Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 11.3
Overview of a typical inspection regime
Equipment
Period
Action
Fire detection and fi re warning systems
Weekly
Check all systems for state of repair and operation.
including self-contained smoke alarms
Repair or replace defective units.
and manually operated devices
Test operation of systems, self-contained alarms and
manually operated devices.
Annually
Full check and test of system by competent service engineer.
Clean self-contained smoke alarms and change batteries.
Emergency lighting equipment including
Weekly
Operate torches and replace batteries as required.
self-contained units and torches
Repair or replace any defective unit.
Monthly
Check all systems, units and torches for state of repair and
apparent working order.
Annually
Full check and test of systems and units by competent service
engineer.
Replace batteries in torches.
Fire fi ghting equipment including hose reels
Weekly
Check all extinguishers including hose reels for correct installation
and apparent working order.
Annually
Full check and test by competent service engineer.
be undertaken but also provide a guide to the speed of
response. On occasions, short-term fi xes may need to
be taken where the inspection has identifi ed a weakness
and signifi cant resources over a long term will need to
be considered.
The information from inspections as with all
information gathered from active monitoring
systems must be used to inform senior man-
agement about the effectiveness of their sys-
tems and where improvements can be made.
It is therefore vital that the inspection pro-
cess formalises how the information will be
collated and presented to management.
Ideally the close-out actions, when completed, should
also be recorded thus providing evidence that may be
used to demonstrate legal compliance to enforcement
authorities and be considered when conducting a fi re
safety review or audit.
11.4
Auditing fi re safety management
systems
Figure 11.7
Contractor testing electrical equipment
Regardless of the mechanisms of analysis, action-
ing the fi ndings of an inspection must be seen as a key
management requirement in fi re safety management and
any report produced must not only detail what has to
A fi re safety audit may be described as a periodic (typic-
ally annual), systematic and thorough assessment of
the implementation, suitability and effectiveness of the
fi re safety management system. It is a signifi cantly more
