The University of Central Lancashire Fire Safety Policy - Case Study Example

Name: Tutor: Title: Fire safety plan Institution: Date: Contents Introduction 3 Means of escape 3 The University of Central Lancashire fire safety policy statement 4 Means of escape from design 4 Emergency respond 5 Fire safety management structure 6 Legislative requirements 7 Evacuation strategies 8 Conclusion 12 Bibliography 14 Hughes, P & Ferrett, E, 2010, Introduction to International Health and Safety at Work: The Handbook for the NEBOSH International General Certificate, Routledge, Birmingham 15 Introduction Fire Safety management plan is considered to be essential not only to fight the fire accidents but also minimize the possibility of its occurrence. This is currently considered to be a necessity in the management of most of the organizations and facilities because mass losses of properties due to frequent occurrences of risks of fire. The University of Central of Lancashire in Preston has planned and opened an art indoor sport facility- the Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre (STFSC) to be used by all the students, staff and members of the public for a broad range of sporting needs. Below is a plan on the management of fire safety which I was requested by the university to prepare. The plan has to consider all dimensions including the architect design, legislative requirements and the fire safety management systems. The report considers all the factors of means of escape in the construction of this sports facility, all the concepts related to the quantitative analysis of fire risk assessment and the possible principles of law associated with fire safety and risk management policies. Means of escape Means of Escape is considered to be a structural means in which a secure route is made for the people to escape in case of an accident of fire in the building. This should be possible even without the assistance of any outsider. These should be considered at all the levels of planning for the construction of the building (Fitzgerald, 2001). The common sports facility at the university should have good and spacious alternative exits apart from the main doors designated to be access by any occupant. These exits should lead all directions and safe places like an open field such that anyone who escapes an accident lands on a safe place. The University of Central Lancashire fire safety policy statement The policy states that if you discover or suspect a fire first rise alarm, only stop to tackle a fire if it is safe to do so and you have been trained. The main interest of the fire and safety program at the University is to preserve the health of the students, staff and visitors. It is the duty of any occupant to ensure that the premise is protected against any avoidable cause of risk of fire. This is administered by the Office of the Occupational Health and Safety with the help of all the trained fire fighters. All the management and supervisory personnel at the University are expected to provide the necessary support to the Office of Safety and Radiation Control to carry its fire control responsibilities. Means of escape from design Design is the most essential aspect in the plan for the construction and usage of the facility. The architect design of the building is dependent on its intended usage. For the preparation of the fire and management plan for the facility the university should consider good means of escape to minimize the possible consequences of fire for safety of the occupants. As a consultant I would advise the planners of the facility to ensure that it is constructed with suitable provisions of early warning incase of fire or other risks as well as good means of escape. The plan to manage fire in the Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre includes the following aspects (Hirschler, 2008). Emergency respond The table below shows how the occupants of a building are expected to behave in case of any emergency. There are a number of fire alarm detectors through various and differing senses, they may hear the alarms, see the smoke or smell it or touch the heat of the burning objects like electric devices. The expected first reaction is to create awareness to the entire premises so as to minimize the risks of the others as well as trying to assist them to leave the premise especially the physically challenged individuals. The trained individuals can also try to fight its spread with the intentions of controlling its consequences. All the occupants of the building should be made aware of the things which are likely to cause fire outbreaks and trained on the proper ways of handling them to prevent future occurrences of risks. The records should be well kept for the considered fire fighting policies for future reference by the users and regularly revised and audited to keep updated so as to meet the needs of the occupants. Fire safety management structure Below is a fire and management structure in the University which enables in the implementation of the above discussed policies to facilitate fire safety. Legislative requirements There are some guidance documents for fire safety law which are put aside by the government especially in United Kingdom which offers some guidance especially to the building constructors. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) order 2005 was implemented in October 2006 was to replace various pieces of laws on fire safety. This regulatory reform targets the owners of the non-domestic premises like school facilities and other public buildings. Under this reform, the management of Central Lancashire University in Preston should consider carrying out a fire risk and safety assessment alongside maintenance of good management plan. The five steps of fire risk assessment include: identification of the potential hazards, identification of the people at risk, evaluate, remove, reduce and protect these people from the risk of fire; record, plan, inform, instruct and train the occupants on possible ways of escaping risks of fire and lastly review the assessment process (The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) order 2005). The highlighted fire hazards at the sporting facility in the university includes: electricity, oxygen and fuels. The people at a risk of being affected by occurrence of fire at the premises includes: the staff members, students from various universities and immediate members of the public both able and disabled. Occurrence of the risk of fire can be minimized by controlling the substances which easily cause fire outbreaks as well as planning on ways of making the occupants safe by either implementing good means of escape and offering perfect skills of fighting fire (Fitzgerald, 2010). The results of the risk assessment process should be well analyzed because it helps the management to plan on the ways of tackling the risks to ensure that the occupants are safe. There is need for regular reviews and reforms of the assessment policies because of the regular changes in the lifestyle thus changes in the fire hazards. Use of more combustible substances like increase in the amount of oxygen in the sporting halls may increase the charges of fire outbreak. An integrated risk management plan should also be considered to help manage or control the occurrence of fire risks. This is a long term plan which describes the manner through which the management of the university will be able to recognize, evaluate and take actions on any risk of fire on a building. Evacuation strategies The regulatory reform states that any facility should have proper fire alarm system which will enable the occupants to detect and raise alarm of any risk occurrence. These include the red alarms and bells which the occupants should use to communicate to the other members in case of any danger. The condition of the alarm system determines the period of time that the individuals take to evacuate the premises since the individuals are expected to start moving immediately they get the information(Smeby, 2009). The table below compares the processes involved in the escape time compared to the available escape time. The available or required safe escape time is longer than any other in the evacuation process because of the differences in the response of the individuals after the alarm. Some of them will be confused on the action to take while others will take long to realize the accident. The evacuation time is calculated by adding time between the raise of the alarm to movement of the first individuals plus time taken by all the individuals to vacate the place and the time they take to walk to a safe place (Billington, Ferguson & Copping, 2002). tevac= tpre (1st percentile) + tpre (99th percentile) + ttrav (walking) Evacuation time can also be checked depending on the walking time of the first few occupants plus the flow time of all the exits. tevac= tpre (1st percentile) + ttrav (walking) + ttrav (flow) The above formulas can help the management to plan on the available evacuation time and the available means of escape compared to the approximate number of people in the building. the regulatory reform also requires that the management of the university or the constructors should take it as their responsibility to ensure that all the people including the disabled can leave safely vacate the building in case of an emergence. The order specifies on some of the areas that the management should consider in their operations: fire risk assessments, fire safety policy, good means of escape, emergence lighting, fire alarms and extinguishers, fire evacuations and notices. There are a number means of escape which the planners of the building can consider. Horizontal escapes are most suitable on the ground floors and these are wide doors or windows, vertical escape includes: evacuation lifts, stairs and ramps and refuge points. The vertical means of escape can be considered on the other floors of the building apart from the ground floor. The evacuation lifts should be suitable to be used by anyone and should be able to start automatically with an alternative power supply and not that of the primary supply to the building and based on an area of low fire risk (Pineo, 2009). The planners should be keen on the stairs and ramps to ensure that they meet the standards requirements for ramps, stairs and steps. According to Fitzgerald P. (2010), the expected maximum height of a stair raiser should be 180mm and the handrails should be used to show the direction of the escape. The stair lift fitted on the stairway should have width similar to the minimum width required for a good means of escape plus that of any stair lift. Refuge points are set aside for the physically challenged individuals. These are preferred to be safe places for these people to stay until they get assistance. These points are not very ideal hence it is advisable to consider evacuation lifts for the challenged people. Fire or evacuation alarm signals and lighting or paging or vibrating units should be considered on the alarm system for the purposes of alerting the physically impaired people. These units vibrate so as to attract the attention of the targeted group and display some messages for them to see and fully understand the intended information. This is the best system to be installed on the sporting facility because it is safe and cost effective for various floors and rooms in the building and numerous sporting activities taking place. It will also be more appropriate to convey any message to anybody in the building in case of any emergence (Drysdale, 2011). In large educational premises like the sporting facility, it is essential for the senior management to have the overall responsibility for the safety of the students. The university should have a fire and safety policy which is flexible enough for allowances of any modification. This is because of various social activities which take place in the facility hence different categories and classes of people are expected to occupy various halls every day. Before admission of the public members and students from other institutions, the management should ensure that all the fire safety requirements are put in place and good condition (Harmathy , 2009). All the students at the university and the visitors should be trained on all the skills of operating the available escape units like the alarms and various evacuation routes to avoid more complications and other risks. This will help in the processes of maintaining and testing of these systems thus ensuring that they are good condition. Fire and rescue skills also makes it easy for the occupants to evacuate the facility in case of any risk within the expected time and get to a safer place without hurting each other. A system of standard personal emergency evacuation plans should be encouraged in the building because it is not possible to know the actual number of people in the building and their physical health (Hughes & Ferrett, 2010). The trained students and visitors will have the skills to help others especially the disabled. The ground floor with most of the activities should be well planned to ensure that the large number of the occupants are able to evacuate the premises. The second floor is well planned because of the less combustible substances fitted in thus there is assurance of risk escape of the occupants. Their number is also few compared to those on the ground floor thus they can successfully use the evacuation lifts. Conclusion Means of escape are structural ways through which secure routes are made in a building or premises made for the occupants to escape from any risk to a safer place without assistance of anyone. The Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre (STFSC) is a multipurpose facility built in the University of Central Lancashire in Preston for wide variety of sporting needs. The document has considered two categories of means of escape which can be set aside for evacuation of the occupants. The horizontal routes are most appropriate for the ground floors and very suitable for both able and the physically challenged individuals. There are a wide variety of the vertical routes depending on the capability of the users, these include: evacuation lifts, stairs and ramps and refuge points. These are considered for the upper floors and the planners should be very careful while setting up them. The most suitable means of escape should be considered from the time of designing the building under the influence of the legislative requirements and the necessary safety management systems. The regulations on the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) order 2005-RR (FS) O should guide on the choices of means of escape made. The needs of the physically challenged people should be given the first priority because their movement is limited to some means. Bibliography Hirschler, M, 2008, Fire hazard and fire risk assessment, Jones & Bartlett, Scotland The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) order 2005-RR (FS) O Smeby, L, 2009 Fire and emergency administration: management and leadership practices, Jones & Bartlett, Scotland. Fitzgerald, L., 2001, The Means of Escape, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston Billington M.J, Ferguson A. and Copping A., 2002, Means of escape from fire, John Wiley & Sons, New York Pineo A., 2009, The Means of Escape, Publish America, New York. Fitzgerald Penelope, 2010, The Means of Escape, Paw Prints, Los Angeles Drysdale D., 2011, An Introduction to Fire Dynamics, John Wiley and Sons, New York. Architectural Press, 2010, The Architects' journal, (213), Iss1-12, University of Virginia, Virginia Harmathy , E., 2009, Design of Buildings for Fire Safety, ASTM International, England. Hughes, P & Ferrett, E, 2010, Introduction to International Health and Safety at Work: The Handbook for the NEBOSH International General Certificate, Routledge, Birmingham Read More