The Regulatory Reform Order 2005 is the biggest overhaul of fire prevention and safety legislation in decades. On October 1, 2006 the Order came into force, and it firmly places the job of making sure that fire does not put lives in danger on the “responsible person,” which generally will be the employer. The responsible person is required by the Order to do an appropriate and adequate risk assessment of the workplace, to get rid of or decrease fire hazards as much as possible, and to make sure that all fire prevention facilities such as alarms and detection systems are well maintained.

Fire prevention and management deals with the avoidance, detection and extinguishing of fires, as well as such less important activities such as studies on the sources of fire, education of employees about fire hazards, and the preservation and development of fire-fighting equipment. The answer to fire safety is basically to avoid fire starting in the first place, but an understanding of what makes fire is also necessary to recognize how to prevent it.

Fuel, heat and oxygen are all necessary to start a fire, and together they comprise the “fire triangle.” Fires can be categorised depending on the materials that are involved:

• Class A - fires involving materials such as wood, paper and textiles.
  
• Class B - fires involving combustible liquids or solids that can liquefy, such as candle wax.
  
• Class C - fires involving gas.
  
• Class D - fires involving flammable metals.
  
• Class F - fires involving cooking oils or fats.

A fire extinguisher can be used to douse a small fire by directing onto it a substance that cools the burning material, divests the flame of oxygen, or gets in the way of the chemical reactions stirring the blaze. Water can be used for Class A fires, since it carries out two of the functions of fire extinguishers: its conversion to steam sucks up heat, and the steam moves the air from the vicinity of the flame.

Fire Safety

The first "rule" of fire prevention is to avoid placing things that could catch fire close to the things that could ignite the fire or remove the ignition source completely. Follow the manufacturer’s safety precautions when using appliances. Look after all your equipment and keep the building in a good state of repair.

Have you ever parked a vehicle in front of a fire hydrant or in a fire lane? If you answered “yes” you are perhaps typical of most people. “I need this space now and the fire brigade does not,” seems to be the thinking. As citizens concerned about fire prevention, we need to be aware of the threat to life safety when a hydrant is blocked or a fire lane is obstructed. After all, no one can tell when or where a fire will break out.

Fire is a self-sufficient chemical reaction that by its very nature will grow. Equipment like heaters must be treated with care. Keep in mind that paints, cleaning solutions and many other chemicals used in the workplace are flammable. Your chances of surviving a fire increase greatly when fire sprinklers are installed. New technology will allow sprinklers to be connected to your standard plumbing system. Sprinklers also increase property value and lower insurance rates.

Fire prevention is a component of building safety. Some elements of fire prevention include:

• Building or renovating facilities in line with the local building code in force at the time.
  
• From the moment a building is occupied, it should be maintained in accordance with the provisions of the fire code.