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Health and safety--fire precautions planning.

Article Excerpt
[check] This checklist is designed to provide a broad outline of the action needed to ensure the maintenance in the workplace of fire awareness, fire precautions, and ways in which fires can be avoided. Most of the requirements for non-domestic fire precautions are covered by the Fire Precautions Act 1971, as amended by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and subsequent regulations. The main requirement of the FPA 1971 is that all premises meeting certain criteria must have a valid fire certificate, for example:

* hotels and boarding houses sleeping more than six people

* workplaces, including offices, shops, railway premises and factories where

* more than 20 persons are employed at any one time

* more than 10 persons are employed to work at any one time elsewhere than on the ground floor

* the premises are part of a larger building that meets the conditions of ii) or iii) above

* explosive or highly flammable materials are stored or used.

If in any doubt about whether your building requires a fire certificate, check with your local authority fire department. All premises, even those exempted from current regulations, must provide adequate means of escape and fighting fires.

One of the first priorities any organisation should have is that of ensuring the proper implementation of a Health and Safety policy. Incumbent with this policy is the need to develop effective procedures for the provision of fire precautions with a safe evacuation plan for staff and visitors in the event of a fire. It might never happen, but the possibility of a fire occurring always exists. Just as staff need to be trained in how to operate machinery and maintain a safe working environment, so they need to be trained in the actions required to prevent a fire, and, if one should break out, what to do in an evacuation.

Definition

Planning for fire involves an examination of all current fire precautions,...