Our healthcare fire safety approach
From private healthcare companies to care homes, assisted living premises and several NHS facilities, we have provided a high level of fire safety inspections and surveys to keep patients, visitors, staff and valuable assets safe for three decades.
The UK’s healthcare sector is undergoing huge change, with a technology-driven approach to drive efficiencies and improve patient care. Fire safety surveys and inspections are a vital consideration in the sector, where high-performing services demand the best facilities.
Fire safety elements such as fire doors, dampers and compartmentation designs must be regularly checked to ensure they operate effectively and can slow or stop the spread of fire and smoke. These first lines of defence in the event of a fire can safeguard lives and prevent costly and widespread damage.
Contact us today to discover how our experts can help ensure your healthcare facilities are fire safety compliant.
Our healthcare fire safety services:
Healthcare is one of the most important sectors we work in – and we’re proud to have looked after the fire safety of many major hospitals, including a hospital that is one of the biggest private finance initiatives (PFI) in Europe.
Hospital trusts and their building managers must be confident that regular inspections and surveys by qualified, competent professionals will keep them updated on whether their facilities are fully compliant.
We offer a complete range of services, including:
- Fire risk assessments: Keeping patients, visitors and healthcare staff safe is of paramount importance and regular, detailed risk assessments will highlight any issues and the fire safety measures needed in developing a plan of works
- Fire door surveys, installation, inspections, remediation, and maintenance: We ensure fire doors comply with fire safety regulations, pinpointing any issues so that occupants are given vital time to evacuate in an emergency. We can provide remediation work and ongoing maintenance
- Compartmentation/fire stopping surveys and implementation: We diligently check the compartmentation measures in hospitals and care homes, ensuring they will prevent the spread of smoke and flames in the event of a fire
- Pre-planned inspections of fire safety systems: We establish that the building’s existing fire safety measures meet the necessary legal requirements, including testing the fire dampers, a crucial part of a building’s fire safety infrastructure
What fire safety challenges does the healthcare sector face?
Healthcare buildings present unique challenges for fire protection, from flammable material and medical equipment to vulnerable patients who may need evacuating in an emergency. The issues include:
- The need for improved use of passive fire protection (PFP), or fire stopping, products and materials. Weakened PFP, in sites such as risers, plant rooms and corridors, could allow a fire in one part of the building to spread quickly. Our experts assess the installation to ensure it offers an adequate level of protection
- Wear and tear: With huge amounts of movement of patients, visitors, staff and equipment in busy hospitals, damage to fire doors and compartments that could compromise their safe functioning is inevitable, such as patient trolleys knocking into fire doors and causing damage to corridors
- Refurbishments: Upgrades to health facilities must be closely assessed to ensure fire stopping materials have been reinstated to walls and doors – and that there are no gaps around pipework and cables that could compromise the premises’ protection systems. The UK’s national standard for electrical installations, BS 7671, requires that wiring systems are sealed to prevent the spread of fire
- Working to agreed timelines: The constant flux of people entering and leaving healthcare premises can be a challenge when conducting fire safety inspections and surveys. We liaise closely with the building management team to assess the best times for gaining access to corridors, wards, operating theatres, laboratories, and communal zones
- Evacuation strategy: Having to quickly move vulnerable patients in an emergency is a major and sensitive undertaking. Our progressive horizontal evacuation plan moves occupants away from the danger into an adjoining area that has PFP products, giving them valuable time to stay safe in a protected escape route
Frequently asked questions
How often do you inspect the fire stopping in healthcare facilities?
High-traffic areas and high-risk doors ideally should be inspected monthly. With other areas, based on a fire risk assessment, that could be every three or six months, or annually.
We check thousands of fire doors and dampers every month – in one hospital in Coventry, we test and inspect 2,600 fire doors twice yearly. We take great care with such a major undertaking that we create the least disturbance to staff and patients as possible.
The NHS, regional health trusts, and facilities management companies now focus on the detail of surveys and inspections to fulfil their contractual obligations. PFIs also need to comply with the expectations of their financial providers and investors and their government contracts that set out the frequency of inspections.
What can you expect from working with Fire Consultancy Specialists?
Our breadth of experience working with several hospitals each year has given us valuable insights into providing a high level of fire safety services.
We provide several trustworthy fire safety solutions to our private and NHS health and care projects that meet all legislative and building regulations standards. Having the correct compliance levels from the start that are underlined by regular inspections can be a cost-saving measure for health trusts.
As a data-driven business, we understand the value of detailed analytics to drive the best results and enhance efficiencies to improve patient care. We constantly review technological and software advances to make our inspections and surveys even more efficient and user-friendly.
We record our work on PlanRadar, the construction and real estate management software that creates streamlined digital checklists. Our site drawings indicate the exact locations of fire doors, with detailed information and photographs and generate a report after we have assessed their condition, which is updated after each inspection.
The client can give the report to an installing contractor to provide costs for the work. This independent inspection process is separate from an installing contractor and means the survey is fair and correct.
Our accreditations
Affiliation Of Fire Door Inspectors:
Fire Consultancy Specialists is also a proud member of the AFDI, a not-for-profit organisation that exists to promote best practices among professional fire door inspectors.
Constructionline Gold / CHAS & SafeContractor highlights FCS’s dedication to H&S.
BM Trada fire door maintenance and installations:
Fire Consultancy Specialists is approved under the BM Trada Q Mark scheme which is UKAS 3rd party accredited to complete fire door condition surveys under the BM Trada certification scheme. This involves an assessment of the company’s processes and procedures, as well as the skills and qualifications of its personnel. The assessment covers areas such as fire door inspections, repair and maintenance, installations and documentation and record-keeping.
Contact us today to discuss our healthcare fire safety services:
Our friendly and professional team constantly strives to go above and beyond to deliver an unrivalled service that achieves the highest fire safety standards.