What is a fire strategy plan?
As a commercial or residential building owner, ensuring the safety and security of your property and its occupants is a top priority. One crucial aspect of this is having a comprehensive fire strategy plan in place, which is designed to ensure fire safety for all occupants.
It goes beyond basic fire risk assessments and offers a detailed roadmap for preventing, detecting, and containing fire. In this blog, we’ll delve into the details of what a fire strategy plan is, why it’s essential to have one, and the steps to creating an effective plan tailored to your specific property.
What is a fire strategy plan?
A fire strategy plan is a formal document that outlines the fire safety arrangements for a building or premises. It compiles crucial fire safety information, providing a comprehensive overview of the fire safety provisions and procedures in place. It focuses on the specific risks present in that particular building and incorporates various aspects such as the building’s design, layout, intended use, and the potential fire hazards associated with it.
The primary purpose of a fire strategy plan is to minimise the risk to life and property from fire, along with adhering to building regulations and fire safety standards. It achieves this by meticulously identifying and analysing all escape routes, ensuring they’re clear, unobstructed, and equipped with proper signage and emergency lighting. It also outlines fire prevention and protection measures that are designed to control and contain a fire.
A well-structured fire strategy plan includes detailed drawings of the building layout, clearly marked escape routes, assembly points, the location of fire safety equipment, and provisions for emergency lighting. It also documents the roles and responsibilities of designated individuals in managing fire safety within the building, ensuring a coordinated and effective response in case of an emergency.
What are the key components of a fire strategy plan?
As we’ve mentioned, a fire strategy plan should include a detailed analysis of the building itself, including its construction, layout, and any potential fire hazards. The plan should also encompass the fire safety systems in place, such as fire detection and alarm systems, sprinkler systems, and other fire suppression measures. Additionally, it should outline a regular maintenance schedule (conducted by a qualified professional) for all fire detection and alarm systems to ensure they remain in good working order.
As well as the building and its systems, a fire strategy plan should address human factors too. This will encompass the means of strategically located and easily accessible escape for building occupants, clearly marked signage and emergency lighting provisions, and fire safety training covering evacuation procedures, the location and use of fire extinguishers, and the importance of raising the alarm promptly to ensure everyone knows how to react safely and effectively during an emergency.
A fire strategy plan should include a number of key elements to effectively address fire safety in a building. Here are the key elements to consider:
- Fire detection and means of warning such as:
- Fire detection systems like smoke detectors, heat detectors, and alarm systems.
- Clear and audible fire alarms.
- Visual alarm systems for the hearing-impaired.
- Means of escape such as:
- Clearly marked and unobstructed escape routes, wide enough to accommodate the building’s occupancy.
- Emergency lighting to illuminate escape paths during power outages.
- Fire-resistant doors to compartmentalise fire and smoke, providing safe passage for evacuation.
- Fire spread such as:
- Use of fire-resistant materials in the construction and fit-out of the building.
- Compartmentation strategies to divide the building into smaller sections and contain fire spread.
- Measures to protect against external fire spread to or from adjacent buildings.
Who can create a fire strategy plan?
Developing a fire strategy plan is a specialised task that requires in-depth knowledge of fire safety regulations, building codes, and fire protection systems. For straightforward projects, an accredited fire risk assessor can adequately develop a fire strategy plan, ensuring it complies with all the relevant regulations. A fire risk assessor holds the necessary qualifications to conduct a fire risk assessment, identify hazards, and recommend appropriate fire safety measures. They can create a compliant fire strategy plan for simpler buildings with less complex fire safety requirements.
However, for more complex buildings, such as high-rise buildings, hospitals, or industrial facilities with intricate fire safety requirements, a chartered fire engineer will often need to create a plan for you. A fire engineer possesses advanced technical expertise in fire dynamics, fire modelling, and fire suppression systems. Their involvement can provide a higher level of detail and a more sophisticated analysis of fire risks, ensuring the development of a robust and comprehensive fire strategy plan tailored to the building’s specific needs.
By working with competent fire safety professionals to guide the development and implementation of a compliant fire strategy, it’s not just good practice, but also a legal and moral imperative to ensure the safety of occupants.
How to create a fire strategy plan
Creating a fire strategy plan is a multi-step process that should be initiated during the design stage of a building. It involves a thorough assessment of the proposed building’s design and its intended use. Architects and developers often enlist fire safety professionals to identify any potential fire hazards, assess the risks associated with different building materials, and recommend appropriate fire safety provisions to mitigate those risks.
This collaborative approach ensures that fire safety measures are integrated into the building’s design, resulting in a more effective and robust fire strategy plan. The plan should then be documented, implemented, and regularly reviewed and updated to reflect any changes or modifications to the building throughout its lifecycle.
Steps to developing a fire strategy plan
Developing a robust and comprehensive fire strategy plan involves several crucial steps including:
- Appoint a competent person – the first step is to appoint a competent person or team responsible for creating the fire strategy plan. This could be an accredited fire risk assessor, a fire engineer, or a specialist fire safety company, like LS Fire Group, and this will depend on the complexity of the building.
- Conduct a thorough fire risk assessment – a comprehensive fire risk assessment is paramount to identify potential fire hazards within and around the building. This involves evaluating the building’s layout, construction materials, intended use, and any hazardous materials stored on-site.
- Develop the fire strategy plan – based on the fire risk assessment, the competent person should then develop the fire strategy plan. The plan should detail the fire prevention measures, fire detection and alarm systems, means of escape, fire suppression systems, and fire safety training procedures. It should be clear, concise, and readily accessible to all relevant parties.
The importance of regular reviews and updates of fire strategy plans
Once a fire strategy plan is implemented, it shouldn’t be treated as a static document. Regular reviews and updates are essential to ensure their continued effectiveness in maintaining fire safety within the building. Such updates will be necessary in different scenarios including:
- Changes in building use – alterations to the building’s purpose, layout, or occupancy levels require a reassessment of the fire risks and necessitate corresponding updates to the fire strategy plan.
- Changes in legislation – fire safety regulations are subject to change; therefore, regular reviews ensure the plan remains compliant with the latest legal requirements.
- Outcomes of fire drills and incidents – outcomes from fire drills can highlight areas for improvement in evacuation strategies, while any fire incidents in the building should prompt an immediate review and necessary updates to the plan.
Let us devise your fire strategy plan
A comprehensive fire strategy plan is crucial for ensuring the safety and well-being of occupants in buildings. By incorporating the key elements we’ve highlighted, such as effective evacuation routes and fire detection systems, building owners can mitigate risks and comply with legal requirements.
When creating a fire strategy plan, it’s highly recommended to contact professional fire safety experts to ensure your plan is robust, tailored, and adheres to strict fire safety regulations. To learn more about fire safety plans, or for help developing your fire strategy plan, contact our specialists today.
Fire strategy plan FAQs
- Who is responsible for implementing a fire strategy plan?
The responsibility for implementing a fire strategy plan lies with the ‘responsible person’. This is usually the building owner or the person or organisation in control of the premises. It’s their duty to ensure fire prevention measures are in place and fire safety features within the building are adequately maintained to mitigate the risk of fire.
- How often should fire strategy plans be reviewed?
Regular reviews of fire strategy plans are good practice and a legal requirement. While the responsible person should conduct reviews annually, changes in the building’s use, structure, or fire safety legislation require immediate review and adjustments to ensure continued compliance and efficacy of the fire safety plan.
- How can a fire safety plan be effectively communicated to building occupants?
A fire safety plan can be communicated in various ways such as in regular training sessions, through clearly signed evacuation routes and procedures throughout the building, by distributing copies of the fire safety plan, and using visual aids like signs and maps.
- Do different types of buildings require different fire safety plans?
Yes, fire safety plans should be tailored to the specific needs of the building type and use. For example, residential buildings, commercial buildings, schools, hospitals, and industrial facilities will each have their own unique risks and requirements and therefore will have their own unique fire safety plan.
About the author
