5 Interesting Facts About Fire Safety
FACT 1:
In 2004 the then Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott MP found that there were some 80 Acts of Parliament or parts of Acts which specified fire safety legislations: but when did it all start?
Way back in 1668, with Charles II (1660-1685)! After the great fire of London (1666) The King appointed six commissioners to redesign the city, with Christopher Wren as the principal architect: The city streets were reformed using techniques to widen the distance between, the now mainly brick built houses.
Further precautions were made later, in 1671, the practice of using open fires in thatched loft areas to cook was forbidden by royal decreed
FACT 2:
In 1937 Factories Act (as amended) was extended to cover, the means of escape in case of fire. The Act required that the factory owner must now have a plan of escape in case of fire and brought in the first rudimentary fire certificates: however, they were no provisions to expect the owners to keep the aggress and egress areas clean and free from debris.
FACT 3:
On Boxing Day 1969, a fire at the Rose and Crown Hotel, Saffron Walden, killed eleven people directly due to poor fire safety precautions and arrangements. The fire prompted the formulation of the fire safety legislation and in 1971, the Fire Precautions Act.
This Act now allowed the Fire Brigades of England and Wales to set the high standards of safety measures by inspecting the premises and issuing fire certificates or not; nevertheless, many buildings and areas were still not covered by the Act and fire disasters still occurred.
In 1987 on the underground rail system at King’s Cross, London, fire broke out that would change the way we regarded fire safety awareness forever. Investigators found that the fire was most probably caused by a traveler discarding a burning match on the moving staircase. The fire spread quickly, in part due to the stairs and sides of the escalator being made of wood and a phenomenon, we now call a “fluid flow”. The fire killed 31 people including Colin James Townsley – London Fire Brigade Station Officer and seriously injuring many more.
All victims were identified apart from a body found at the base of the one of the escalators which was labeled “Body 115”. This body lay in the mortuary for 17 years until the mystery was solved on 22rd of January 2004, when forensic evidence proved that he was 73-year-old Alexander Fallon, a homeless man, from Falkirk, Scotland
FACT 4:
Since the 1st June 2015, between the hours of 1800hr and 0800hr, the Tyne & Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) do not respond to automatic Fire Alarm (AFA) systems in non-residential properties unless the fire is confirmed by a key holder of the property.
The reason for this is, over the last 5 years there were 13,214 false alarms, costing approximately £300.00 for each occasion the TWFRS responded to these types of incidents. The cost to business’ was estimated at £1 billion per year due to lost time, productivity and general business disruption to name just a few.
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FACT 5:
Important changes happened in 2005 with the introduction of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which puts the onus on the owner and/or the occupier of the building, to carry out an annual fire risk assessments. These assessments must be completed by a qualified competent person, NEBOSH Fire or the equivalent as a minimum, to carry out this type of workplace inspection.
In short, this is a self-policing piece of legislation that requires a responsible person to ensure the safety of all persons likely to become harmed or affected in the event of a fire on their premises. The cost of adhering to this legislation is insignificant when you compare the real cost to life and property
- Over 40% of small business never reopen after a major fire
- 1,826 (2012-13) fires in industrial processing premises, with 82 casualties!
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