At Rolton Fire, we work with hospital trusts to help them understand and manage levels of risk. We have carried out programmes of work for a number of hospitals including the Addenbrooke's Hospital, Birmingham Children's Hospital, Bedford General Hospital and the Derbyshire General Hospital and numerous Community Hospitals for Derbyshire Mental Health Trust.
The key to managing risk is an assessment that evaluates hazards and provides a detailed recommendation and costing for remedial work. The first step in this process is a compartmentation survey, as this is a key element of hospital fire safety strategies.
Building design in hospital must always take account of the limited mobility of patients, especially in the event of a fire. Because patients are usually unable to move quickly or negotiate stairs, compartmentation is a basic element of fire safety strategy.
Compartmentation prevents the spread of fire and smoke by the use of barriers. Patients are moved from an area affected by fire through a fire-resisting barrier, to an adjoining area on the same level that is designed to protect them from the immediate dangers of fire and smoke.
This progressive horizontal evacuation relies on effective compartmentation to divide a storey into places of temporary safety. In multi-storey hospitals, this requires compartment walls and floors to have a minimum period of fire resistance between 60 and 120 minutes and be constructed of materials of limited combustibility.
|
Although internal walls often look sound and effective, we know from experience that the areas above the false ceiling usually tell a different story. The integrity of fire compartment walls in healthcare premises is often compromised by the effects of work carried out by contractors above ceiling height. It's common to find incorrectly fitted safety equipment, excessively large holes for services and even parts of firewalls missing.
Once the survey has been carried out, the next step is the Risk Assessment. Our approach is detailed, comprehensive and informed. Where most consultants concentrate on fault-finding, our approach highlights the work that needs to be done, the probable cost and, most importantly, the urgency of the work and its importance to the fire risk management strategy. We use a simple red, amber and green colour code to indicate areas of high medium and low concern.
Our reports detail, on a point-by-point basis, each individual area for attention. Each is referenced to a large-scaled detailed drawing and a numbered digital photograph.
We have worked with clients to provide a range of services from compartmentation surveys, through to risk analyses and implementation and management of remedial work by sub-contractors.
|
