Introduction to Fire Safety Management

3.2.6 Fire safety manager
There is no specifi c terminology for a variety of roles and 
responsibilities for those managing fi re safety. British 
Standard 5588-12:2004 Fire Precautions in the Design, 
Construction and Use of Buildings – Part 12: Managing 
Fire Safety provides an outline of the responsibilities of 
the fi re safety manager which include:
➤
Conducting 
fi re risk assessments to assist in identi-
fying and reducing the likelihood of fi re occurring
➤
The development and implementation of a fi re 
strategy
➤
Undertaking training of staff, including evacuation 
exercises and the maintenance of training and evacu-
ation exercise records
➤
Conducting inspections, arranging for maintenance 
and testing of potential fi re hazards
➤
Monitoring and maintaining the means of escape, 
fi re evacuation procedures and the behaviour of 
occupants and reviewing fi re plans accordingly
Figure 3.2
The responsible person assisted by a compe-
tent adviser should manage fi re safety in the workplace

---

Organising for safety
41
➤
Ensuring access and egress and other appropriate 
provisions for disabled people
➤
Arranging maintenance, testing and, where appro-
priate, inspection of:
➤
Fire safety equipment
➤
Systems and procedures
➤
Emergency communication systems
➤
Monitoring any general maintenance/building works 
that may affect fi re safety arrangements, includ-
ing the supervision, monitoring and instruction of 
contractors
➤
Management of non-routine high fi re risk activities 
including the issue of hot work permits
➤
Notifi cation to the authorities (fi re authority, building 
control) of any changes that may affect fi re precau-
tions, e.g. changes to internal layout, extensions or 
structural alterations and where appropriate if highly 
fl ammable or explosive mixture levels alter
➤
Ensuring that relevant British Standards and other 
appropriate standards are complied with.
The above list of responsibilities assigned to the fi re safety 
manager appears quite extensive and it is likely that add-
itional competent persons will need to be appointed to 
assist in the management of fi re safety. Therefore, add-
itional responsibilities of a fi re safety manager in a large, 
complex organisation may also include the following:
➤
Appointment of fi re marshals/fi re wardens, fi re alarm 
verifi ers, fi re incident controllers and members of 
fi rst responder/fi re teams
➤
Undertaking a training needs analysis and develop-
ment of a training policy to ensure staff members 
have necessary competencies
➤
Organising/conducting 
fi re safety reviews and audits
➤
Ensuring the continued effectiveness of any auto-
mated fi re safety system, e.g. fi re alarm and detec-
tion systems
➤
Pre-entry 
fi re safety checks of the premises prior to 
entry by members of the public
➤
Monitoring and reviewing the fi re safety manual 
(log book) including false alarms and near miss fi re 
events
➤
Recording of changes to the building for inclusion in 
the operations and maintenance manuals or health 
and safety fi le under CDM
➤
Contingency 
planning:
➤
Abnormal occupancy levels – failure or planned 
preventive maintenance of fi re safety critical 
systems
➤
Abnormal inclement weather conditions
➤
Collaborating with local authorities involved in 
disaster planning and the assessment of poten-
tial environmental impact of fi re (see Chapter 13).
The level of responsibility and accountability of the fi re 
safety manager will need to refl ect the organisation; 
however, any safety management structure should pro-
vide for clear lines of responsibility, authority, account-
ability and resources, in particular in relation to common 
areas within multiple occupied buildings/premises.
The above management responsibilities may well be 
assigned to a number of persons within an organisation. 
Training records, for instance, may be the responsibility 
of the human resources department and the mainten-
ance of fi re safety systems records may rest with the 
facilities management or property services department.