The Fire and Life Safety Blame Game!

SFA: EMS Conference 10/24
Leighton Bennett (BSc, MDP dip, Pr.CHSA, AIRMSA, GradSaiosh, .M.ACHASM, Former FIOSM)
Safety First Association - Chairperson
SHE and Risk Management Consultant

Overview
• Fire and life safety aspects introduction
• Owner / Lessor / Employer Fire and Life Safety Responsibilities
• Meaning of life safety
• Life safety design and operational features
• What one finds! ... The good, bad and ugly!

Introduction
• Unfortunately, we have seen several serious building fire occurrences over the past few months causing loss of life and multi-million Rand losses.
• People and spokespersons are interviewed about such fires, but few understand the responsibilities and accountabilities involved when a building fire occurs, and the related occupational health and safety and the life safety requirements for and when occupying buildings
• This lack of understanding starts the “it is not me or us” blame game.
• Let us try and clarify the legal and safety responsibilities and accountabilities that apply to buildings and when a fire occurs.
• There are several role players that have responsibilities and accountabilities by being:
➢ the Owner / Landlord (of the building or site) or
➢ the Lessor / Tennant of the building,
➢ the Building “Hijackers” / Occupiers, and/or
➢ being an Employer with their Employees occupying the building.

The Owner is responsible for the building regulation compliance
• The Owner is responsible for the Building Regulations compliance aspects (e.g. SANS 10400 Building Regulations) during the building’s lifespan and for the building maintenance of the structure and its installed fixtures like fire equipment and sprinklers, ventilation and electrical systems, for example.
• The Owner must obtain an Occupancy Certificate from the Local Authority before the building may be occupied and the occupancy certificate is related to the type of occupancy, e.g. offices, commercial store, factory, warehouse, flats, church, hotel, etc.
• This occupancy certificate involves submitting specific Certificates of Compliance (COCs) for the construction compliance and installed systems compliance, e.g. the electrical compliance, to the Local Authority.

The Lessor of the Building Requirement
• The Lessor of the building enters a lease contract with the Owner or through the Owner’s Agent for a specific period and at a monthly rental cost.
• This contract also details specific conditions or rules of occupation, like the requirement to maintain the carpets, the portable fire equipment, the lighting and ventilations systems, and to get permission to make changes within the building (like remodelling the internal layout), for example.
• But often such building contracts do not require maintaining the building and building systems compliance and this can lead to legal and life safety noncompliances.
• For example, the new layout floor design may not include the upgrading of the smoke detection system to provide smoke detectors in every room or the new layout places the fire escape route access behind a storeroom’s locked door.
• Often such building changes are physical construction works based, and this legal construction work process requirement is ignored.

Building Construction or Building Change Requirements
• All construction work related to building layout changes or other construction work must be detailed in a Client/Lessor Health and Safety Specification (2014 Construction Regulation 5.1.b) that is prepared by a competent and professionally registered Construction Health and Safety Person and then…
• The construction work Contractor must submit a detailed safe working Construction Work Health and Safety Plan for approval to the Client/Leaser before commencing the construction work. (2014 Construction Regulation 7.1)

“Hijacked” Building and its Occupants
• A “hijacked building” does have a legal owner, who due to greed and occupant “squatting rights” essentially walks away from the issue
• So, the fire and life safety issue are now “placed on” the desperate occupants, who are usually unaware of the risks they are being exposed to and the additional risks due to by their occupancy activities (candles, cooking, combustible materials construction)
• Such buildings are usually vandalised for saleable items and scrap metal income sales, leaving the building unsafe for occupancy.
• So, when a fire event occurs, the responsibility blame game emerges.

Employer Compliance
• The building Owner or the Leaser are usually the Employer of the people working in the building,
• Such Employers are responsible and accountable to ensure that the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSAct) or the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSAct), as applicable, is complied with,
• These Acts bind the State and all its operations and Departments to also comply.
• So, the employer compliances are critical in relation to upholding the Life Safety of their employees.

Meaning of “Life Safety”
• Life safety” refers to the design and operating features of a building that provide its occupants a reasonable level of safety during fires and other emergencies.
• It includes design features such as building construction type, compartmentation, fire alarms, fire protection (suppression) systems, exits, fire barriers, materials and more.
• It also includes operational elements such as fire drills, training, emergency plans, and maintenance, inspection, and testing programmes.

What are the Life Safety (visible and not visible) features within this building’s corridor?

We might not think about the life safety features incorporated into this rather plain corridor. However, it incorporates (or should incorporate) many features of life safety, including:
1. Lighting (and emergency lighting) – lux levels related to occupancy use. (ref. ERW 3 and scheduled) (e.g. G1, general office 300 lux)
2. Width of corridor – 1.2m wide for ≤130 people (wheelchair 1.5m wide) and wider related to occupancy number usage.
3. Construction of the corridor walls and ceiling – Fire resistance being 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 120 minutes or more.
4. Finishes (e.g., floor tile, paint) – Non-flammable, flammable, combustible, toxic, etc.
5. Ceiling construction (and smoke resistance) – Slab, suspended, combustible, non-flammable (asbestos), etc.
6. Door construction - Hollow, timber panel, solid, ≥750mm wide, fire rated?, escape doors (accessibility and locations).
7. Door latching hardware - Self-closing, locking type, shoot bolt, hasp and staple, and escape key box, Redlam bolt, failsafe electronic, panic button release.
8. Gaps between doors and floors – Smoke spread gaps, fire doors and vents, service duct gaps between floors and walls breached.
9. Fire extinguishers – Present/accessible, sufficient of correct type, wall mounted, location signage, annual serviced.
10. Fire suppression system (sprinklers) - regular system and valves testing, maintained, and provided pumps and water tank condition?
11.Fire alarm system (including pull stations, audible/visual alarming devices) – no faults, not silenced, area coverage, system alarm isolation.
12. Smoke detectors – wrong type, poor area coverage, poorly maintained, false alarms so system alarm isolated.
13. Exit signs – Missing, not visible, unclear or wrong.

Life Safety Design and Operating Features
Life Safety requirements are prescribed in:
• SANS 1200 – series (A to MJ) Civil Engineering Construction standards
• SANS 10400-A: General Principles and Requirements: Approved site plans and building materials, occupancy classification, fire protection plan, competent persons, etc.
• SANS 10400-T: Fire Prevention: Fire resistant aspects, safety distances; fire escapes and exits, travel routes and distances, emergency lighting, fire detection and alarms, smoke controls, fire equipment provision and requirements; air-conditioning and ventilation, and fire engineer rational design incorporating BS7974.
• OHSAct’s GSR: First aid and emergency equipment and procedures, flammable liquids, welding, flame cutting operation.
• OHSAct’s ER for Workplaces: Thermal requirements, lighting, windows, ventilation, housekeeping (fire loads?)
• OHSAct’s MHI and HCS Regs.: Hazardous installations, chemical properties, exposure monitoring, materials handling and controls, PPE, labelling and disposal. …. and the 2020 updated OHSAct’s Asbestos, now Abatement Regulations.
• Municipal Emergency Services By-Law Codes - Occupancy Certificates.

Building construction materials: Asbestos (ACM) condition safety risks at a school

Asbestos fibres exposure can cause lung cancer and death.

Key features of life safety
1. Number of Exits – one or more per building, 2 or more escapes if ≥2 floors high.
2. Travel Distances to Exits – no more than 45m or if walls 30-min fire resistant and sprinklered, 60m / also comply with SANS 10400-S for disabled person use. (35m if no route fire resistance)
3. Dead End Corridor Limits – less that 10m to feeder (escape) route corridor.
4. Minimum Width of Feeder Corridors - 1.2m for ≤130 people (wheelchair 1.5m) and >130p wider.
5. Exit Signs - usually symbolic marking of escape routes and exit doors (SANS 1186-1).
6. Sprinkler Protection – Occupancy division risk dependant: at >1250, >2500 and (G1) >5000m² with division fire resistance separations, in building >30m high, in basement >500m², in voids >100m².
7. Fire Extinguishers – Occupancy dependant: e.g. G1= 1ext/200m², B1 and D1 high commercial and industrial risk 1ext/100m², annually serviced.
8. Fire Hose – 30m hose reach: 1/≥250m² single storey and 1 /500m² for all floors, annually serviced.
9. Fire Hydrants – 1/1000m² or if in >12m high buildings and one hydrant/floor, maintained and serviced.
10. Fire Alarm System - occupancy dependant requirement: manual, fire detection system (>4 floors or 5000m²), with voice alarm system, or smoke detection alarm, all serviced annually.
11. Escape Route Stairs - external staircases enclosed if >18m high, <30m high ventilate enclosed staircases, and the stairs’ condition?

What one finds! .. As a consulting H&S Practitioner and an Insurance Surveyor
Fire and life safety matters are often not prioritised until hindsight reviewed after the tragic event.
• Frequently, fire and life safety inspection reports highlighting issues, are often are ignored by Owners, Lessors and Employers
• So, one finds both intentional and non-intentional fire and life safety non-compliances across most occupancies, workplaces and industries
• Let’s review some examples:

What one finds! Fire sprinklers
The building water sprinkler system is not overhaul serviced 3 yearly … The Owner is at fault and to blame.
• The building water sprinkler system valves are not test checked monthly … The Owner or Lessor is at fault and to blame.

What one finds! Smoke detectors
The installed sprinkler and/or smoke detection systems are defective or off, without informing the building insurance company…. So what? This situation is a “material fact” non-compliance of the building’s insurance policy and any fire or other claim is likely to be repudiated by the insurance company. The Owner and/or Lessor (Employer) is at fault and so to be blamed as they did not report the system outage to the insurer. • The smoke detector system alarm buzzer is silenced by security because of a faulty detector continually alarm buzzing on the system panel which is normally installed at the guard desk or guard house.… The Owner or Lessor (Employer) is at fault and to blame for not ensuring the system is operational and furthermore what is the procedure to have system faults reported and fixed? No daily smoke detection system condition report in the security Occurrence Book?

What one finds! Fire escape doors
• Fire escape doors locked (no key available) or worst with a security gate welded closed for security reasons … The Owner, Lessor and/or Employer is at fault and to be blamed. Fire deaths often occur because of the fire escape routes being locked, bolted or welded closed.
• Fire escape doors exit into “entrapment” enclosed courtyards or into a “rough surfaced” landscape … slows safe evacuation.

What one finds! Fire escape routes
Fire escape stairs used for combustible materials storage. The Owner, Lessor and/or Employer is at fault blamed, as they have permitted their Employees to abuse, congest or block the fire escape route/s. Furthermore, such stored materials constitute a fire load hazard which can burn spreading both the fire and its smoke on and to other building floors.
• Steel external fire escape staircase/s not maintained such that the staircase has large stairway gaps where the steps have rusted off … A panic evacuation rush on such a defective fire escape staircase will result in several staircase fall deaths.
• The building Owner is at fault and to blame for poor building maintenance and the Lessor or Employer are blamed for not ensuring the escape routes are not inspected to ensure they are safe to use or are repaired to comply and be safe. No ankle breaker exit routes?

What one finds! Fire extinguishers
Fire extinguishers not annually serviced, missing from their hooks or used to hold fire doors open (i.e. and thereby helping to spread the fire and its deadly smoke to and from one floor area to another) ….… The Owner, Lessor, Employer are at fault and to be blamed, as they have permitted their Employees to use fie equipment for illegal purposes and/or not having their fire equipment (i.e. extinguishers, hose reels and fire hydrants) annually serviced to comply.

What one finds! Fire hose reels
Fire hose reels are often found to be damaged, incorrectly wound on their drums, etc., because they have been illegally used for car washing or gardens watering.
• Fire hose pipe missing, perished and/or nozzle stolen, and hose drum destroyed.
• A fire hose is pipe fold kinked if incorrectly wound on the drum, which stops the water flow for firefighting purposes.
• Fire hose reel stirrups are missing so fire hose deployment will be difficult, etc.
• The Owner and/or Employer is to be blamed for allowing their Employees to illegally use and abuse the fire equipment.
• Fire hose reels to be labelled as serviced annually.

What one finds! Fire equipment access
Fire equipment in buildings is often located in fire cupboards which Employees abuse by using such fire cupboards (and electrical panel cupboards) as storage areas for brooms, neon tubes, cleaning equipment, copy paper, etc., which congests the cupboards making it difficult to access and deploy fire equipment in an emergency.
• The Owner and/or Employer is to be blamed for allowing their Employees to illegally use and abuse the fire equipment and electrical panel cupboards.
• Where fire equipment is physically secured (chains, locks, etc.) to avoid theft, also means such fire equipment is not available for firefighting purposes. The Owner, Lessor, Employer are to blame. Key access break glass securing methods can be used.

What one finds! Emergency procedures
• The non-existence of documented and displayed emergency and evacuation plans or old plans displayed mentioning the names of people that left the company months to years ago. The Owner, Landlord, Lessor, Employer are at fault for not having and or regularly updating the emergency procedures.
• The Owner or Landlord of a Multi-Tenant Building or an Office or Business Park needs to establish overall emergency and evacuation procedure plans for their premises and to ensure all the building or site's buildings occupants are made conversant with the established emergency procedures. All emergency procedures should be reviewed at least annually.

• Do the Employees occupying the building know what alarm sound is a fire evacuation alarm and can that alarm be heard at every corner of the building?
• If No, the Owner, Landlord, Lessor or Employer should anticipate the possibility of fire deaths occurring. The fire alarm being heard in all areas should be checked during fire drill exercises.
• A building’s water sprinkler system gong alarm should not be used as a general fire alarm or evacuation alarm, as a sprinkler gong sounds whenever a higher water supply pressure re-pressurizes the sprinkler system which sets off the gong alarm.
• Employees need to know about this in the fire emergency procedures, but they must be made aware that a sprinkler gong alarm sounds when sprinklers discharge to extinguish a fire and so may lead to a genuine fire alarm being sounded and fire evacuation situation.

What one finds! Emergency drills

• The Owner’s or Employer’s company has never or not in the past year performed a fire evacuation drill … Owner, Lessor and Employer at fault. Consequently, when a fire situation occurs employees panic and all rush to the access door they daily or always use, often going into the fire zone.
• The Owner, Lessor and employer are required to ensure their employees know about and how to perform an emergency evacuation by participating in fire drill. Performing an evacuation drill is especially necessary with the occupants of a multi-tenant building and where assistance required disabled people are employed.
• The Owner’s or Employer’s company has never performed an emergence evacuation drill, so evacuation problems will not be discovered until during a fire or seen after a fire, where the postfire investigation will establish the fire causes and why people were trapped and died because of the fire.
• The Owner, Lessor and Employer are required to perform an evacuation drill at least annually, and also revise and update any fire emergency and drill procedures that are found dated or ineffective and that emergency plan named people have left the company, etc.

What one finds! Fire pumps and tanks

Some buildings have stored fire water in tanks and fire water pumps for the sprinkler and/or fire hydrant systems. Here again the Owner or Lessor Employers are responsible to ensure such systems are operational for immediate emergency use.
• Often the water supply to the water storage tank and/or the water delivery valves to the fire pumps are closed/isolated. Chain the water supply valves open to avoid unauthorized closure.
• The fire pumps especially the fuel power-driven pump motors are not maintained, with a near empty fuel tank, a flat or stolen starter motor battery for example, which have led to buildings burning down due to no fire water to pump or fire pump failures.
• Such fire water systems should be tested monthly with records kept and when such systems are isolated or non-functional the building insurer must be “material fact” informed.

Overview Recap
• Fire and life safety aspects introduction
• Owner / Lessor / Employer Fire and Life Safety Responsibilities
• Meaning of life safety
• Life safety design and operational features
• What one finds! ... The good, bad and ugly!

I trust you now have some clear ISSUE INSIGHTS on THE FIRE AND LIFE SAFETY BLAME GAME.