Month: October 2018

Protecting Lives, Protecting Loss

What’s to lose?

Since starting my Fire Door Inspection journey, I have been alarmed by the proportion of fire resistant doors that have failed an inspection – at least half of them. Many of these failings are not immediately apparent, for example automatic hold open devices that don’t release the doors when they should, or a hinge with a leaky bearing. But some of them HAVE been obvious, such as detached door closers or doors so clearly ‘dropped’ they are being propped up by their partner!

I will be the first to admit that, in the past, I have been ignorant of the importance of fully functional fire doors and had limited understanding of their purpose. Not that I would have turned a blind eye to obvious defects in any of the places where I would have been the ‘responsible person’, but if the doors looked okay, surely they WERE okay?

No – it is not okay.

Looking back, it scares me to think that an undetected fault in a fire door in one of my premises could have had catastrophic consequences. I didn’t know what ‘compartmentalisation’ was – at least, not in relation to fire safety – much less realise a fire doors’ function in maintaining separate compartments in order to restrict the spread of fire and provide precious minutes to people trying to escape.

I suspect there are plenty of ‘responsible persons’ out there now who are in the same boat as I was all those years ago – but beware, ignorance is no defence in law and, even if you’re not one of those who blatantly risk people’s lives by recklessly ignoring problems with your fire doors, you can be prosecuted.

Research conducted by the Fire Door Inspection Scheme (FDIS) in 2015 on 45 prosecutions involving non-compliant fire doors resulted in fines totalling £951,000 – this on top of a number of suspended prison sentences and even custodial sentences. These were not all large corporations, far from it. They included landlords of HMO’s, pubs and restaurants, owners of SMEs, care homes and nurseries too.

So, if you are an owner, landlord, manager, employer or appointed ‘responsible person’ – anyone with legal and moral responsibilities for fire safety, please seek the help of an FDIS certified fire door inspector to ensure all your fire doors are working properly.

Mark McQuade CertFDI

PROTECTING LIVES, PREVENTING LOSS

One of my objectives since joining the Worksmart Contracts team only 6 months ago was to establish our new Fire Door Inspection Service to help our clients, new and existing, to fulfil their legal and moral obligations and bring them peace of mind. It makes sense to us to offer this service – with over 16 years’ experience in installing and repairing fire doors and screens, we are industry experts. We think it makes sense to our clients to take advantage of our experience and expertise too. I am delighted to announce that we have achieved that objective with the launch this week of WORKSMART FIRE DOOR INSPECTIONS!

Worksmart Fire Door Inspection are committed to improving fire safety throughout Scotland and beyond and are proud supporters of the FIRE DOOR INSPECTION SCHEME (FDIS) – Europe’s first fire door inspection scheme. It was launched in 2012 as a joint venture between the BWF-Certifire Scheme and the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers (GAI) and aims to transform people’s knowledge about how and why fire doors work and the potential dangers of getting it wrong. It does this through education programs (such as the diploma and certification programs I have recently completed), awareness campaigns like the Fire Door Safety Week campaign, sharing important changes and updates to legislation and regulations (as well as best practice and new developments) and maintaining a database of FDIS Certified Inspectors (http://www.fdis.co.uk/inspector).

There is an ever increasing challenge to keep abreast of, and comply with, the regulations that apply to public or commercial buildings. Foremost of these, following recent developments in the UK, are those concerned with fire safety – which define the standards for passive fire protection, including the installation and maintenance of fire doors. Fire doors are complex, engineered products and, like any engineered product, need regular maintenance. Evidence shows us that fire doors are one of the most common areas of non-compliance, often due to poor installation and/or maintenance. Any failing could lead to prosecution and would mean that they will not perform to the required standard in the one and only case that they may be called upon to do so.

Amazingly, Scotland is desperately under-represented on the FDIS Certified Fire Door Inspector database, a situation we, at Worksmart Fire Door Inspection, are well positioned to rectify. With an extensive reach throughout Scotland, offices in Edinburgh and Kilmarnock and active projects from Aberdeen to Ayr we have a track record of delivering first class service all over the country. Our aim is to be the first choice for fire door inspection services in Scotland!

I can’t wait to start introducing the service to our existing clients and spreading the word to a wider audience! Our service will not stop at producing a ‘one off’ inspection report using the latest auditing software, however. If required we can create and manage an inspection program in line with legal requirements and produce detailed, historical reports, recommendations, confirmation of remedial actions and more. In short, we can tailor the service to individual requirements in order to strengthen existing fire safety management plans.

Call me to find out why your fire doors should be inspected, what it entails, when you should do it and how we can manage it all for you.

#makeitworksmart #worksmartworksafe #makeitworksafe #protectinglivespreventingloss