INTERIM FIRE SAFETY POLICY, ORGANISATION AND ARRANGEMENTS

General

Fire is potentially the greatest of all risks to personnel, business continuity and property. It can spread extremely quickly producing toxic, asphyxiating smoke. Fire hazards arise from structural features, the use to which the building is put, and the behaviour of people occupying and using the building.

The University recognises

its responsibilities to minimise the likelihood of a fire starting and spreading, and to ensure the safe evacuation of people;

that inappropriate call outs of the emergency services must be minimised and that the emergency services will consider the risks to their personnel when dealing with a fire; and

the risks to its academic strategy and its business that would arise from a significant fire.

The University aims to address these issues through careful design of premises, through provision of information and training, and through stringent management procedures.

However, the risk will always remain, and the University expects its staff, students, tenants, visitors and contractors to be vigilant at all times.

Organisation

The Registrar is the Principal Officer of the University to whom fire safety concerns ultimately should be referred. The Registrar is Chair of the University Health and Safety Executive Committee.

The University Health & Safety Executive Committee monitors fire safety and compliance with fire safety regulations and standards.

The Deputy Registrar is the chair of the Operational Risk Management Group that advises the University on property loss and insurance risk matters; and business continuity and emergency planning.

The Director of Health & Safety is accountable for ensuring the adequacy of the University’s fire preventative and protective measures and for the adequacy of the advice provided to the University on fire safety measures.

The Fire Safety Officer reports to the Director of Health & Safety; advises the Director of Health & Safety on interpretation of guidance on fire safety measures, and fire risks and the mitigation of those risks; carries out expert fire risk assessments of University premises; maintains fire safety files for each building; advises staff and facilitates implementation and maintenance of necessary fire safety measures; provides fire safety training; and reviews the adequacy of fire safety measures. The Fire Safety Adviser also ensures that all fire fighting equipment is provided, maintained and tested to the correct specifications, that weekly tests of the fire detection and warning systems in all buildings are carried out, and that records are kept of these activities.

Health & Safety Advisors monitor and advise on fire hazards and their control within their areas in consultation with the Fire Safety Officer.

The Director of Estates (and / or other designated senior Estates officers) ensure that:

the design specification of projects involving new build and material alterations to existing buildings take account of fire risks and relevant fire safety and loss control standards;

modifications to buildings receive the necessary statutory approvals from appropriate authorities (e.g. Building Control);

fire detection and warning systems, emergency lighting, dry/wet risers, fire hydrants, fire signage, and fire safety measures for limiting the spread of fire and smoke are installed, tested and maintained to the correct specifications;

permit systems are applied to any works instigated by Estates that introduce additional fire risks;

any projects that involve temporary or permanent changes to engineered fire safety measures or fire escape routes are referred to the Fire Safety Officer for approval prior to implementation.

The Head of Security oversees the Security team in providing an initial emergency response to fire alarms and in checking that security measures do not compromise fire escape routes.

Heads of Department ensure that their staff, students, visitors, tenants, and contractors consider fire risks as part of their assessments of their activities and facilities and comply with the fire safety measures set out in this policy.

Staff, students, visitors, tenants, and contractors must comply with fire safety measures including fire evacuation arrangements and instructions set out in this policy.

Fire risk control strategy

The design and use of University buildings are subject to fire risk strategies and assessments that take account of relevant legislation and codes of practice. Fire risk assessments address fire hazards, necessary controls, and the implementation and effectiveness of these controls. Fire risk control strategies summarise unique fire safety features for the building including any limitations on the number of persons. This approach is applied either to individual buildings or to sets of buildings. It is also applied to temporary structures such as marquees.

All buildings and temporary structures are provided with fire safety engineered provisions (i.e. structural fire protection, emergency lighting, fire detection and alarm systems, fire signage, fire fighting equipment, escape routes, final escape doors, and evacuation chairs) to mitigate the risk from the danger of fire. Fire safety provisions are provided, inspected, and tested as set out in ‘Fire Systems Maintenance’.

In addition to these engineered provisions, the University provides evacuation procedures to ensure that on activation of a fire alarm:

Everyone evacuates the premises to a place of safety,

Anyone who remains in or enters the premises does so only with authorisation,

There is communication with and if necessary evacuation of mobility impaired persons,

Persons are deterred from re-entering the building until it is safe to do so.

Fire emergency response arrangements have been established for the main campus, for its residences, and for the Wellesbourne campus.

The safety of persons who are unable by their own unaided efforts to reach a place of safety is considered in the fire risk control strategy for buildings and if appropriate by way of specific risk management arrangements. Information on these arrangements and on the arrangements for the provision and use of evacuation chairs is available. See Fire Safety/Persons requiring assistance to evacuate.

Persons given access to premises must be able to be evacuated safely from the premises to a place of safety in the event of a fire or other emergency. Where there are issues regarding this, discussions will be held with the person involved with the aim of facilitating maximum access while ensuring their safety. Where safe evacuation cannot be achieved after making reasonably practicable measures then the University reserves the right to prohibit access to specific areas to persons who would not be able to be evacuated safely: this is recognised as a measure of last resort.

Staff are provided with general guidance on fire safety and how to respond in the event of a fire as part of their health and safety induction to the University. Students, contractors, visitors and other non-employees are provided with information on what to do in the event of fire. Fire Wardens and Incident Controllers including Security staff are given specialist training. Other specialist fire safety training is available to key groups of staff as identified by risk assessment. Basic guidance on the use of fire extinguishers is available on-line.

Fire safety policy will be supported by various guidance and instruction notes on specific fire or explosion risks and their mitigation and in particular for laboratories, workshops, and storage compounds.

Electrical faults can cause fires. Safety measures for electrical supply and distribution systems; hard-wired installations and portable appliances are set out in the University’s Electrical Safety policy. The use of unauthorised portable heaters is prohibited throughout all University buildings. The use of portable heaters is only permissible with the authorisation of the Estates department.

The Estates Department have systems for managing building and maintenance works and have a Permit to Work system that includes hot work.

Persons engaging specialist contractors must:

make them aware of the requirements on fire safety;

ensure that they identify and address any operation that constitutes a fire risk or that restricts or obstructs fire resisting doors or fire escape routes; and

ensure that a Hot Work Permit is issued by Estates if hot work including welding or if a naked flame is being used to heat materials.

The University operates a no smoking policy throughout all University buildings. Within residences, the burning of candles or other naked flames is prohibited.

Tenants of University premises are required to comply with University arrangements for the buildings that they occupy. They must also assess the fire risks and precautions for their use of the premises, establish arrangements for evacuation of their staff and visitors, train their staff, and provide their visitors and contractors with instruction.

The effectiveness of fire emergency response arrangements is tested with fire drills which are organised by the Health & Safety Department once a year.

All fire incidents are investigated by and details held by the Health & Safety Department. Fire risk assessments, fire risk control strategies, and the implementation and effectiveness of the controls are reviewed to ensure that they fulfil their objectives of minimising the risk to people. Reviews are reported to the University Health & Safety Executive Committee.

Records are kept by the Health & Safety Department or by the Estates Department.