Fire Regs

[adambattey]

Hi there,

 

I've just been informed by my line manager that - due to there being no break-glass points or detectors - the 'Normal' procedure in the event of a fire occurring in the control booth of our performance space is...

 

A) To shout down to someone on ground level to get them to trigger the alarms

 

or

 

B) If it is too noisy to shout, I have to leave the control booth and walk through the audience in the auditorium to ground level and trigger the alarms from there.

 

is this classed as normal practice to anyone else or is this strange to you too?

[Brian]

In the event of a fire in your booth you leave the booth. Simple as that.

[ramdram]

Adambattey, your profile says you work in a school...assuming the school is where this booth is...and you have NO "fire protection" in your place of work?!!!

 

And, it is the approved practice for you to "walk" some distance through the audience to trigger the fire alarms...whilst the fire gets going behind you?

 

Something is very, very wrong here and I don't believe your first port of call is this forum. It has to be the Management team and Union rep and LEA.

 

Sounds to me your line manager is either simple or stupid.

[paulears]

This is what comes of fire self-certification. If your booth is sound proof - can you hear the fire alarm? That's always a good one. Everyone else runs off to safety, leaving you to die in ignorance!

[kerry davies]

Adam, have you been given a written copy of the Fire Risk Assessment and procedures? If not then politely ask for one which should have been compiled with reference to http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications...firesafetyrisk6

It just might be that your line manager is unaware of the FRA document or the need for one.

 

If the school is in Sheffield then, if normal escalation through appropriate channels does not resolve the problem, the Children and Young Persons Department of the city council has specialist H&S advisers for "headmasters and managers".

 

Rather than confrontation this should be seen as an opportunity to get things right. Tell the school of your concerns pointing out that you will be unable to carry out any responsibilities to students, staff and visitors if fried in the control booth. At least if you had a break-glass in there you could bash it as your smoke-filled body slumped to the floor!

 

BUT, Brian's response is unbeatable, in case of fire, get out! The primary duty under all H&S legislation is the duty of care to oneself.

[rossmck]

B) If it is too noisy to shout, I have to leave the control booth and walk through the audience in the auditorium to ground level and trigger the alarms from there.

 

That seems ridiculous... I've been in booths with no means of activating an alarm. The general rule was in the event of fire (that cannot be safely extinguished) you leave the room and activate whichever break-glass call point you pass on the way between the booth and the exit even if it's the one right at the door.

 

Certainly would never walk further INTO a building on fire in order to activate a specific call point!

[Dodgecaliber]

Ok I can see this one getting out of hand with loads of opinions. As someone who has and is currently installing several fire alarm systems I hope I can provide a simple answer.

 

The booth should have a detector asuming it is enclosed. If not, there should be one on the roof of the building. If there are none, it is more than likely a 'class M' system where there are no detectors only call points.

 

If the booth does not have a door, it is acceptable to travel upto 30m to activate a call point however this is never the case. Asuming the system is old and of conventional design I'd get something sorted for the booth ASAP.

 

Some pics would help?

 

 

And again, I've designed, installed and commissioned systems right up to this day, so I have a fair bit of whack over this.

 

Dodge

 

Edit: Lack of call points on upper level could possibly be due to no emergency exit, if there is an emergency exit without a call point your system was done on the cheap and is, technically illegal and dangerous!

 

Shouting is not an acceptable form of raising the alarm.

[ramdram]

Now you mention it, shouting would raise general alarm, not to mention panic.

 

Dear oh dear, how do people in authority a). get there b). not take their role seriously?

 

There used to be (what I thought was a joke at the time) a rumour going round, at a certain studio centre not too far away from Holborn, that people were promoted out of their competency 'cos it was too difficult to sack them...it wasn't a joke was it...

[Elliott]

I was at the Bradford Alhambra a few years back when the evacuation was announced by the sound from his desk, with no audible alarm sounding, but fire service attendance and full evacuation. Very strange.

[trusspin]

I was at the Bradford Alhambra a few years back when the evacuation was announced by the sound from his desk, with no audible alarm sounding, but fire service attendance and full evacuation. Very strange.

 

As so many injuries (and in extremis, deaths) can be caused by a panicked evacuation, it's not unreasonable to mitigate that by having a controlled evacuation managed by calm announcements made by a reassuring voice. On the other hand, what happens if the tech making the announcement puts him/herself at risk by staying in position to use the VOG. Every venue must consider the pros and cons, but just because there isn't a siren doesn't necessarily mean that the evacuation isn't being taken seriously.

[andy_s]

I was at the Bradford Alhambra a few years back when the evacuation was announced by the sound from his desk, with no audible alarm sounding, but fire service attendance and full evacuation. Very strange.

 

Not at all strange. A two-stage silent alarm is an appropriate and safe system used in many places of entertainment.

I've seen automated fire alarms ignored on several occasions - people thinking it's a false alarm until a real person tells them it isn't a drill. The proper way of initiating an evacuation in a theatre during a performance is for an announcement to be made by a responsible member of the theatre staff. I'd expect this to be done by a member of the FOH team from the stage, rather than the sound engineer from the back of the auditorium, because I think a clearer message is given if the audience can see the source of the announcement, rather than being informed by a disembodied voice coming from behind them or below them if they are in the circle... but the theatre will have decided on what they think is the most appropriate and effective means of announcing it according to their circumstances - perhaps it takes too long for FOH staff to be able to get on to the stage, for instance.

 

to address the OP, in my view, it is not acceptable to raise the alarm by shouting from the control box. If the technician is the first to become aware of a fire (by virtue of it starting in the control box), the correct procedure is to leave the control box immediately, using the fire-fighting equipment provided (there is an extinguisher suitable for electrical fires available, isn't there?) to do nothing other than ensure a safe exit, close any fire doors behind you and raise the alarm at the first opportunity by whatever means is set down in the FRA, which would not include shouting "FIRE" in the presence of the audience.