UKFA – THE UK FIRE ASSOCIATION
“Grenfell Tower was
an avertable incident
and it is somewhat
unbelievable that this
could have happened
in an affluent western
country that has
superior standards
in fire protection
for buildings.”
Q Many UK-FA members provide fire alarm and fire
extinguisher maintenance along with fire risk assessments
and fire training. What standards can consumers and
consultants expect when choosing a UK-FA member to
work with?
The Fire Risk Assessors and Fire Awareness/Warden
Trainers registers ensure that all listed providers meet
a minimum level of competency and confirms with risk
assessors the types of business sectors that they are
experienced with working in.
UK Fire Association members have adequate public liability
and where relevant, professional indemnity insurance in
place to provide cover for the services that they provide. The
association is currently introducing the automatic requirement
for members to confirm their qualifications and insurance
cover at the time of their annual membership renewal.
Realising that things do occasionally go wrong, the UK-FA
offers member’s customers a straightforward grievance
procedure where issues can be aired and members and
directors will intervene in an attempt to achieve a fair
resolution.
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HSE INTERNATIONAL
Q Following the tragic events at Grenfell Tower and
with increasing budget cuts to the fire service, fire safety
has received a lot of attention from the press and general
public alike. What’s your opinion on improving the overall
situation?
Grenfell Tower was an avertable incident and it is somewhat
unbelievable that this could have happened in an affluent
western country that has superior standards in fire protection
for buildings.
The UK-FA believe that this fire and the wall collapse at
Oxgangs Primary School in Edinburgh (which also affected 16
other Scottish schools) indicates that the Building Regulations,
as a whole, urgently need to be reviewed. This is in respect
to building materials, installation techniques, fire-stopping
standards and in particular, the supervision of works during
construction.
As a Trade Association, we are also concerned by the
increasing dependence in residential blocks on the use of
smoke vents, fire/smoke alarms and domestic sprinkler
systems, where these have been fitted to gain planning
consent; usually for higher density living. Our members
routinely find occupied buildings where active systems are not
being suitability maintained with the recommended periodical
reviews. The existence of such systems, sadly, can sometimes
provide a false sense of security to residents.
For more information and insight from the UK Fire Association, visit
www.uk-fa.org