As a practising Fire Risk Assessor, it is clearly in my interests to attend Fire Safety seminars and I attended one such in July. Mike Meakin (Firestop Specialist, Hilti (GB) Ltd) spoke about Hilti fire stopping products. Richard Hutchinson (Scape Connections) talked about the susceptibility of structural steelwork to fire and the benefits of fire resisting bolt caps rather than an intumescent paint finish.
By an amazing coincidence I inspected a premises a mere five days later to which the presentations were absolutely relevant. The photos show what was apparent in the ground level car park under the building:
1. Plastic pipe through floor over ground level car park – would fire spread into the building if the pipe were to burn away?
2. Apparently unprotected steelwork, with exposed bolts, just as described by Richard Hutchinson.
You can just imagine the consequences if the worst-case scenario of fire involving several parked vehicles occurs: fire spread into the flats above, followed by possible structural failure. This is an example of an unusual aspect that Fire Risk Assessors have to be aware of.
Bill Armstrong MIFSM MIFPO, Fire Risk Assessor
For more information please visit the Armstrong Fire Management feature here
