Learning About Fire Doors As A Fire Safety Officer

Every workplace, plus the building owners and managers, have a duty of care to their staff and all who frequent their business premises.  Amongst these duties are the Fire Safety precautions and procedures. Even a minor fire outbreak can result in disaster on many fronts if not quickly contained and extinguished. Every workplace building should have appointed Fire Safety Officers. Their knowledge of the correct actions and procedures in a fire emergency is of paramount importance.

Here are some aspects of which ALL Fire Safety Officers need to be aware:

Essentials of fire safety training

Firstly, ALL employees, not just the appointed Fire Safety Officer, should be familiar with the established fire safety procedures in their workplace and should be fully aware of what actions to take in the event of a fire outbreak. To ensure that that this is the case, regular evaluation of employees’ knowledge and awareness of these fire procedures should be conducted, and further training given for any gaps or lapses in employee knowledge exposed.

Raising your employees’ knowledge of how potential fires are caused – and, more importantly, how to prevent them – will also help in their overall understanding of the dangers of, and the correct behaviors in these fire outbreak situations. Role-play and instructional videos are very useful tools in providing this education for your staff and makes the fire safety training more memorable by reinforcing the message of how dangerous a fire outbreak may be in their work environment. Practice, with your staff, your emergency fire outbreak and evacuation plan AT LEAST once a year.

Minimum fire-resistant doors requirements

To comply with current Building Regulations every fire-resistant door must be of AT LEAST FD30 type. That is, a fire door that that offers at least 30 minutes fire resistance against heat, flame, and smoke passage at room temperature conditions. These FD30 fire doors should have been designed, manufactured, and tested to the minimum standard laid out in BS476 (the British Standard) Part 22 1987 or BS EN 1634-1 2000, which is the United Kingdom adoption of the European standards. Fire resistant doors are available in different levels of protection – some buildings – or specific rooms or areas of a building – may require longer containment protection in order to facilitate a successful evacuation, and fire doors with greater resistance times, and different composition (such as steel fire doors), of FD60 and FD120 can be installed.

All fire-resistant doors must be supplied with a certificate confirming the stated door specifications – this certificate should cover, not just the door itself, but any accompanying door furniture and ironmongery that is supplied with the doorset.

Any fire-resistant doors, can, alternatively, be certificated to the BM TRADA Q-Mark scheme or BWF Certifire scheme.

It is also preferable that all fire doors should meet the Secured by Design standard.

Building regulation requirements can vary depending upon the type and usage of the building as well as the actual placement of the FD30 fire doors. Always refer to the practical guidance published in connection with the building regulations to ensure that you are fully complying with the relevant fire safety requirements.

The responsibility of everyone

Employees need practical, hands-on experience and knowledge of what to do in a fire emergency. As the appointed Fire Safety Officer it is up to you to ensure that all staff receive the best fire safety training, equipment, and materials for your specific work environment. To successfully fulfil that role, you must be fully aware of the current and relevant fire safety regulations and procedures, including knowledge of fire-fighting equipment and the fire prevention and containment elements within your building, such as alarm and warning systems, and fire-resistant doors of all types including FD30 fire doors and steel fire doors.

Enfield Doors

Are the Responsible Person of a commercial building, office or housing and would like to find out more about fire resistant doors? We can help. Our team of experts is always on hand to guide you and give you sound and pragmatic advice based on years of experience and successful installations.

If you would like further information on our company, please contact us and we will respond as quickly as possible. We look forward to helping you.