The LWF Blog
Fire Engineering for Healthcare Premises – Fire Strategy – Part 60
November 8, 2021 1:46 pmIn LWF’s blog series for healthcare professionals, our aim is to give information on best practice of fire safety in hospitals and other healthcare premises. In part 59 of Fire Engineering for Healthcare Premises, LWF began to discuss the Fire Strategy in simple buildings. In part 60, we continue to look at the Fire Strategy, but for complex buildings.
As stated in part 59 of this series, the Fire Strategy provides a structure to allow the responsible person (as per the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005) to maintain, and operate the building in a safe manner. It is also intended to help the building owner, occupier and/or employer to fulfil their statutory duties under the Order.
As the building becomes more complex in design, so too does the record of the Fire Safety Strategy and procedures necessary to operate and maintain fire protection measures. References for Fire Safety Strategies for complex buildings can be found in BS 9999 and HTM 05-01 ‘Managing Healthcare Fire Safety’.
The records compiled and maintained for a complex building should include the following:
- The Fire Safety Strategy, including assumptions made in the design of the fire safety systems
- Risk assessments or risk analysis
- Assumptions made in the design of fire safety arrangements regarding building management
- Details of escape routes, escape strategies including methodology – simultaneous, phased etc. and meeting points post-evacuation.
- Passive safety measures including compartmentation (the location of fire-separating elements), cavity barriers, fire doors (self-closing and other types), doors with hardware such as electronic security locks, duct dampers, fire shutters
- All fire alarm hardware including detector heads, call points, control boxes, sounders
- CCTV, emergency lighting, emergency control rooms, communication systems
- Fire safety signage, dry or wet risers, fire extinguishers and other first-aid firefighting equipment
- Any firefighting equipment for use by the Fire Service, hydrant locations outside the building, any exterior facilities for the Fire Service’s use
- Details of all active fire safety measures including sprinkler systems (detailing isolating valves and control equipment) and smoke control or HVAC systems including all relevant details
- Any areas of the building considered high risk or high hazard
- As-built plans of the building showing locations of all detailed elements above
- Fire safety equipment specifications and manuals, operator details, software, system zoning, routine inspection, testing and maintenance schedule
- Acceptance or commissioning test records
- Any other details appropriate for the specified building
In Part 61 of LWF’s blog series, LWF will look at fire strategies. 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 LWF on freephone 0800 410 1130.
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.