Fire Safety Compliance Audit

[Blackstone]

Hi all,

Fire Safety is not one of my strong points so hence the question below.

I will be auditing our FM team next month on Fire Safety Compliance and was trying to think of all the areas I need to cover.
FYI - I am on a large manufacturing site.
I can think of the following areas to ask for evidence of servicing, etc:

Fire Risk Assessment review - When was last FRA? Have significant findings been addressed?
Fire Extinguisher servicing
Fire Door servicing
Sprinkler System service and maintenance
Fire Alarm system service and maintenance
Signage (probably a bigger piece due to size of the site)
Evacuations (Not in scope of this audit)

I sure there is bits I've missed?
Would be grateful of some pointers

Thanks
BS

[witsd]

I'm not entirely sure what you would consider to fall under the scope of 'evacuations', so I'm just listing anything that crosses my mind.

Fire wardens. What do they do, how do they stay sharp? Pull one over to the fire panel and ask them what the different zones mean (especially the weird ones - 'fault', 'neighbour's premises' anything peculiar like that).

Similarly, do staff know what to do (or more importantly, what NOT to do - e.g. would they attempt to use extinguishers untrained?) If you ask them "what would you do if the FA went off now" can they answer easily? When you tell them that the route to the nearest exit is blocked, can they locate the next alternative?

What is FRS access like - how will they arrive and are people parking sensibly to avoid delays? Even if not blocked now, is there any potential for it to happen?

How are hot works managed?

Any dry / wet risers?

Are solar panels / any electrical appliances that require shutting down suitably identified, or could a member of the FRS turn up and electrocute themselves?

Any lightning protection?

Emergency lighting adequate and functional?

Are electric checks in general up to date?

Lift maintenance up to date? If you lost the lifts for an extended period is / should there be a process to tell the local FRS?

Are there enough extinguishers and are they the correct type? Are enough people trained on their use?

Are there any dangerous (flammable, explosive) substances being used (ever). Are these being used / stored in the way intended?

Any obvious breaches in compartmentation? I wouldn't expect FRA-level investigation, but has anything notable changed in this regard?

Any evidence of other silly behaviours? Illicit smoking, rubbish housekeeping etc.

Are all fire-related checks (including security) being done properly? Any gaps, obvious fake sign-offs or anything that's always being done by just one person?

I'll pop back when I inevitably think of more

[Messy]

Have a look at the document from the link below

Its national guidance for Fire Safety Inspecting Officers when carrying out audits to assess compliance with the FSO

Its an overcomplicated process IMHO (far more complex than when I was doing the job) but there are some useful nuggets of information in it that might help

Please ignore the scoring process and nonsense in the first 30-odd pages and instead scroll to the grey table from page 35 to 54

The table lists various areas to consider against the Article in the FSO. It also provides a little bullet point list of what to look for when considering this part of the audit.

https://nfcc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/ ... m.V4.3.pdf

Don't forget, Pages 35 to 54 is what you are looking for

Good luck

[WillPool]

As well as the great info provided, I would ensure you set a scope for the audit, and align what you are auditing to the scope

Pretty sure you may have already thought of that though

Will

[Blackstone]

Thanks for the above replies!
Wanted to go through some of the good stuff raised:

witsd -

What is FRS access like - how will they arrive and are people parking sensibly to avoid delays? Even if not blocked now, is there any potential for it to happen?

Luckily we have a station right next to the site

Any dry / wet risers?

Heard of dry and wet risers but don't really know what they are ?

Emergency lighting adequate and functional?

Definitely something to add to the list!

Are there enough extinguishers and are they the correct type? Are enough people trained on their use?

We probably have too many!

Messy -

Very helpful! I'll probably be refering back to that in coming years!

WillPool -

100%! trying to define the scope to stop myself going off on a tangent or down pointless rabbit holes

[witsd]

Any dry / wet risers?

Heard of dry and wet risers but don't really know what they are ?

Effectively they are a set of pipes intended to extend the reach of firefighters hoses over a tall or large area.

Most commonly you see them in tower blocks. FRS plug a hose into the inlet at the bottom, and another hose into an outlet on a floor near the fire. I've also seen them in places such as train stations where there's a lot of horizontal ground from the nearest road access to some parts of the site.

Dry risers are empty, while wet risers are full of water all the time and can reach higher / further distances.

Most likely you don't have any, but worth mentioning just in case!

[stephen1974]

When I conducted audits I looked at:

Risk Assessments / Coshh
- Has a fire risk assessment been carried out.
- Is there a system in place for completing actions highlighted in the risk assessment or from other inspections / audits
- Are flammable and explosive materials properly stored with correct signage? is a DSEAR assessment needed? is there an up to date one?

Training
- Are employees inducted properly to the building and made aware of the fire arangements such as when alarms are tested, what it sounds like, where the assembly points are, where they can find out information on fire marshalls etc
- Are there regular fire drills (every 6 months) and does this capture all staff (places with lots of part timers, high turnovers struggle with this)
- Are their Fire Marshalls / Wardens who have been trained
- Are there people who have been trained to use fire extinguishers
- Talk to the staff - dont just accept paper records.
- Are there emergency procedures in place for specific risks? ie shutting down machinery etc

Testing and Inspection
- Is there an internal schedule of inspection for fire extinguishers, escape routes, emergency lighting, fire alarms, fire doors etc and are records kept? are they up to dat?
- Are statuatory inspections carried out on fire alrms, emergency lighting, fire fighting equipment (including dry/wet risers), electrical equipment etc

Physical Walk Around
- Are escape route clear? Do they have appropriate signage? Are fire doors proped open? Are fire doors locked? Are extinguishers on the floor?
- Is there innapropriate storage of flammable materials (paper, cardboard etc)?
- Are there portable heaters in inappropriate locations or being misused?
- Are any unsafe practices observed? is that man using welding equipment next to the paint sraying booth whilst the door is slightly open? Does the receptionist at the car dealership have a plastic can of petrol under her desk next to a portable heater? Microwaves left unattended whilst in use in a room with no smoke detection?

I think that covers most stuff, but its also site dependent where their are uncommon / unique / specialised issues but i think most stuff for an AUDIT would fall under the above stuff.

[1804]

Hi
one other thing going forward, new legislation also includes the requirement for fire risk assessors to list their qualifications within the fire risk assessment - section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 which came into force on 1st October 2023. So any assessment is required to include this information, or run the risk of not being deemed suitable and sufficient. If this has been noted previously, apologies.
Cheers
Martin

[witsd]

Hi
one other thing going forward, new legislation also includes the requirement for fire risk assessors to list their qualifications within the fire risk assessment - section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 which came into force on 1st October 2023. So any assessment is required to include this information, or run the risk of not being deemed suitable and sufficient. If this has been noted previously, apologies.
Cheers
Martin

I hadn't heard this one... presumably it doesn't apply in Scotland in any case, but still that's a surprising one, what with you not requiring any actual qualifications to be competent to complete an FRA. O_o