Risk Management for the Anywhere Community Centre Fire - Case Study Example

Name of university College/department Name of student Index number of student Course title Course number RISK MANAGEMENT REPORT ON RISK MANAGEMENT FOR THE ANYWHERE COMMUNITY CENTRE I declare that this is my original work and has never been submitted for any award in any institution or published in any magazine or journal STUDENT SIGNATURE DATE OF SUBMISSION FIRE RISK MANAGEMENT Background Fire risk management is a function of probabilistic risk analysis that is taken into account during fire design prevention engineering. Fire risk management provides an appropriate recommended level of health and safety that users of premises require. It is a product of related tasks like audits and assessment of future possible risks of fire outbreak, their measurable outcomes via flame modeling and resultant steps to minimize the consequences or reduce outcomes associated with the future outbreaks or incidents before or during occupancy. It is guided by assessment reports on acceptable standards of building regulations and conformity with regulatory reform (fire safety) order 2005 or any other amendments that are meant to improve health and safety of users subject to different measures and strategies adopted to remove indentified hazards to health and safety. Importance of carrying out fire risk management Fire risk management strategies provide an opportunity for insurance firms to determine insurable risks of the building. Risk assessment help insurance appraisal personnel to determine position of the premises or structure or vulnerability of the structure to occurrence or outbreaks of fire incidents. It facilitates planning of means of escape , location of active fire protection like heat detectors, smoke detectors, fire alarms and determination of safe fire staging area It facilitates determination of areas where evacuation rails, elevators and ladders can be set safely without compromising health and safety of fire fighters and users during evacuation process or delivery of fire fighting facilities Statement of problem Many non-dwelling structures lack active fire protection and passive fire protection. They lack heat detectors and smoke detectors and therefore occupants cannot know timely when outbreak of fire occurs. In buildings that are equipped with smoke detectors, combustion of materials that smolder and burn without producing and smoke or visible flames cannot be detected and this exposes users to risks of health and safety. This leads into increased economic costs of fires following deaths of premise users who may be trapped in the building, fire fighters, destruction of property. Some structures are not made of fire resistive materials hence the premise has high probability of collapsing onto the users and fire fighters before evacuation is complete. Some of premises have combustible floors and walls that assist in vertical and horizontal spread of fire. Insulations like polyisocyanurate and polyurethane produce toxic black smoke that causes respiratory difficulties leading into deaths as a result of suffocation, breathing hot air or reducing visibility of the means of escape. Some insulating panels lose their structural integrity performance in the outbreak of fire. There is possibility of fire spreading in the panel hidden such that it is not possible to trace the spread of the fire even by using infra-red radiation. Increased ventilation fans spread of the fire. Many structures lack fire resistive doors and cavity barriers that may restrict entry of flames or smoke. Other structures, lack of compartmentalization leads into lack of fire containment leading into spread of fire into neighboring rooms. Inter-building distance is also minimal in some buildings hence aiding in spread of fire between adjacent buildings. Some structures fire protection measures do not meet needs of some users like persons with visual and audio disability. They are then not able to know when there is outbreak of fire. Some structures lack exit channels and where they are available, alternative lighting back-up facilities are not available like generators and batteries. In other structures, the galleries open into lower floors without providing escaping users with at least 50% visibility of possible fire in the floors they are heading to. The structures may lack smoke layers hence occupants cannot leave the structure safely due to lack of visibility. Such structures don’t conform to building regulations and regulatory reform (fire safety) order 2005 or its preceding amended regulations. This makes insurance agent’s risk appraisal to predict a too high insurable risk. Goals and objectives of the study a. To carry out studies on structural means of escape and determine if the means of escape conforms with structural design, legislative requirements and adheres to regulations on fire safety management systems. b. To carry out quantitative analysis of risk assessment, number of occupants and recommended widths of means of escape in the event of fire. c. To evaluate application of principles of law relating to fire safety and conformance with fire safety regulations. Significance of the studies The studies will stimulate installation of active fire protection systems in non-dwelling structures like fire alarms that conform to BS-5839-6:2004 and BS-5839-1:2002 and whose maintenance tasks conform to BS-5446-1:2000 and BS-5446-2:2003 for the fire alarms and installation of automatic water sprinklers that satisfy regulations BS-5306-2 and BS-5306-2 Clause 17.4.1.5 and whose tanks conform to BS EN 12845 Clause 9.6.2b and pump arrangements satisfy BS EN 12845 clause 10.2 The studies will result into installation of cavity barriers, fire dampers and construction of car parks with non-combustible materials. The studies will lead into construction of structures that comply with regulations 7 that requires use of products bearing CE mark according to construction product directive 89/106/EEC1, low voltage directive 73/23/EEC, 93/68/EEC2 and EMC directive 89/336/EEC3. The structure managers and users will be able to implement regulatory reform (fire safety) order 20054 and satisfy Houses in multiple occupancy (HMOs5) defined by housing Act 2004 and satisfy construction (design and management) regulation 2006. Table of contents RISK MANAGEMENT 1 REPORT ON RISK MANAGEMENT FOR THE ANYWHERE COMMUNITY CENTRE 1 FIRE RISK MANAGEMENT 2 Background 2 Importance of carrying out fire risk management 2 Statement of problem 3 Goals and objectives of the study 5 Significance of the studies 5 Table of contents 6 Part one: fire safety strategy 8 Means of detection and warning 8 Stability of the structure 11 Internal and external fire spread 12 Means of escape 13 Room populations 13 Number of exits 14 Part two: fire safety management strategy 16 Identification of fire hazards 16 Risk management plan process 18 Fire risk assessment report 18 Persons at risk in the event of fire outbreak 19 Reducing the risks in the premise 19 Means of escape plans 20 Fire fighting equipments 20 The premise crisis management plan 21 Conclusion 21 Recommendations 22 Reference list 22 Appendix 23 Table 1: Risk assessment form 23 Figure 1: the ground floor plan 23 Part one: fire safety strategy Means of detection and warning The building should be equipped with active fire protection that includes fire alarms and automatic water sprinklers. The fire alarms These should include smoke detectors and heat detectors. Optical smoke detectors should be installed in the youth room, lobby area, the hall, the staging room, and entrance lounge and lobby area. Non-optical smoke detectors should be installed in the kitchen and bathrooms6. Heat detectors with high sensitivity should be installed in the infants’ room, youth room, store, entrance lounge and future room and future store. Heat detectors should not be installed in the bathrooms if the bathrooms are going to be equipped with hot water taps. The smoke alarms should comply with BS-5839-6:2004 requirements7 while repair and maintenance tasks should be in line with requirements laid down in BS-5446-1:2000 and BS-5446-2:2003. The alarms should have standby power supply that is either rechargeable or non-rechargeable or use capacitors and either should conform to BS-5839-6 clause 15. The infants’ room should be equipped with optical or photo-electric smoke detectors that should meet requirements of BS-5446-1. The smoke alarms should be installed at a distance of 7.5 meters in every circulation space. There should be an alarm for catering for persons with audio or visual disabilities that should conform to BS-5839-1:2002. A vibrating paging system should be installed for persons with visual disabilities. Vibrating paging system should be installed at a distance of 7.5 meters in the hall, the chapel, youth room, and infants’ room, lobby area and entrance lounge. The fire alarm should be able to make an automatic call to fire rescue service department and nominated ambulance agencies. This should be followed by a manual call to the same agencies to confirm the fire outbreak incident. Means of fighting and suppressing the fire Outbreak of the fire should be dealt with through use of automatic water sprinklers, fire extinguishers and water delivered through wet and dry pipes. The automatic water sprinkler system Automatic water sprinkler system should be installed to suppress the fire8. The sprinklers should meet requirements of BS-5306-2. The water pumps should satisfy BS-5306-2 clause 17.4.1.5 the water tanks should conform to BS EN 12845 clauses 9.6.2b and pump arrangement should satisfy BS EN 12845 clause 10.2. The water pumps should be located at the balcony, above women bathroom and stage room. The water sprinklers system should be fed to kitchen oil storage, boiler room, infants room, youth room and the hall. Fire extinguishers Portable fire extinguishers should be used in extinguishing small fires. The extinguishers Use of water via wet and dry pipes The building should be installed with wet and dry standpipes. This will ensure the fire fighters are able to deliver water to the affected areas. The fire fighters and rescue teams are able to use oxygen delivered via the standpipes to prevent them from suffocating. Installation of wet and dry pipes is crucial when the water tanks in the automatic water sprinklers get exhausted before the fire is extinguished. Access of fire fighting facilities The building should have utmost five fire fighting staging area. These should be located at the balcony, lobby room, entrance lounge, future room and the office room. The fire fighting staging areas should be equipped with all facilities for fire fighting. In the event of outbreak of fire resulting from oil explosion in the oil storage room, the building requires to be installed with exterior ladders and rails which would be used by fire fighters and evacuators. The building requires to be installed with wet and dry standpipes for delivering oxygen and water to the fire fighters and evacuators. Delivery of oxygen and water supplies through wet and dry pipes would increase the rate of extinguishing the fire and evacuating users instead of delivering manually water and oxygen which can easily put rescue team at risk. Stability of the structure Crown (2007:79) indicates that the structure should be made of fire resistive materials to prevent the structure from collapsing (load bearing capacity), have resistance from fire penetration (integrity) and be resistant to transfer of heat (insulation)9.There should be fire stopping that should be extended into all eaves to prevent spread of the fire. There should also be fire stopping that should cover the walls to reduce ease of ignition and rate of release of heat hence dampen the fire growth. Crown (2007:69) indicates that the walls should be fire resistive to restrict spread of fire. There should be installed fire suppression systems and measures should be in place to inhibit invisible fires from spreading within concealed spaces. Crown (2007:70) argues that the load bearing elements of the structure should have adequate ability to withstand effects of fire in order to prevent the structure from collapsing. The openings which include doors and windows should have potential to restrict spread of fire. Crown (2007:78) suggests there should be fire resistive doors and adequate ventilation ducts and atria that satisfy BS-5588-7:1997 requirements. Crown (2007:120) indicates fire resistivity of the elements should satisfy and comply with national tests BS-476 parts 2010, part 2111, part 2212, part 2313, part 2414 and also conform to European tests regarding commission decisions 2000/367/EC of third May 2000 that implements Council Directive 89/106/EEC. Internal and external fire spread According to crown (2007:69-79), internal and external spread of fire occurs through linings that are combustible. Internal lining should be fire resistive and if ignited, the rate of release of heat and growth or propagation of fire should be minimal. This is meant to enable users to escape from the building safely. Crown (2007:70-75) argues that the building should be equipped with protected shafts such that all spaces connecting different rooms have adequate fire resistive and suppressive materials to reduce spread of fire. Compartmentation assist in containing fire within one room and this has effect of minimizing spread of fire and reducing economic costs of fire. Crown (2007) argues that the building should be equipped with cavity barriers and fire resistive ceiling should be used because this keeps spread of fire under check. Automatic water sprinkler systems should be installed in all rooms where fire outbreaks are likely to occur in order to assist in extinguishing the fire before a minor fire incident escalates into a major fire incident. Means of escape The building should have adequate access to fire exits. The exits should be well lit. the lighting system of the lighting system Room populations Infants room: 22 persons Youth room: 39 persons Store: 2 persons Kitchen: 2 persons The hall: 70 persons Stage room: 86 persons Chapel: 65 persons Boiler: 2 persons Oil storage: 1 person Future room: 3 persons Future store: 3 persons Office: 4 persons Car park: 26 persons Number of exits There should be a total of six exits points in the event of fire namely a. Infant room exit facing shops b. Exit route via balcony c. Exit route via the lobby area d. Exit via the chapel e. Two exits to the car park f. An exit towards future room (though it will depend on the use of the future room) Width of the exits Width of exits via the car park This will serve persons using the hall and the staging room. It should be a minimum of 1.5 metres Width of exit via the future room This exit should serve persons in the future store, kitchen, entrance lounge and store. It should be a minimum of 1.5 metres. Width of exit via chapel This exit should serve person in the chapel and the office. It should be a minimum of 1.2 metres. Width of exit via the balcony The balcony exit should be used when other exits are not accessible and its width should be a minimum of 1.5 metres Width of exit via the infant room The infant room exit should serve infants in the infant room, entrance lounge, lobby room, youth room, store, kitchen and the hall depending on their travel distances and location of the fire. It should have a minimum width of 2.0 metres. Limitations on travel distances Travel distance is the shortest route to the exit from the building in the event of fire. Travel distance is affected by a. Fixed seating as in the hall and chapel b. Width of the exit door when open c. Width of the escape route d. Presence or absence of stairs e. Presence or absence of fire in the exit or means of escape Part two: fire safety management strategy Identification of fire hazards The main fire risk factors in the anywhere community centre will be triggered by a. Ignition of oil in the oil storage area b. Arson attack in the oil storage room c. Outbreak of fire in the boiler room d. Lighting of the folding partition during plays e. Dirtiness of the hall and subsequent lighting of the combustible materials f. Electrical faults in the kitchen room g. Gas leakages in the kitchen room h. Arson attack in the store i. Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials (CBRN) or splash of health and safety threatening powder on the people at the hall or the chapel j. Electrical faults in the water heating appliance that warms water for the bathroom Regulatory reform (fire safety) order 2005 The regulatory reform (fire safety) order 2005 was developed under regulatory reform act 2001 and replaced references to fire safety in other legislation such as the Fire Precautions Act, Licensing Act and Housing Acts. Regulatory reform (fire safety) order 2005 requires any person who exercises level of control in premises to take reasonable steps to reduce the risk from fire and ensure users can safely escape if a fire incident occurs. According to fire safety order 2005, a fire safety nominated person should carry out fire safety risk assessment and implement and maintain fire management plan. Requirements of fire safety order 2005 a. Nominate persons to evaluate and indentify risks and hazards b. Identify persons at risks c. Eliminate risks d. Provide general precaution to deal with residual risks e. Create plan to deal with emergency and findings be documented f. Review findings Risk management plan process a. Identify hazard b. Identify persons at risk c. Identify where combustible materials or ignitable materials are d. Action to be taken to reduce risk and hazard e. Form emergency plan f. Review the system regularly Fire risk assessment report The building should be inspected for any fire hazards that can put users’ health and safety at risk 24 hours before the facility is declared safe for use. The fire risk assessment should check if all fire alarms are properly working. The battery or back-up electrical power should be checked and replaced. The lenses of the smoke and heat detectors should also be free from any dust that can make them fail to respond timely in the event of fire. The hall, staging area and the chapel should be kept clear of any combustible materials that can start fire and propagate spread of fire. Electrical wires and sockets should also be checked for any damages that can result into electrical short circuits. The water tank should have enough water according to regulations on tank capacity and the water sprinkler system should be tested for performance. The entire compound should be checked for any suspect packages that may be C.B.R.N. and procedures for handling the incident should be followed. These procedures include immediately calling bomb experts, failure to use cell phones within 25 metres from the suspected package, cordoning off the area and evacuating the premise if it is confirmed the suspected package is a threat to health and safety. The public address system should also be checked for efficiency. Fire exit and other means of escape should be checked for performance and efficiency. Persons at risk in the event of fire outbreak The persons who are at risk during outbreak of fire include the infants in the infant room, the elderly persons with disabilities of visual or audio, persons on wheel chair either in the youth room, the hall or the chapel and pregnant women. Reducing the risks in the premise The hall and the chapel should be kept clean. There should be no combustible materials that can lead into start or propagate growth of fire There should be no smoking in the premise and “no smoking” posters should be pinned in different visible parts of the premises The boiler should be well maintained to check its risks to safety The oil storage should be free of any lighting or sparks that could ignite the oil Electrical connections in the kitchen should be checked weekly for any damages or repair to avoid short circuits Means of escape plans All the users of the premise should be able to know the means of escape in the premise in the outbreak of fire incident. The users should be trained on the emergency plans of the premise and should have practiced them before hand. Means of escape should have directional signals showing the way out of the premise to a safe area. The means of escape should have independent lighting system. There should means of escape for persons on wheel chair. Fire fighting equipments The following equipments should be available in the nominated fire staging area of the premise One cabinet, three 40 litre cylinder bottles, three electromagnetic actuator, three siphon tubes, three check leak pressure watch, three discharge hose pipes, pressure switch, three nozzles, water access, carbon dioxide fire extinguishers, foam extinguishers, wet chemical, high visibility clothing, fire protective clothing, wireless smoke detectors, heat detectors, siren alarm system and addressable control panel The premise crisis management plan The management should develop a crisis plan that should be flexible to allow for escalation of a minor incident into a major incident. The crisis management plan should include other agencies like police, bomb experts, building architects and designers, ambulance agencies local authority, building regulation bodies and fire department. The crisis plan should show first aid measures in place for different fire incidents and how the management could deal with aftermath of a fire incident that includes post incident measures like treatment of injured persons, compensation of injured persons and dead persons and counseling for families whose members lose their lives in the fire. Conclusion The management should consult with other stakeholders who have interest in fire protection measures like insurance agencies failure to which additional measures for fire protection can be required after the building is completed. Failure of the building to comply with building regulation acts or regulatory reform (fire safety) order 2005 and other legislation concerning elements of ensuring health and safety of the users may lead into restrictions being imposed on the use of the premise or insurance premiums being made too high to insure. There should measures to ensure spread of fire via internal linings is restricted and stability of the premise is guaranteed in the event of the fire through use of compartmentalization and fire containment strategies. There should be measures to ensure enough fire separation within the building. There should be provision for access to fire fighting facilities in the building in the event of outbreak of fire. The premise should have built processes for preventing external and internal spread of fire, provision of means of escape, control of propagation and growth of fire. Inter-agency liaison should also be sought through formation of crisis management plan. Recommendations The management should ensure there are measures to reduce risks of fire incidents and its possible outcomes The management fire safety team should ensure measures are in place to separate risks via appropriate distance The building should be equipped with active and passive fire protection The materials that are used for construction should meet requirements laid down by different regulatory bodies including United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). Reference list Crown. (2007). The building regulations 2000: fire safety- approved document B Volume 2 buildings other than dwellinghouses (2006 edition ed.). communities and local government: NBS (part of RIBA enterprises. Appendix Table 1: Risk assessment form Risk Assessment – Record of significant findings Risk assessment for Building: Location: Assessment undertaken by Date: Completed by: Signature: Sheet number Floor/area: Use: Step 1 – Identify fire hazards Sources of ignition Sources of fuel Sources of oxygen Step 2 – People at risk Step 3 – Evaluate, remove, reduce and protect from risk (3.1) Evaluate the risk of the fire occurring (3.2) Evaluate the risk to people from a fire starting in the premises (3.3) Remove and reduce the hazards that may cause a fire (3.4) Remove and reduce the risks to people from a fire Assessment review Assessment/review date Completed by Signature Figure 1: the ground floor plan Read More