What are Fire Safety Doors and Why Do Clubs Need Them?
Fire Door Safety Week 2022
A fire door is an engineered safety device, they are critical to a building’s fire safety and the preservation of life. The 19th to 25th September 2022 is Fire Door Safety Week; it’s probably not the first date in the club owner’s calendar – but perhaps it should be…
As a broker, we have visited many of clubhouse up and down the country. Sports clubs, social clubs, leisure facilities and bingo halls, all of these require a Health and Safety audit. During our Fire Risk Assessments, we are finding many examples of defective, outdated fire safety doors. We’ve also found examples of lackluster safety measures. This week we ask all sports and social clubs check over their fire safety procedure and analyse the effectivity of their measures.
Fire Door Safety Data
The Fire Door Inspection Scheme (FDIS) has warned of a “tragedy waiting to happen” after publishing data based on over 100,000 inspections that showed a staggering 75% of fire doors fail to meet safety standards.
Data also disturbingly revealed that 31% of failures were due to improper installation, meaning the doors were never fit for purpose.
The most common reasons for fire door inspection failures can be a result of one or multiple issues. Finding comprised of: Excessive gaps between the door and the frame – 77%; Care and maintenance issues – 54%; Issues over smoke sealing – 37%.
The data also showed inspectors’ top three fire safety concerns are:
A lack of fire door maintenance,A poor knowledge of fire safety responsibilities,A limited understanding by those responsible for building fire safety of the role fire doors play in keeping people safe.
What are the Legal Requirements for Clubs concerning Fire Safety Doors?
Under the Regulatory Reform Order 2005, it states:
“Where necessary in order to safeguard the safety of relevant persons the Responsible Person must ensure that the premises and any facilities, equipment and devices provided in respect of the premises …. are subject to a suitable system of maintenance and are maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order, and in good repair.”
Fire doors only have one opportunity to do their job and they must work first time, look after them so they can protect your life and that of all other occupants when required.
Fire doors that are not “fit for purpose” is a tragedy simply waiting to happen, especially so in buildings with vulnerable residents such as a social club or leisure facility. The situation is entirely preventable if immediate action is taken.
All persons responsible for fire safety at clubs should urgently have the fire doors in their building inspected by a competent inspector. Only trained and accredited fire door installers should be consulted ensuring work is completed to the correct standards.
