Fire Risk Assessment and Management Process
Managing Fire Safety
- In order to manage fire safety, it is recommended that warehouses should develop a fire prevention plan which must include:
- List of all major fire hazards,
- Proper handling and storage procedures for hazardous materials,
- Potential ignition sources and their control, and
- The type of fire protection equipment necessary to control each major hazard.
Conducting a Fire Risk Assessment
- A fire risk assessment is an organised and methodical look at premises, the activities carried on there and the likelihood that a fire could start and cause harm to those in and around the premises.
- The aims of the fire risk assessment are:
- To identify the fire hazards.
- To reduce the risk of those hazards causing harm to as low as reasonably practicable.
- To decide what physical fire precautions and management arrangements are necessary to ensure the safety of people in your premises if a fire does start.
How to Conduct a Fire Risk Assessment
- Identify fire hazards:
- Sources of ignition
- Sources of fuel
- Sources of oxygen
- Identify people at risk:
- People in and around the premises
- Employees especially those who work alone
- Vulnerable people
- Contractors
- Young people
- Fire fighters
- Evaluate, remove, reduce and protect from risk
- Evaluate the risk of a fire occurring
- Evaluate the risk to people from fire
- Remove or reduce fire hazards
- Remove or reduce the risks to people
- Detection and warning
- Fire-fighting
- Escape routes
- Lighting
- Signs and notices
- Maintenance
- Record, plan, inform, instruct and train
- Record significant finding and action taken
- Prepare an emergency plan
- Inform and instruct relevant people; co-operate and co-ordinate with others
- Provide training
Learning Activities
You are in charge of new warehouse which is to be used to store 1000 pallets of flammable chemicals, 2000 tones of industrial paints, 600 cylinders of butane gas and 200 bags of ammonia nitrate fertilizers. Produce a list of the types of storage and MHE resources you feel you will require. You must justify each item on your list.
Required:
- From your list develop at least FIVE pieces of work-based safety regulations that will apply to the new facility, and explain how you intend to ensure that the new facility is safe for all workers.
Assignment
- Distinguish between Health, Safety and Security
- As a safety manager in a warehousing company, identify five common hazards in the warehouse. What safety measures can be put in place to manage the identified hazards?
- Warehouses store valuable goods; it is therefore important that their security matches the security risks. Suggest any five modern security measures that you would deploy to enhance warehouse security.
- Do you think it is important to train warehouse workers in First Aid measures? Provide justifications for your answer.
- Using common examples, explain the nine classes of dangerous goods.
- What are the three (3) aims of carrying out a fire risk assessment?