This week marks Fire Door Safety Week 2024
A fire door is an engineered safety device, they are critical to a building’s fire safety and the preservation of life. The 23rd to 27th September 2024 is Fire Door Safety Week – probably not the first date in the nightlife operator’s calendar – but perhaps it should be…
As a broker, we have visited many of venues up and down the country. Bars, nightclubs, restaurants live music venues 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 During our Fire Risk Assessments, we are finding many examples of defective, outdated fire safety doors.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.
Statistics on Fire Door Safety
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.
- 31% of failures were due to improper installation, meaning the doors were never fit for purpose.
Fire door inspection failures were a result of result:
- Excessive gaps between the door and the frame – 77%
- Care and maintenance issues – 54%
- Issues over smoke sealing – 37%
THINK – When was your venue’s last inspection?
What are the Fire Doors Safety Legal Requirements for Pubs and Bars owners?
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.
As says the FDIS; fire doors that are not “fit for purpose” is a tragedy simply waiting to happen, especially so in enclosed buildings such as nightclubs and pubs. The situation is entirely preventable if immediate action is taken.
All persons responsible for fire safety 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.
Get support with managing your fire risk assessments & fire door safety
Alongside NDML, our partners at Sentient are experts in all elements of fire safety, and can give advice to your club to help you remain safe and compliant with legislation.
To learn more, get in touch with our team who can help guide you in the right direction!
