Fire Control Fiasco Continues

At the same time as a new official report out this week casts serious doubts on the Treasury’s handling of construction projects funded through Private Finance Initiatives – better known as PFI’s – the Fire Brigades Union has revealed some staggering figures regarding the ongoing costs of the doomed Fire Control project. You may recall this wholly unnecessary scheme devised by the old “New Labour” administration intended to consolidate the 49 regional fire and rescue services into 9 “super” regional control centre’s.

The Coalition axed it in January this year as technical difficulties mounted and implementation costs spiralled out of control. All 9 buildings were constructed but eight will likely never be used by the Fire and Rescue Services, with currently just the London site operational.

In my blog at the time it was axed I commented that with PFI contracts in place cancellation would have its own additional costs. Even so it comes as some surprise that the FBU claims a draw dropping £1.4 million of taxpayers’ money is haemorrhaging every month in rent for the unoccupied buildings, paid mainly to offshore property companies. Rent has been paid on the buildings since July 2007 and as Government is contractually tied into paying rent until the leases expire in 2033, the Union estimates the final cost at £340million in addition to the £140million spent before the axe fell.

No doubt the FBU has an axe to grind given that it is facing significant reductions in its operational budget as part of the public spending cuts but as much as I am sympathetic I can’t help but think it is crying over spilt milk.

If the FBU want a really good example of PFI waste set against the background of spending cuts look no further than the Princess Royal University Hospital in Bromley. This opened in 2003 and cost an estimated £118 million for building and fixtures. Published Treasury calculations show that the NHS will have paid out a total of £1.21 billion over the 35-year life of the PFI contract. PFI seems to me to be a smart ruse to spend money you don’t have today in the knowledge or hope that someone else can pick up the tab in the future.

Fire Safety drill a French farce

Imagine the scenario. You are a major employer operating a vast organisation employing thousands. You decide to run a mandatory fire drill and the throng of staff and visitors trying to evacuate the building encounter locked fire exits and confusing or inadequate fire safety signage. Many fire alarms throughout the complex also fail to operate causing confusion and mayhem and a designated “safe” assembly point turns out to be a courtyard inside the building surrounded by walls of glass.

I have reported regularly on the enforcement of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order so such a catalogue of fire safety breaches may lead you to think that the current record fine of £400k handed to New Look was likely to be broken by the offending organisation. No doubt about it I think but for the fact that this farce happened in a European Parliament building in Strasbourg last week. I understand the French have equivalent legislation to the RRO – probably with onions – although I doubt enforcement is as rigorous as in England!

In an ironic twist it turns out that Alan Brinson, Secretary of the European Fire Safety Forum that advises on European fire safety policy was in a Parliament cafeteria when the alarms rang (well at least some of them) in advance of a meeting of the forum that afternoon. He said that the forum later swapped horror-stories about locked exits and the lack of and were generally appalled. Of course if you are unelected, unaccountable and contemptuous of the common man you can take a different view as did Jerzy Buzek, the president of the Parliament who circulated a note to MEPs on the following evening, saying that the drill had achieved its goal of evacuating the building “rapidly and efficiently” before adding “the security services had begun (sic) a thorough evaluation” or white wash as we call it.

Clearly you can’t buy this level of incompetence cheaply given that the UK will deliver over £6 billion of our cash into the coffers of the EU this year – that equates to £10 billion gross. I suggest that it is appropriate that the European Parliament now take the sensible option and invest in quality British Standard Fire and Smoke detectors and alarms sourced of course from Fire and Safety Centre. I mean the odd million euro is little more than your average MEP’s expenses claim. Always happy to be of service mes amis.

Fire safety legislation for Landlords

As a homeowner I have more than a passing interest in the dire state of the housing market. A recent analysis by Morgan Stanley the investment bank predicts a further fall in prices over the next year taking the market back to 2004 price levels. I am more optimistic, and the Banks have got it seriously wrong in the past to put it mildly, but if it happens it will plunge millions of mortgage borrowers into negative equity. On the other side of the coin the squeeze in mortgage lending has resulted in the Buy to Let market surging ahead and again if the analysts are right up to one in six of us may be renting by 2020.

This was the subject of a conversation with a neighbour who having failed to sell his property after nearly 3 years on the market was now looking at renting it out so he could downsize and get an income boost from the rental. Debating the pros and cons it was quickly apparent that the guy had not a clue about what becoming a landlord entailed.

Landlords are obliged to comply with a raft of legally binding safety legislation covering everything from gas appliances to the kitchen sink. The Furniture and Furnishings (fire safety) Act, that old chestnut the RRO, and the 1991 Smoke Detectors Act are examples. It is not widely known that all new homes built since 1992 must have at least one smoke detector installed on each floor. Although the regulations do not apply to other properties under the landlords “duty of care” installing them is strongly advised. The tenancy agreement should also make clear who is responsible for testing and maintenance of Smoke Detectors including battery replacement.

Blocks of flats and houses with several tenants attract further safety responsibilities and are subject to regular safety inspections based on RRO type risk assessments. As a consequence a landlord’s duty of care may include providing additional safety equipment including fire extinguishers, fire blankets and in larger complexes appropriate fire safety signs. Fire and Safety Centre do supply special Fire Safety Packages designed specifically for landlords.

In addition any furnishings – even some patio furniture that is not to the current fire resistance regulations will have to be replaced or removed. Gas appliance’s will also have to maintained using a registered Gas Safe Engineer (the old CORGI scheme is no more) and electrical installations brought up to current standards with annual PAT tests. This is just the tip of the compliance iceberg to which you can add a whole load of contractual and tax issues which goes some way to explain why many would be landlords end up putting the whole thing in the hands of a specialist Management Agent. It is certainly the best option for my neighbour I think.

European union directive – man jailed for fire safety breaches

If you have a processing, engineering or manufacturing business you will, or should, be well aware of your legal responsibilities under the Regulatory Reform (fire safety) Order. Prosecutions of these types of businesses, and also others in Retail and Commerce sectors for non compliance with the RRO have risen exponentially since it reached the Statute Book in 2005. The prosecutions have raised billions of Pounds in fines most notable being the £300k for Shell International and the £537K including costs paid out by New Look for its RRO transgressions.

These mind boggling figures are intended to “encourage” (read terrorise) small businesses into taking the RRO seriously although when it comes to fines the Courts appear to me to apply an entirely arbitrary ability to pay approach based on what your business is worth rather than what you have done. As a result two fines for the identical offence can vary by at least a factor of 20 depending on the name on your letterhead and the bottom line of your P&L.

The RRO apart a recent Court case should also make you take a fresh look at the EU Machinery Directive a piece of legislation devised in Brussels but now adopted and legal in the UK as from 29th Dec 2009. In particular take a look at clause 3.5.2. This 5 liner requires machinery to be designed so as to “allow easily accessible fire extinguishers to be fitted” and or “be provided with a built in extinguisher system” which I read as a fixed automatic fire extinguisher. Automatic Fire Extinguishers can be easily retrofitted above process machinery as standalone units and are often seen protecting plant generators and engines within boats.

Why is this important? Well last week, in the first use of the EU Machinery Directive to prosecute a company for fire safety failings a court in Turin, Italy sentenced the manager of the Italian branch of the steelmaker ThyssenKrupp to sixteen and a half years in prison. He was found guilty of murder over charges relating to the deaths of seven workers in a fire at the plant in 2007. Five other senior managers at the works were found guilty of manslaughter and received at least 10 years apiece.
ThyssenKrupp was also fined 1 million Euros but intends to appeal. Like I say this legislation applies in the UK so like the RRO those that fall under its umbrella should take it seriously.

Updated Fire Safety code for Care Homes

Additional guidance has been published for fire safety in residential care and nursing homes in order to clarify the government guide to fire risk assessment, fire control and fire avoidance within the industry to ensure compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRO) legislation. The new guide is in the form of updates to the existing Communities and Local Government Guide for care homes which remains in force although it should be noted that unlike the RRO is not enshrined in law but is for want of a better description a Code of Practice

Even so the additional guidance, published by the National Association for Safety and Health in Care Services (NASHiCS) and the Chief Fire Officers’ Association (CFOA), deals with several issues and if anything relaxes some provisions within of the previous CLG Guide to acknowledge the variations in age and construction of care homes and not least the differing mobility levels of residents.  Care Home owners are well advised to work closely to these guidelines to ensure legal compliance with the RRO.

Specific issues covered include upgrades to fire compartments, evacuation times, dealing with residents unable to evacuate without assistance, travel distances on evacuation routes, use of external fire escapes and by-pass routes.

I have a close relative in a care home and when I visit even at 97 years she is always lucid, happy, content and I hope safe in her micro community. What is noticeable is that for the most part for practical purposes within the residential blocks at least the compartment fire doors are often fixed in the open position. I will check next time I visit to see if they are fixed using automatic safety closing devices such as the Dorgard Automatic Fire Door Retainer that will ensure compartmentation in the event of fire. The rooms to the individual “guest”” rooms are more often closed but without any self closers attached.  If the new guidance is followed these rooms which should already have 30 minute fire compartmentation may have to be upgraded at the first opportunity to 60 mins “if practical” so as to provide a temporary refuge should the occupant be unable to be evacuated immediately. With my relative being somewhat hard of hearing I could I guess see if the home would install a Deafguard Fire Alarm which incorporates a flashing beacon and under pillow vibration pad to alert the resident to a fire alarm.

The additional guidance is intended to provide care home managers with a clearer understanding of the existing CLG guide and compliance with the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. If you have a loved one in care you might just check the basic fire safety provisions are in place on your next visit
A copy of the report can be found at the following link:
http://www.nashics.org/uploads/documents/23641652.pdf