Fire Safety Risk Management – Module Three

 Having completed this module, you will be able to:

 Evaluate the five essential parts of the fire safety management plan

 Describe each component of the fire safety management plan in detail

 Analyze the fire risk management system described in BS 9997

 Define the measures for assessing fire safety measures of a building

 Define FEP and ERP according to Singapore Civil Defense Force

 Recognize different regulations related to means of emergency egress across the

world

 Summarize emergency egress protocols defined in some clauses of OHSA 

Fire Safety Management Plan

If you are among those who are willing to become a fire safety management professional, then you
should be aware of the importance of the fire safety management plan. With a fire safety
management plan, you can make arrangements for implementation, control, monitoring, and review
of fire safety standards and ensure the maintenance of these standards. Your fire safety
management plan describes the arrangements for an effective fire safety strategy for preventing the
fire from occurring again. With a fire safety management plan, you can protect your property and its
occupants in case a fire happens.

There are five components of the Fire Safety Management plan:

 Planning

 Organization

 Control

 Monitoring

 Review
Planning within the Fire Safety Management Plan

Planning

Adequate planning includes:

• The conducting of fire safety risk assessment by the responsible person
• Determining priorities that help eliminate hazards and reduce risks to individuals
• Adopting an approach for completing risk assessments and deciding the priorities and objectives
for risk control
• Establishing performance standards and implementing protective and preventive measures

Fire Safety Risk Assessment

Fire risk assessment is an important part of the fire safety management system. This part should be
done carefully and comprehensively. Because all emergency planning, controls, and prevention
measures are taken after the analysis is done properly. The Steps are listed below:

• Identify and list the fire hazards

• Identify people at risk against each identified hazard

• Evaluate, assess, remove, or mitigate the risks

• Record one's findings, make an emergency plan and offer awareness and competence
training (as required)

• Assess and update the fire risk assessment periodically

Organization within the Fire Safety Management Plan

This part of the FSM (Fire Safety Management Plan) entails how an organization is structured. It can
include/involve:

 The appropriate communication of health and safety information to the employees

 Involving employees and ensuring their compliance with all the aspects of fire safety risk
assessment
  The person who will make decisions regarding preventive and protective measures and their
implementation

 An effective communication system for the employees, other employees, and other
responsible individuals

 Securing competence with adequate information, instruction, and training

 Complete details of protected areas and fire doors

 Maintenance plans

 Arson prevention

 Fire prevention measures and housekeeping measures

 Emergency and evacuation plans

 Fire safety risk assessment

Controls in the Plan

 Identifying responsible individuals at each level who can carry out fire safety issues across
the premises

 Ensuring adequate supervision

 Setting specific and measurable standards for determining performance

 Ensuring that the accountable person understand their duties

 Clarifying health, safety, and fire safety responsibilities

Fire Safety in Combination with Health and Safety Management System

Fire safety management can be incorporated into the bigger occupational health and safety
management system as defined in ISO 45001. The occupational health and safety management
system is not completed until and unless the organization has addressed all fire hazards. Where ISO
45001 deals with a system that supervises all types of hazards, the fire safety system can serve its
component and can also be operated as a standalone sub-system or an integrated system.

For Me: ISO 45001: ISO 45001:2018 - Principles of Occupational Health and Safety Management
Systems
Monitoring within the Fire Safety Management Plan

The monitoring component of FSM identifies the ability of the responsible person regarding his
ability to determine the success of the fire safety policy. Monitoring should include keeping regular
checks on fire precautions, investigating the causes of accidents, and recording important
information, such as:

 Monitoring processes and activities

 Ensuring the investigation of all accidents

 Providing lessons regarding fire safety that are well-adapted, and the procedures are
modified as per need

 Having a plan and routine inspections for giving the correct placement and maintenance of
the adopted measures

Reviewing within the Fire Safety Management Plan

This component of the FSM allows you to identify a regular procedure that includes any identified
deficiencies and processes through which these deficiencies can be corrected. With review, you
should:

 Have a system that allows you to complete any incomplete remedial work

 Have a mechanism that ensures the completion of remedial work

 Review the management systems for ensuring their activeness

Fire Risk Management System

It is a moral and legal obligation to take fire precautions into account for every building owner
worldwide. Under these fire precautions, the thing that tops the list is the fire protection measures.
However, the quality of these measures is directly dependent upon their proper management. If you
are a building owner or in control of premises, then BS 9997:2019 Fire Risk Management Systems
(FRMS) standard can help you address flaws in the management system that usually lead to fires.

The BS 9997:2019 Fire Risk Management System was developed in August 2019. It was designed
to address the flaws and shortcomings in the fire management system of a building. The standard
provides the organizations with a framework that helps them manage their approach to a fire risk by
applying the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle.

Benefits of BS 9997 Implementation

By certifying to BS 9997, you.

 Show your commitment regarding fire safety

 Take a consistent approach regarding management and control of fire-associated

risks

 Make your buildings safer for their occupants

What Types of Buildings Benefits from BS 9997?

BS 9997 is beneficial for buildings whose infrastructure is very complicated. It can also be applied
on:

 Organizations that work on multiple sites

 Separate management divisions inside an organization

 Individual premises with a single entity

BS 9997 can also benefit those organizations that specify or maintain properties at the places where
there is a risk of life or property. Some other organizations that can benefit themselves from by
implementing BS 9997 are:

Care and nursing homes – Contractors - Educational establishments having an accommodation –

Hotels – Insurers – Landlords – Universities - Local authorities

Measures for Assessing Fire Safety of a Building

There are specific measures that are checked and verified to assess fire safety. It includes actions
such as verifying how easy it is to escape in case of a fire, the presence of flame retarding material,
etc. 

Some of the Important measures for assessing fire safety of a building are illustrated below: 
As a fire safety professional, you may need to assess the preparedness of a building and the fire
protection measures that have been taken. Some of the steps mentioned in this topic can indicate
how well a building has shown compliance to fire safety standards, whether the standards are local
or international.

Methods of Escape

In fire management and planning of a building, the most important step is to ensure a safe passage
for escaping the premises in case of an emergency. For office buildings, it is necessary to have
additional staircases, stairwells, and corridors. Any structure facilitating the emergency exit of the
occupants should be well-maintained, obstacle-free, and well-ventilated.

Pathways for Exiting the Premises

There must be a defined distance for a person which they can cover easy to reach the exit. This
pathway must have photo-luminescent signs for enabling the correct process of evacuation,
especially during the night. Some critical areas in high-rise buildings, such as terraces, are very
important because they allow people to congregate safely while evacuating the building.
Smoke Detection and Suppression Systems

Smoke detection systems are important for households as well as for office and industrial premises.
The automatic alarm systems are very useful in spotting the imminent danger of fires and smoke,
usually when the building has a low occupant load. Similarly, installing various elements of smoke
suppression systems, such as fire extinguishers and automatic sprinklers is also important. With
automatic suppression systems, one can lower the damage-related costs by 60%.

Conducting Regular Fire Drills

Usually, panic arises during an event of an emergency. During such situations, it is important to
remain calm, so that all of the occupants can evacuate the building safely. To ensure people remain
calm during such situations, it is necessary to make them accustomed to these situations by
conducting regular fire drills, exercises, and simulations.

Installing Flame Retardant Materials

The use of flame retardants in the interior of a building can either prove to be deadly or can protect
that building during an emergency. If the interior of a building consists of highly combustible
materials, such as fabrics, wood, textiles, paper, etc., the fire emergency can exacerbate quickly.

To make these interiors safe, the fabrics can be made fire-proof. In the U.S., various regulations
make it obligatory for furniture manufacturers to provide fire-tested fabrics only.

Accessibility to the Firefighters

If a building is designed in a very complex or intricate fashion, then the firefighters may find it
difficult to access the indoors of the building. One example of such hindrances is the grilled
windows due to which firefighters find it very difficult to reach inside, extinguish the fire, and save the
stranded occupants.

Availability of Building Plans

Lack of availability of building plans can make the rescue process very difficult. One such example
can be found in the tragedy of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, India. On 26 November 2008, the hotel
was attacked by ten terrorists. They planted bombs in the hotel's dome, which started a fire after
detonation.

The fire reached across the hotel's top floors within a short period, trapping all the guests inside. The
absence of building plans made it difficult for the rescuers to carry out their duties during that
situation. Having building plans available on-demand can be very helpful for the firefighters and
rescue teams. Therefore, the building owners should ensure multiple copies of their building plans.

Assessment from Fire Departments

The building owners should also look forward to conducting a survey of their premises by their local
fire authorities. These authorities can guide them better in ensuring the safety of their premises and
point out the areas for betterment in the premises' fire safety system.

Why is Complying with Local Authorities Necessary?

It is mandatory in virtually all countries around the world for the office premises, industries,
enterprises, and households to comply with the local laws and regulations set out for fire safety.
Often, business owners and house owners ignore this aspect and violate the local regulations.
These types of misconducts can make these structures vulnerable to even any small fire emergency.

Requirements of the Assembly Area of a Building

An assembly area (fire point / evacuation assembly area) is a designated zone built away from
premises. The building occupants know about it in advance and can gather there in an emergency.
All the routes leading to the assembly area should be well-lit, adequately marked, and should be able
to handle the egress of expected evacuees.

Requirements of an Assembly Area

Accessibility and Distance

It is necessary for the assembled area to be built at a place that is at a safe distance from the
building. It should neither be too close nor be too far from the emergency premises. It should also be
easily identifiable by the building's occupants and visitors.

Safety and Security

The emergency assembly area should be safe for the evacuees. The owner of the premises should
ensure that the path leading to the assembly point should be free of threats and risks. Some critical
areas to be considered in this regard are:
(1) Are there any identifiable obstacles in the way leading to the assembly point?
(2) Will the evacuees have to travel a bridge or a road to reach the assembly point?
(3) Is the assembly point strong enough to accommodate the evacuees? etc.
(4) Are there any facilities available around the assembly area?
Space of the Assembly Area

The emergency assembly area must be spacious enough to provide the evacuees with first aid.
Another important reason why the assembly area must be spacious is that this is the place where
the headcount of the evacuees is conducted. Moreover, all the personnel, tenants, and the members
of the emergency response team and their equipment also need to be in the assembly area.

Contingency Plan for the Assembly Area

If the designated emergency assembly area gets blocked or becomes inaccessible, the premises
owner must ensure that there is an alternative plan in place. All the occupants of the premises must
be informed about this contingency plan too.

FEP vs ERP

The following comparison among FEP and ERP is taken from the advisory issued by the Singaporean
Civil Defense Force.

What is FEP?

FEP (Fire Emergency Plan) informs about fire safety measures in designated premises. It includes:

 Floor layout plans, and

 Fire evacuation procedures

At present, all the buildings must make an FEP for themselves. However, buildings that need to
appoint an FSM (Fire Safety Manager) not only need FEP but also need:

 IPP (In-Place-Protection) plan, and

 Arson Protection Plan (APP)

Under FEP, conducting annual Tabletop Exercises is the duty of FSM.

What is Tabletop Exercise (TTE)?

It is a stimulating exercise where the participants are presented with potential stimulated
emergencies in the building. All the premises having an FSM will have to conduct TTE.

Conduction of TTEs and Evacuation Drills

 Premises with an FSM: The premises with an FSM will have to conduct two evacuation drills
and two TTEs annually.

 Premises without an FSM: The premises without an FSM will only have to conduct only two
evacuation drills annually

What are the Duties of Owners/Occupiers of a Building?

 Preparation of ERP in 6 months after the commencement of Fire Safety Amendment Act

 Preparation of ERP according to the guidelines of SCDF

 Formation of a Fire Safety Committee for planning and conducting fire safety programs,
including TTEs and fire evacuation drills

 Reviewing and updating the ERP annually

What is ERP?

ERP (Emergency Response Plan) is more comprehensive than FEP (Fire Emergency Plan). It
contains all three methods, i.e., FEP and IPP (In Place protection) in one place. Depending upon the
risk level of the premises, other fire-related emergencies, such as CBRE attacks (Chemical,
Biological, Radiological and Explosive), can also be included in ERP. What ERP does is that it makes
responses to all three types of fire and fire-related incidents, including mass casualty incidents. It
also provides the building with the necessary actions to protect and evacuate people in different
emergency scenarios.

Which Premises Require ERP?

Public Buildings
Those public buildings with an occupant load of more than 200 persons with a Fire Certificate need
to have an ERP. Examples in this category include office buildings, shopping centers, hotels,
hospitals, and other places of public resort.

Industrial Premises

ERP can be adopted by those industrial premises that have an FSM and fulfill any of the following:

(1) At least 5000 square meters of site area or floor area

(2) At least 1000 persons of occupant load

Means of Emergency Egress

The word "egress" has its roots in the Latin word "Egressus," which means "gone out." In this context,
emergency egress can be defined as a safe exit in an emergency. Emergency access and emergency
egress are the two vital components of an emergency, e.g., fire. With a quick response and perfect
timing, saving lives and properties becomes easy. With an unobstructed egress, building occupants
leave a building safely. Therefore, every building or structure designed for human occupancy must
contain exits that allow an easy and quick escape of its occupants in the event of an emergency.

Examples of Codes and Standards of Emergency Egress in Different Countries

 The Building Code of Australia, 1998

 National Building Code of Canada, 2010

 Building Standard Laws of Japan, 1990

 Building Regulations of United Kingdom, 1991

 OSHA Standards, USA

 NFPA 101: Life Safety Code and NFPA 101B: Codes for Means of Emergency Egress for
Buildings and Structures

Some Important Clauses of the OSHA Act

The Organizational Health and Safety Administration is a US regulatory agency established by

Congress under the OSH Act. The mission of OSHA is to:
"Assure safe and healthy working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing
standards and by providing training, outreach, education, and assistance"

Further in this course, some important clauses addressing multiple essential aspects of emergency
egress, such as requirements for emergency exit, exit routes, and exit discharge are presented by the
OSH Act. The clauses from OSH Act are included so that you can get an insight into what safety
aspects are usually included in a standard that addresses the fire hazards and risks.

Clause 1910.36(a) - Basic Requirements About the Emergency Exits

This clause discusses the basic requirements about the exit routes of a building, such as:

1) Exit routes must be permanent

(2) Fire-resistant materials should be used for separating one exit from another. If the exit connects
three (or fewer than three) stories, all the materials used to separate the exits should have a one-
hour fire-resistance rating. If the exit connects four or more levels, then the fire-resistance-rating of
the materials should have a two-hour fire resistance-rating
(3) There must be a limited number of openings in an exit, and these openings must be protected by
a self-closing door that gets closed during an emergency

Clause 1910.36(b) – Exit Routes

This clause provides directions regarding the routes of exit. According to this clause:

(1) There must be at least two exit routes in the workplace to aid in the quick and prompt evacuation
of the employees
(2) Single exit routes are permitted in those places where the arrangements are such that the
building's occupants can evacuate with ease

Clause 1910.36 (c):  Exit Discharge

This clause discusses some important points, such as:

(1) All of the exit discharges must lead to a street, walkway, refuge area, public way, or an open
space directly.
(2) The street, walkway, refuge area, public way, or an open space to which the emergency discharge
leads must be large enough to for accommodating the occupants exiting the building
(3) At the level of exit discharge where exit stairs are present, there must be either doors, partitions,
or other means present for indicating the direction leading to the exit discharge.
Clause 1910.36(f): The Capacity of an Exit Route

The important points mentioned under this clause are:

(1) Exit routes should be designed to support the maximum occupant load permitted for each floor.
(2) The exit routes must be designed such that their capacity does not decrease in the direction of
the exit route leading to the exit

Some Important Codes of NFPA

The NFPA stands for National Fire Protection Association. It is a renowned international nonprofit
organization dedicated to eliminating death, injury, property, and economic loss because of fire,
electrical and other hazards. Some of the most important standard codes of NFPA followed
worldwide are:

 NFPA 101: Life Safety Code

 NFPA 1: Fire Code

 NFPA 10: Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers

 NFPA 12: Standard on Carbon Dioxide Extinguishing Systems

 NFPA 13: Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems

 NFPA 17: Standard for Dry Chemical Extinguishing Systems

 NFPA 17A: Standard for Wet Chemical Extinguishing Systems

 NFPA 105: Standard for Smoke Door Assemblies and Other Opening Protectives

 NFPA 251: Standard Methods of Tests of Fire Resistance of Building Construction and
Material

Summary

Components of the Fire Safety Management Plan

 Planning: Includes the conducting of fire safety risk assessment by the responsible
person
  Organization: Includes involving employees and ensuring their compliance with all
the aspects of fire safety risk assessment

 Control: Includes identifying responsible individuals at each level who can carry out
fire safety issues across the premises

 Monitoring: Provides lessons regarding fire safety are well-adopted, and the
procedures are modified as per need

 Review: Allows the organizations to have a system that allows them to complete any
incomplete remedial work

Benefits of BS 9997 Implementation

 Shows commitment regarding fire safety

 Allows to take a consistent approach regarding management and control of fire-

associated risks

 Makes buildings safer for their occupants

Who Benefits from BS 9997?

 Organizations that work on multiple sites

 Separate management divisions inside an organization

 Individual premises with a single entity

FEP vs. ERP

 FEP informs about fire safety measures in designated premises. Under FEP, The premises
with an FSM will have to conduct two evacuation drills and two TTEs (Table Top exercise)
annually, while the premises without an FSM will only have to conduct only two evacuation
drills annually

 ERP is a more comprehensive plan than FEP. It contains all three methods, i.e., FEP, IPP, and
ARP, in one place. A public building with an occupant load of more than 200 persons with a
Fire Certificate needs to have an ERP.
  Any industrial premises with at least 5000 square meters of site area or floor area or at least
1000 persons of occupant load can adopt ERP

Under OSHA, some of the basic requirements about emergency exit, exit routes, exit discharge, and
capacity of an exit route are given. Some of the requirements discussed in this regard are:

 Fire-resistant materials should be used for separating one exit from another. If the
exit connects three (or fewer than three) stories, all the materials used to separate
the exits should have a one-hour fire-resistance rating. If the exit connects four or
more levels, then the fire-resistance-rating of the materials should have a two-hour
fire resistance-rating

 There must be at least two exit routes in the workplace to aid in the quick and
prompt evacuation of the employees

 All of the exit discharges must lead to a street, walkway, refuge area, public way, or
an open space directly.

 The street, walkway, refuge area, public way, or an open space to which the
emergency discharge leads must be large enough to for accommodating the
occupants exiting the building

 Exit routes should be designed to support the maximum occupant load permitted for
each floor

Measures for Assessing the Fire Safety of A Building

 Conducting fire drills

 Smoke detection and suppression systems

 Accessibility to the firefighters

 Availability of building plans

 Easy means of escape

 Pathways for exiting premises

 Use of flame-retardants