The LWF Blog
Facilities Management & Fire Safety – Special Duties in the Fire Procedures – Part 10
August 20, 2018 1:39 pmIn LWF’s blog series for those who work in facilities management, or for any person with an interest in or responsibility for fire safety, we have been looking at the Fire Procedures which must be prepared by an organisation to lay out all arrangements in case of fire including any relevant duties. In part 9, how occupants should be accounted for and the Fire Service met at the premises were discussed. In part 10, we will discuss the roles of Security Officers and Senior Management.
Security Officer Duties
While a security officer may consider their duties will usually relate to the security of the building, in a fire situation, he or she may be required to undertake duties additional to primary day-to-day tasks. Security personnel might be tasked with grounding lifts to ensure they are not used as a part of the evacuation process (except where people with disabilities or mobility issues are required to use specially designed evacuation lifts).
Where evacuation lifts are provided, it is likely any security personnel will be asked to act as lift operators.
Once a fire alarm has been given and the building evacuated, the security officers will need to ensure that nobody except Fire Service personnel is permitted to enter the building for any reason, until it has been declared safe for reoccupation. It may also be that the security officer is ideally placed to offer information and advice to the Fire Service regarding the building layout and the location of any control panels.
The Security Officer may also be well-placed to coordinate any salvage work which might be required.
Senior Management Duties
Prior to the arrival of the Fire Service, a member of the senior management team should be on hand to take charge of the situation and make any decisions necessary. It might be that alternative accommodation should be provided for the building occupancy, that other senior managers or specialist employees need calling in to the scene or that a contingency plan needs to be put into effect.
The senior management should also liaise with all other officers with special duties to ensure they are completed promptly and correctly.
For every role in the Fire Procedures, preparations should be made with all possible incumbents of each role fully briefed as to what will be expected of them. Each role holder should have easy access to any instructions and information they will need in a fire situation.
This blog series will continue by looking at staff training and fire drills. In the meantime, if you have any questions about this blog, or wish to discuss your own project with one of our fire engineers, please contact us.
Lawrence Webster Forrest has been working with their clients for over 25 years to produce innovative and exciting building projects. If you would like further information on how LWF and fire strategies could assist you, please contact Peter Gyere on 020 8668 8663.
While care has been taken to ensure that information contained in LWF’s publications is true and correct at the time of publication, changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of this information.