MLA EXPO PREVIEW
Lessons learned from Fire Door Safety Week
» IN SEPTEMBER , ABLOY UK marked Fire Door Safety Week by raising awareness of the latest regulations for fire doors in commercial settings , and campaigning for greater understanding of compliance by the industry . We spoke to Pat Jefferies , Commercial Director about why the widespread adoption of flexible working makes the issue more important than ever .
Fire Door Safety Week runs every September , and I believe it ’ s a campaign that highlights the livesaving capabilities of a fire door that is installed and maintained correctly . While Fire Door Safety Week highlights the issue brilliantly , we must maintain the ethos for the other 51 weeks of the year , especially when the ultimate cost from non-compliance can be the loss of life .
While many , including myself , welcome news that commercial fire statistics are down – 153,314 fires in the 2019 / 2020 period 1 make it a six per cent decrease compared with the previous year – one fire is too many .
To compound this , across the UK the working environment is changing drastically . Flexible working has become the go-to option for many employers , with workers enjoying the work-life balance that combining on-site and home working provides .
For the access control and security industry , however , we now need to navigate a new challenge : managing sites with reduced and more ‘ fluid ’ occupancy . Just because a building may have fewer people , there is no justification for overlooking or underestimating fire safety . All occupants must be provided a quick , easy and reliable means of escape in the event of an emergency , such as a fire . Ensuring that the correct locking solutions are installed at access points can save lives , in addition to numerous other benefits , such as aiding the flow of people throughout the building .
Don ’ t gamble on such an important issue – fire safety isn ’ t a place to take risks . If you are in any doubt about the safety of the fire doors at your site , seek out support from an expert immediately . We have compiled this handy guide to help you ascertain the viability of your fire doors , explaining what to look out for : https :// www . abloy . co . uk / Abloy / AbloyCOUK / FDSW / Abloy % 20Fire % 20Safety % 20 Week % 202020 . pdf
Fire safety at the Abloy Academy
At Abloy , we make it our business to know the latest regulations , and want to share our knowledge to ensure those who supply , specify , or install access control locking or blocking as part of a security system , or own or manage commercial properties that have emergency and panic escape routes , fit compliant products . Our training centre , the Abloy Academy , has been educating delegates on fire door compliance for over a decade , offering a free-ofcharge Electrical Locking Fire and Escape Doors CPD course . Throughout the pandemic we have continued to present the CPD in one hour webinars to keep the industry informed .
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SEP / OCT 2021
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