Barbour Webinar - ll1.workcast.netll1.workcast.net/10111/8959265087953501/Documents/Fire Risk...Barbour Webinar Monday 16th September 2013 Fire Risk Assessment and the Competent Person

Barbour Webinar Monday 16th September 2013

Fire Risk Assessment and the Competent Person

presented by Howard Passey

Commercial Director, FPA

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Agenda for today’s webinar

• Introduction

• Overview of Barbour Services

• Presentation Fire Risk Assessment and the Competent Person

• Questions and Answers submit your questions via the chat box at anytime

• Post Event Survey – CPD Certificate

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Health and Safety Executive Today’s Presenter

Howard Passey Commercial Director FPA

While working for Ove Arup and Partners, Howard trained formally as a land surveyor, following which he spent eight years in the construction industry working for two main contractors progressing from a position of engineer to site manager. Howard joined the Fire Protection Association in April 1992 as a Training/Information Officer. Currently holding the position of Commercial Director he is primarily responsible for the Training, Membership, Publications and Fire Advisory Services functions.

THE UK’s NATIONAL FIRE SAFETY ORGANISATION

Protecting people, property, business and the environment



Fire Risk Assessment & the Competent Person

Howard Passey BEng(Hons) MIFireE MIFSM

Director



Fire Protection Association

• UK’s National Fire Safety Organisation

• Established 1946

• ‘Not for profit’ business

• Activities:-

• Training including e-learning (www.fpa-academy.com)

• Publications and DVDs including streaming (www.fire-stream.net)

• Consultancy including Fire risk assessments and Risk

management surveys

• Insurer research & publications (www.riscauthority.co.uk)

• Fire Risk Management journal for Members (www.frmjournal.com)

• Experimental research, small and large scale

• Main website – www.thefpa.co.uk

http://www.fpa-academy.com/



http://www.fire-stream.net/



http://www.riscauthority.co.uk/

http://www.frmjournal.com/

http://www.thefpa.co.uk/



Responsibility for fire safety



That any fire-risk in a premises must be managed, for

the life of the building

Therefore the Responsible Person / Duty Holder must

ensure that a ‘suitable and sufficient’ fire risk

assessment is carried out and maintained and that

appropriate control measures are implemented

But, who is ‘responsible’?

However, the message is much the same



The legislation

Meaning of “responsible person”

3. In this Order “responsible person” means—

(a) in relation to a workplace, the employer, if the workplace is to any extent

under his control;

Risk assessment

9.—(1) The responsible person must make a suitable and sufficient

assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed for the

purpose of identifying the general fire precautions he needs to take to

comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed on him by or

under this Order.



The legislation

5. Duties under this Order

(3) Any duty imposed by articles 8 to 22 on the responsible person in

respect of premises shall also be imposed on every person, other than

the responsible person who has, to any extent, control of those

premises so far as the requirements relate to matters within his control.

(4) Where a person has, by virtue of any contract or tenancy, an obligation

of any extent in relation to—

(a) the maintenance or repair of any premises, including anything in or on

premises;

(b) the safety of any premises,

that person is to be treated, for the purposes of paragraph (3), as being

a person who has control of the premises to the extent that his

obligation so extends.



If you are involved in provision, maintenance or management of

fire safety at any level then you share liability for its usefulness

and its operation when it’s needed in fire, and that liability will still

be there in the event of a court case.

I place the order; it is not my responsibility to install the

works

If it is your responsibility to appoint a fire risk assessor or specify

a system, materials and/or appoint the installation contractor, it is

also your responsibility to ensure that they can prove

competency for the work they are undertaking.

It’s no longer simply a duty of care or voluntary – it’s a legal

obligation.

What does this mean in practice?



2 Pubs

Hotel rooms above

1 x 9 rooms

1 x 6 rooms



The inspection by F&RS

“Common sense breaches”

• Prohibition of 2nd and 3rd floors………..

• Locked exits

• Blocked staircases

• Non maintained fire alarm

• Non maintained extinguishers!

• Non maintained emergency lighting



Why Prosecute?

• Risk assessor competency?

• Common sense breaches for owner?



The result

• Mr David Liu – Responsible Person

• 8 months imprisonment (due to early guilty plea)

(Precedent set at 12 months)

• £15,000

• Mr John O’Rourke – Fire Risk Assessor

• 8 months imprisonment (due to early guilty plea)

• £5,862



Advice from the prosecutor

• Know the legislation

• Know the guidance documents

• Qualifications/ Training / CPD

• Competency

• Beware of precedents/templates

• Be premises specific

• Keep up to date

• Experience



Analysis of 100 prosecutions From May 2007

With kind permission of Warren Spencer and IFSEC Global




• North west of England only

• Out of 100 cases, conducted only 3 trials

• All 3 found guilty

• Conclusion, most defendants pleaded guilty

• 5 cases withdrawn by prosecuting authority

• In 2, guilty plea entered by another defendant in respect of

same premises

• In one other defendants company had changed names and

been wound up

• In two other cases defendants disappeared. Warrants await!




• 92% of defendants pleaded guilty

• Conclusion – well prepared prosecutions

• 28% involved HMOs

• 21% involved premises containing multiple occupation

including living accommodation

• Therefore almost half of the prosecutions involved some

form of domestic premises

• County councils prefer to leave prosecutions in HMOs to

F&Ras rather than using powers under Housing Act

• Legal uncertainty surrounding extent and application of RRO

to HMOs




• Charges varied but,

• 85% charges included alleged breach

involving FRA

• 60% involved lack of fire alarm or working fire

alarm

• Next most common – lack of appropriate fire

doors




• Sentences varied,

• Fines being main punishment • (magistrates sentencing powers are limited to fines)

• Defendants can only be fined in accordance with their

means (companies usually in proportion to profits)

• Total fines handed out £427,400 + £266,339 costs

• 6 sentences of imprisonment

• 4 suspended

• 2 immediate imprisonment

• Community orders, (curfews) and unpaid work



Enforcement examples

Company When Fine + Costs

Why

Tesco Apr 2010 £119k Inadequate FRA, blocked escape routes, inadequate fire separation

Shell June 2009

£345k Blocked routes, blocked exits, defective fire doors, excessive fire load, FRA not updated since 2003 and actions not implemented

Lillie House June 2012

£45k + 6 months

Serious fire safety failings leading to prohibition of use of the premises (breached twice)

New Look Nov 2009 £536k Alarm was silenced during a fire and customers and staff allowed to re-enter

Belfry Hotel Oct 2010 £125k Inadequate alarm, faulty detectors, substandard exits, lack of staff training



Competent Persons… • The Responsible Person must….

• Take measures for fire-fighting in the premises, and; nominate

competent persons to implement those measures

• Establish and give effect to procedures to be followed in the event

of serious and imminent danger; and nominate a sufficient number

of competent persons to implement those procedures

• Appoint one or more competent persons to assist in undertaking

the preventive and protective measures.

• “preventive and protective measures” means the measures which have

been identified by the responsible person in consequence of a risk

assessment as the general fire precautions he needs to take to comply

with the requirements of this Order

• Competent?

• Sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities



Fire Risk

Assessment

Competency

Council



The FRACC criteria.....

• An understanding of the relevant current best fire

safety practices in premises of the type in question;

• An awareness of the limitations of the fire risk

assessor’s own experience and knowledge;

• A willingness and ability to supplement existing

experience and knowledge, when necessary, by

obtaining external help and advice.



An appropriate knowledge of....

Assessment

of risk from

fire

Applicable

legislation

Appropriate

guidance

Effects of fire

on people and

their behaviour

Behaviour of fire

in premises Means of

Escape

Fire

Prevention

Fire

Protection

Management of

fire safety



What is an Appropriate

level of knowledge?



BS9999: 2008

• Code of practice for fire safety in the design,

management and use of buildings’ states

‘The later installation of electrical and IT cable

systems, building service pipe work, for example,

often causes significant damage to the usefulness of

fire compartments in buildings …

…..cold work checking can be as important as control

of hot work permits for work on buildings’



PAS 79

Fire development and spread can be passively limited by

fire protection measures, such as fire resisting walls

and floors…, which can be used to subdivide the building

into a number of separate fire compartments…..

It will often be relevant, therefore, for the fire risk

assessor to take account of such fire-resisting

construction and to consider its maintenance [e.g. the

adequacy of fire stopping ], often by inspecting sample

areas of construction.







What is ‘appropriate’?



Endoscopy

1056165r.zip



Modular construction



Structural insulated panels (SIPs)

• cellular plastics

• extruded polystyrene (XPS)

• sprayed polyurethane foam (SPF)

• polyisocyanurate (polyiso) insulation

• moulded expanded polystyrene (EPS)



Insulating concrete forms (ICF)





Hemcrete

Timber

Sheep wool insulation



What is ‘appropriate’?





Engineered solutions



In summary

• Assessor must be competent

• Varies with the circumstances

• If using an external consultant, ensure they are

members of a recognised register

• Avoid the use of checklists – other than for the

simplest, and low risk of circumstances

• Use an appropriate template/proforma

• Record the assessment

• Keep the assessment under review



Some numbers…

• Over 100 training providers offering FRA training..

• Varying standards

• The FPA successfully trained in the region of 800

FRAs in the last 12 months – and we are just one

provider

• Four main Fire Risk Assessor Registers (albeit

with more to come via BAFE SP205)



Fire Risk Assessor Registers...

Organisation Application

Cost

Interview

Fee Renewal fee

Current

Registrants

IFE £127/£175 £88 £188/£305

IFSM £650/£400 No info No Info

Warrington £350 £300 £250

IFPO £185/£235 £110/£160 £200/£300

NSI 11 companies

173

116

35

14





Fire Risk Assessment & the Competent Person

Thank You

For more information visit…..

www.thefpa.co.uk

http://www.thefpa.co.uk/

Question & Answer

session

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