures recommended include:

• special arrangements for assisting wheelchair-bound people, or others with walking difficulties, along corridors or stairways
• supervising the use of an evacuation lift if provided (see below). An appendix to the code gives advice to managers.

The importance attached to procedures is consistent with BS5588: parts 2 and 3 (codes of practice for shops and offices respectively), which advise that ad hoc arrangements must be made for evacuation of chairbound people.

The code introduces the concept of a refuge, which is defined as: ‘An area that is both separated from a fire by fire resisting construction and provided with a safe route to a storey exit, thus constituting a temporarily safe space for disabled persons to await assistance for their evacuation.’

The code also describes the technical requirements for evacuation lifts, which may be used by disabled people in the event of fire. A fire fighting lift that is intended for use by the fire brigade, and that complies with BS5588: part 5, may be used as an alternative.

Muster points

In considering the evacuation of able-bodied people, the importance of dispersal away from the building is always stressed. Clearly, the same principle should apply to disabled people. However, special considerations may apply, and it must be ensured that disabled people are not placed at risk by their inability to move far enough away from the building. Furthermore, the siting of evacuation assembly points should take disabled people into account, so that they are able to reach the assembly point and are not placed at risk by so doing.

Fire extinguishing appliances

Fire extinguishing appliances in buildings comprise any of the following:

• portable fire extinguishers
• trolley-mounted fire extinguishers
• fire blankets
• hydraulic hose reels

Trolley-mounted extinguishers are used only for special applications where there may be a need for trained occupants to tackle a very large fire, such as one involving a large quantity of flammable liquids. Therefore they are not considered further.

Most fire safety legislation requires there to be adequate fire extinguishing appliances in any building to which the legislation is relevant. In theory, either portable fire extinguishers or hose reels may be provided. In practice, it might be appropriate to consider hose reels as supplementary to portable extinguishers, rather than as a direct alternative.

Disability takes many forms but usually in the fire safety context relates primarily to means of escape for non-ambulant people

Extinguishers offer the advantage that they can be used on a fire very quickly, while hose reels may take longer to run out. However, hose reels provide an unlimited supply of extinguishing agent, and thus enable a much greater degree of ‘first aid’ fire fighting.

Fire insurers will normally require fire extinguishing appliances in a building. Discounts may apply if enough suitable appliances are provided.

Portable fire extinguishers

Portable fire extinguishers may contain any one of the five recognised extinguishing agents: water, foam, powder, halon, or carbon dioxide.

Water is the most common extinguishing agent, and is suitable for class A risks – ‘normal’ combustibles such as wood, paper, textiles etc. Water is not suitable for class B fires (flammable liquids etc), nor for live electrical equipment.

Two types of foam may be found in portable extinguishers:

• fluoroprotein foam
• aqueous film forming foam (AFFF).

Foam extinguishes flammable liquid fires by smothering – the foam creates a barrier between the liquid’s surface and the surrounding air. AFFF extinguishes class A fires in much the same manner as water, but the reduced surface tension created by the additive aids the wetting of the fuel surface.

Fluoroprotein foam is for use on class B fires, while AFFF may be used on class A or class B fires.

Powder provides very rapid knockdown of flame, and the performance ratings achieved for both class A and class B fires are quite high. Powders are also quite effective on running flammable liquid fires. A disadvantage of powder is that it has no cooling effect and cannot readily prevent re-ignition of a fire that continues to smoulder after the extinguisher is discharged. Powder may be used on live electrical equipment, but may cause significant damage to electronic and electromechanical equipment.

Depending on the agent used, powder extinguishers may be suitable for both class A and class B fires, or only for class B fires.

Halon extinguishers contain an agent known as halon 1211 or bromochlorodifluoromethane (BCF). Halon is a vaporising liquid – stored as a liquid under pressure but evaporating rapidly on discharge. Unfortunately, halons deplete the ozone layer and, under the terms of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (an international agreement), production has now ceased, although existing appliances may remain.

Carbon dioxide extinguishers are provided mainly for use on fires involving electrical equipment. In office areas, it is common to provide carbon dioxide extinguishers, in conjunction with water or AFFF extinguishers, purely for use on electrical equipment as, like halon, the gas leaves no residues on the equipment.

Fire blankets are normally made from fibreglass or leather, and are contained in wall-mounted housings. They are used for extinguishing fires in people’s clothing, and can be used to smother a fire involving burning food. Their main application is therefore in kitchens, but fire blankets may also be found in some laboratories or areas in which people handle highly flammable liquids.

Hose reels comprise a reel of rubber hose that is normally 30m in length and is permanently connected to a water supply. The relevant design code is BS5306: part 1. In many buildings, the water is supplied form the building’s water mains, but in taller buildings a tank and pumps are needed.

Staff training and fire drills

Staff training and fire drills are related but are not synonymous. Fire drills are both necessary and useful, but they do not educate employees in all matters with which they should be familiar.

Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 imposes a duty on employers to provide instruction and training to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of employees. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 also contains requirements to organise emergency procedures, such as fire drills.

Section 6 of the Fire Precautions Act 1971 empowers (but does not actually require) the fire authority to impose such requirements as they consider appropriate to ensure that: ‘Persons employed to work in the premises receive appropriate instruction or training in what to do in case of fire, and that records are kept of instruction or training given for that purpose.’