New regulations are a welcome step towards improving fire safety, writes William Makant, but their measures need to address all important risks
IN 2011, Wales became the first country in the world to make the installation of automatic fire suppression systems (AFSSs) mandatory in new homes and blocks of flats, as well as care homes and university halls of residence. That law came into effect in 2013.
Seven years later, building regulations in England were changed to reduce the minimum building height at which sprinklers are required in new residential buildings, from 30m to 11m.
Latest changes
Fast forward to last December, when Scotland voted to implement changes that mean all new build social housing properties, flats and shared multi occupancy residential buildings must be fitted with AFSSs from this month. Previously in Scotland, AFSSs have only been required in new high rise blocks of flats above 18m.
When publishing the guidance on the new regulatory changes, Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: ‘The increased requirements for AFSSs will further improve fire safety for thousands of new homes each year. These systems have been proven to save lives and it is right that we now make these changes.’
The new regulation is a positive move from the Scottish government in increasing the safety of communities, residents and firefighters. However, the changes – like many other existing and soon to be introduced building regulations – put focus on the structure and fabric of the building rather than the risk profile of the occupier. The focus also remains on new buildings, but to overcome the fire safety challenges in homes now, focus also needs to be placed on protecting those most at risk.
Identifying risk
Whilst the types of properties covered by the new regulations in Scotland include those that are likely to house large numbers of vulnerable residents, measures must also be taken to improve protection for those at risk in existing homes. In fact, a study carried out by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) shone a spotlight1 on the type of residents most at risk from fire fatalities and serious fire injuries in Scotland.
Data compiled in phase one of the research project enabled the BRE to form a profile of a person involved in a typical fire fatality or serious injury, as well as the associated demographic profile and common background conditions of those most at risk. Factors contributing included living alone; being vulnerable or elderly; having a tendency to fall asleep or being asleep; having medical conditions, illnesses or temporary lack of physical mobility; and not hearing the alarm.
With these findings in mind, an additional challenge is the ageing population and the increasing prevalence of dementia2. In 2015, it was reported that there were around 901m people aged 60 years and over across the world, representing 12.3% of the total population. By 2050, this figure will have increased to 2.1bn or 21.3% of the global population.
There are currently more than 800,000 people in the UK living with dementia and numbers are estimated to reach over 1m in the next decade3. Dementia impacts the brain and body in a number of ways, including judgement, sense of time and place, behaviour, physicality ability and the senses, presenting an even wider range of challenges and disparate needs for housing providers to address.
Both of these challenges, alongside the occupier risks that were identified by the BRE, demonstrate that we need to find new ways to protect vulnerable residents. Fire safety technology needs to be a key part of a combined solution.
Recommended approaches
Following its investigation of the main causes of fire related fatalities and injuries, the BRE put forward 14 recommendations to mitigate risk. One of these recommendations was to investigate the wider use of personal protection systems (PPS) to safeguard those most at risk.
In its research, the BRE found that: ‘By utilising multiple fire alarms (including heat alarms in the kitchen), and implementing pipework with appropriate heads, the water mist can be provided to different areas using one control panel in such a way that zones could be addressed and configured so that the water mist suppression is delivered in the area in which the fire is present.’
The effectiveness of PPS has been proven in domestic situations involving vulnerable residents who are unable to move away from the fire or leave the room of fire origin. It is for this reason that we have been working to enhance our own PPS to support social landlords in providing a more person centred approach to protection for those most at risk.
Flexible and portable systems can also contribute to more vulnerable residents living independently for longer, with greater levels of protection from fire related incidents. These options are well equipped to tackle fires that other traditional suppression technologies have struggled with, as they are outside of their normal operating parameters.
Electronic activation enables such systems to raise the alarm and activate at the earliest opportunity, helping to maximise survivable conditions (tenability). Some already align closely with the solution suggested in the BRE report and use multiple detectors connected to multiple spray heads.
Maintaining tenability conditions is pivotal when protecting vulnerable occupants who are unable to escape easily from a fire. As the BRE report highlighted in its analysis, the most common cause of death from fire related fatalities was being overcome by gas or smoke. This alone contributed to 73 deaths, or 30% of the fire related fatalities in the year being reported on.
All combustible materials produce some amount of toxic smoke when they burn. How much toxic smoke will be emitted depends on the material, the amount of oxygen available and how long it burns. Even a small fire limited to the item first ignited can produce lethal conditions in a flat or house within 20 minutes, and the risk can vary considerably depending on the health and age of the person living there.
This is significant, as the number of electrical fires – which are often slow growing – increases. The charity Electrical Safety First reported4 that approximately 19,300 accidental domestic fires were caused by faulty appliances, electrical leads or fuel supplies.
Different technologies
Traditional bulb sprinklers require ceiling temperatures to reach a certain temperature before activating. This is typically around 68oC, and so would work best on fast growing fires, such as an old sofa fire.
When I first started working in the sector and was interviewing local firefighters, I did not realise that fire extinguishers in high rise housing blocks can act as a fire risk when people, who should be making their escape, use them to fight a blaze. However, what I did learn was that firefighters occasionally spray a mist of water into a fire when they first arrive in order to bring the temperature down. This knowledge has been incorporated into system design, in order to ensure that the watermist worked to consume much of the fire’s energy in converting water to steam and reducing the overall temperature of the room in the region of the fire. Wider installation of this technology, in combination with interventions and appropriate responses during different stages of a fire, could result in further lives being saved.
For these reasons, we believe that the wider use of proven watermist technology is an attractive option to offer additional protection. and remain committed to the wider education of the sector about the benefits of this technology, particularly for existing properties and for vulnerable tenants.
Therefore, whilst the new regulations in Scotland are welcome and we hope similar regulations will be implemented in other countries, we also believe more needs to be done to protect those at risk wherever they live, in existing or new homes.
The final phase of the BRE report5 suggests that more lives could be saved if existing technologies are applied immediately. We would also argue that targeting measures at those most at risk is vital to reducing fire related injuries and fatalities
William Makant is chief executive officer and co founder of Plumis
References
- The causes of fire fatalities and serious fire injuries in Scotland and potential solutions to reduce them – Phase 1: IRS review, BRE, https://www.bregroup.com/insights/research/the-causes-of-fire-fatalities-and-serious-fire-injuries-in-scotland-and-potential-solutions-to-reduce-them-phase-1-irs-review/
- ‘Alzheimer’s Society’s view on demography’, Alzheimer’s Society, https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-us/policy-and-influencing/what-we-think/demography
- ‘About dementia’, Alzheimer’s Society, https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia
- ‘Statistics – England - Electrical Safety First Core Data Set – England’, Electrical Safety First, https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/what-we-do/our-policies/westminster/statistics-england/
- Fire fatalities in Scotland and recommendations to help reduce them – Final Phase: Review of Fire Investigation reports, BRE, https://files.bregroup.com/research/113425_BRE_Scottish_Fire_Deaths_Briefing_Paper_A4_24pp_Interactive.pdf