The LWF Blog

Fire Safety for Facilities Management Personnel – Fire Safety Management – Part 297

March 31, 2025 10:40 am

Lawrence Webster Forrest (LWF) is a specialist fire engineering and fire risk management consultancy whose aim is to give information on best practice in fire safety for facilities management personnel through this blog series. In part 296, LWF discussed effective housekeeping and how it contributes to fire safety in an organisation. In part 297, we continue to look at effective housekeeping and the ways in which a lack of it can cause issues to fire safety.

Care should be taken to ensure that a lack of housekeeping in a building does not impact on fire safety. For instance, rapid access to fire equipment such as manual call points, fire extinguishers and hose reels should never be blocked. Even if access to fire equipment is possible by negotiating stored items, it may still cause problems in that it could take longer to raise the alarm or reach an extinguisher that could suppress a small fire, leading to a larger fire before occupants can escape or extinguishers can be used.

Even automatic fire protection systems can be affected by bad housekeeping. Storage in close proximity to smoke detectors can delay detection, as free passage of smoke to the detectors is blocked. In addition, sprinkler head operation can be impaired by inappropriate storage of items, affecting the efficiency of fire detection and the resulting water discharge.

Bad housekeeping can make the job of the Fire Service more hazardous and problematic. Stacked goods where they should not be may set alight and be an obstacle to Fire Service access, particularly when they are carrying and setting up fire-fighting equipment. Visibility will also be reduced when smoke-filled corridors and areas must be passed through. The presence of clear corridors and aisles is expected and required for safe Fire Service access to fulfil their duties

Outside of the building, bad housekeeping may also affect the Fire Service. External storage practices not in line with good housekeeping, such as stacked rubbish, pallets or boxes, may result in Fire Service appliances being unable to access the area easily and delay efforts to put out a fire.

It should be acknowledged that while the maintenance of clean, clear and organised premises is not the most exciting of daily tasks, it can literally save lives in a fire situation.

In part 298 of this series, LWF will begin to discuss the inspection, testing and maintenance of fire protection equipment and systems. In the meantime, if you have any queries about your own facilities or wish to discuss this blog series, please contact LWF on freephone 0800 410 1130.

Lawrence Webster Forrest is a fire engineering consultancy based in Surrey with over 35 years’ experience, which provides a wide range of consultancy services to professionals involved in the design, development and construction and operation of buildings.

 

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.