THE NEW Year is upon us, writes Tom Roche, which means many of us will be starting to plan our 2024 vacation, while others will be scheduling work trips. In booking your accommodation, though, have you ever spared a thought for fire safety? We normally take such important matters for granted in these premises. It’s well worth remembering why we shouldn’t.

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FOLLOWING THE Grenfell Tower disaster in June 2017, where 72 people lost their lives, high-rise building owners and operators across the UK have been charged with ensuring that fire safety and evacuation procedures are the absolute best they can be in their buildings. What’s the current state of play? Hochiki Europe has the detail.

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THE SUBJECT of competency in relation to fire safety was brought to the fore in the wake of Grenfell Tower and Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety. Here, Justin Maltby-Smith discusses the importance of confirming competency and individuals’ responsibilities within the ‘golden thread’ of fire safety.

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THE PAST 25 years have witnessed the construction of a significant number of new buildings, writes Iain Cox, yet questions have still to be answered when it comes to fire safety features and strategies within many of these properties.

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DO WE need an Institute of Fire Risk Assessors? If we bring together accredited fire risk assessors (ie the very people the Government will focus on as examples to the rest), argues Warren Spencer, then their voice becomes stronger, both in an advisory capacity and from a negotiating perspective.

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ONE OF the most common questions asked of legal experts by serving fire officers is whether or not a conflict of interest would arise with the latter’s Fire and Rescue Service employer if they started carrying out fire risk assessment procedures on a private basis. In the first instalment of a two-part series, Warren Spencer addresses this somewhat complicated issue.

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IN JUNE 2017, the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, a block of flats in West London, claimed the lives of 72 people. In the aftermath of the episode, questions were asked about the safety and security of high-rise buildings, writes Michael Knibbs.

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WITH MORE and more manufacturers and businesses becoming aware of the importance of fire safety in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy and subsequent legislation (including the Fire Safety Act and the Building Safety Bill), greater steps are now being taken to ensure that all products in buildings are as fire-resistant as possible. However, an item that is usually overlooked in this area is the humble doormat, writes First Mats.

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AFTER MUCH discussion and debate in Westminster, the Fire Safety Bill finally received Royal Assent in April this year and has passed into law as the Fire Safety Act 2021, writes Brian Kelly. What part might remote fire systems monitoring play from this point onwards?

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The use of safety storage cabinets and workstations for the storage and handling of hazardous substances has become an established procedure in many of today’s organisations. Here, Mark Whiteley charts the regular maintenance regimes that are absolutely necessary to ensure sustainable safety

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The last 12 months has without doubt been the most challenging period in all of our careers and, arguably, all of our lives. Like each area of the NHS, the delivery of fire safety services within healthcare has presented an unprecedented and unique set of challenges, as Peter Aldridge observes

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Fire safety regimes adopted for hospitals fall under the scope of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and require fire risk assessments, fire safety policies and an operational strategy for implementing them. Chris Dixon details what key considerations a typical fire safety plan should encompass

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In view of evidence heard at the ongoing Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry, the Government’s White Paper on social housing and the draft Building Safety Bill, there has arguably never been a more intense focus on improving fire prevention and response infrastructures for social housing. James King and Nick Rutter evaluate the role to be played by connected technology

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Sponsored by asecos, the latest webinar in the popular series run by Fire Safety Matters took place on Tuesday 13 April, this time around with the focus on the safe storage and handling of lithium batteries to counteract fire risks. Brian Sims delves deep into what’s an increasingly important area of fire safety

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As a direct consequence of the horrific fire at Grenfell Tower in June 2017, and as part of the organisation’s stated mission to make structures safer, save lives and reduce injures, CROSS-UK’s remit has now been broadened to encompass fire safety. Neil Gibbins outlines the benefits to be realised by this move

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BACK IN August 2019, a fire started in the roof area of a care home in Crewe, but then spread rapidly and completely destroyed the complex. Seventeen months later, a bedroom fire at another care home in Mobberley was extinguished by an automatic sprinkler system in less than three minutes. According to Iain Cox, this begs the question: ‘With so many vulnerable residents in these buildings, why did one care home have sprinklers and the other didn’t?’

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Competency-based qualifications have become a talking point in both the fire safety industry and the construction sector following reports issued in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire. Nic Preston deliberates on how the education and fire safety industries can work together on improving individual competencies and evidencing the professionalism of the sector

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The Security Systems and Alarms Inspection Board (SSAIB) has always supported technical competence and absolutely backs the growth of apprenticeship programmes across the UK. Trevor Jenks focuses on why the organisation will continue to do so in times ahead

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National guidance issued by the Government, the Fire and Rescue Services and other important bodies strongly recommends the level of competency within the fire safety industry that practitioners should be striving to attain. Here, Stephen Adams discusses in detail the current competency landscape

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With the COVID-19 pandemic forming the backdrop, Ian Moore explores the importance of online training when it comes to raising the bar on competency and goes on to outline what the future of fire safety training could look like

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