Helen Hewitt of the British Woodworking Federation (BWF) explores how legislation is driving forward fire safety standards and how Fire Door Safety Week remains crucial for raising awareness of fire doors and their life saving role
This September Fire Door Safety Week marks its 11th year of raising awareness about the vital role that fire doors play in protecting building occupants across the UK.
The campaign has played a crucial role in driving greater awareness over the last decade, but the latest fire data shows the importance of continuing to champion fire door safety best practice and awareness.
In the residential sector, the Fire and Rescue Services in England attended 702 fires in purpose-built high-rise (10 or more storeys) flats or maisonettes in the year ending December 2023. This is a slight decrease on the previous year (733 fires), but it clearly demonstrates how vital fire safety awareness is, particularly for residents in high-rise properties.
While appearing as a standard door a majority of the time, fire doors play a fundamental life-saving role during a fire. Preventing the spread of fire and/or smoke, fire doors help enable a safe means of escape for building occupants and a route for the emergency services to enter the building. However, improper maintenance, being propped open, or damage to fire doors often goes unreported and unresolved.
Evolution of fire safety legislation
Since the Grenfell Tower tragedy, fire safety has rightly been in the spotlight with a focus on driving forward legislation and industry best practice. For housing associations and council-owned residential properties, regulation sets the benchmark for fire safety standards.
To drive forward fire safety across the construction industry, the introduction of the Building Safety Act 2022 and the Fire Safety Act 2021 placed greater accountability on the ‘responsible person(s)’ for fire safety and traceability throughout the supply chain – with evidence required to demonstrate building regulations compliance and proof of product performance.
In addition, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 implemented many recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 report and applied it to multi-occupancy residential buildings in England over 11 metres in height.
These regulations primarily focus on the role of the ‘responsible person’ and multi-occupancy buildings, with two key areas regarding fire doors: keeping residents informed and fire door inspection.
To encourage the correct use of fire doors and reporting of maintenance issues, the responsible person needs to ensure that all residents are aware of crucial information about fire doors: that fire doors should remain closed when not being used to enter or exit an area and should not be tampered with in any way.
The legislation also sets out the minimum for fire door inspection, with the responsible person required to carry out annual inspections of all flat entrance doors that lead onto the building’s common areas. This involves inspecting the self-closing devices and ensuring that they are functioning properly. The regulations highlight that these checks are visual and simple to carry out without the need for a specialist or tools.
At the BWF we believe that everyone can play a role in keeping buildings across the UK fire safe. From ensuring that fire doors remain closed to reporting damage, all building users can take a proactive approach to maintaining fire safety.
Raising awareness
Since the campaign’s launch in 2013, Fire Door Safety Week has been integral in raising awareness of the role fire doors play in keeping building occupants safe. The annual campaign, which will take place this year from 23 – 27 September, is funded and managed by the BWF and is supported by a wide range of industry partners, including the National Fire Chiefs Council.
As part of the BWF’s ongoing activity to raise awareness of fire safety, this year’s Fire Door Safety Week will highlight the vital role of fire doors and share important information to encourage confidence in reporting maintenance issues.
The campaign will also launch new research that will explore which building’s people feel are the most fire safe and the role that fire doors play in helping people feel safe. The campaign will highlight that in all environments it’s important to remain alert to fire safety risks and aware of the fire safety measures in your surroundings.
Fire Door Safety Week will empower building users to spot common fire safety issues, such as blocked escape routes or propped open fire doors, and provide them with the confidence and information needed to report issues.
Fire doors perform a life-saving role in the event of a fire, yet they can only perform effectively if they are well maintained and fit for purpose. Through Fire Door Safety Week, we continue to raise awareness and highlight the role that everyone can play in being able to recognise and report fire doors issues to help keep all building users safe.
Helen Hewitt is CEO of the British Woodworking Federation