Introduction to Fire Safety Management

Management arrangements
This section should give a brief overview of the manage-
ment arrangements in place to satisfy the requirements 
of the MHSWR and RRFSO and include, as a minimum:
➤
Policy and procedures
➤
Roles and responsibilities
➤
Training
➤
Inspection and monitoring systems
➤
Emergency planning arrangements.
The majority of fi re hazards that affect a building 
or its operations arise out of substandard manage-
ment arrangements, e.g. when investigating accidents, 
incidents, fi res, false alarms, etc. management failures 
are seen to have a signifi cant effect upon whether 
unsafe conditions (e.g. poor management of contract ors) 
or unsafe acts (e.g. wedging open of fi re doors) occur. 
There are very few occasions where both primary and 
secondary fi re hazards arise which are not attributable 
to management failures and therefore this is a key issue 
when analysing fi re risk.
Hazards
➤
Primary 
hazards:
➤
Ignition 
sources
➤
Fuel 
sources
➤
Oxygen 
sources
➤
Secondary hazards (those that prevent an adequate 
response in the event of fi re):
➤
Rapid 
fi re and smoke spread
➤
Spreading to adjacent properties
➤
Inadequate warning arrangements
➤
Inadequate means of escape
➤
Persons cannot be accounted for
➤
Small 
fi re grows rapidly
➤
Untrained persons at risk
➤
Fire service unaware of fi re
➤
Fire service unaware of building risks
➤
Fire service cannot gain access
➤
Future construction/maintenance works.
The most obvious fi re hazards relate to sources of 
ignition, sources of fuel and sources of oxygen and are 
known as primary fi re hazards (Chapter 7). These will 
need to be recorded, as will any fi re hazards that may 
affect people being unable to escape to a place of safety 
in the event of a fi re.
It is often the case that a fi re safety inspection will 
not identify issues such as the control of contractors 
as being a risk, unless contractors and maintenance 
operations are being undertaken at the time of inspec-
tion. This issue must be included in a risk assessment as 
it is ‘reasonably foreseeable’ that contractors may either 
compromise the safety of those on site while undertak-
ing their operations, or compromise fi re safety compart-
ments or other control systems.
While fi re fi ghters are not deemed to be 
‘relevant persons’ under the RRFSO, the 
assessment must address key areas such 
as how they will be alerted in the event of 
fi re, the ease of which they will gain access 
to undertake fi re fi ghting and rescue oper-
ations and risks to fi re fi ghter safety from 
processes, materials, chemicals or other 
noxious substances. Therefore each of 
these areas must also be included within 
the risk assessment.
In relation to secondary hazards associated with fi re 
the following risks may also need to be considered.
➤
Slips, trips and falls (including those from height) 
while evacuating
➤
Handling, lifting or carrying portable fi re fi ghting 
equipment
➤
Being trapped by a structural failure such as a wall 
collapsing
➤
Being asphyxiated by a gas fl ood system that oper-
ates to extinguish a fi re
➤
Coming into contact with the release of harmful sub-
stances such as asbestos

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