Fire safety in construction

Additions to individual sections from the Fire Safety in Construction HSG168 Second edition to the Fire Safety in Construction HSG168 (Third edition).

Design and planning

• For refurbishment projects the client must provide relevant fire information regarding existing process safety issues and General Fire Precautions (GFPs).

Smoking

• Indoor areas of construction sites must be ‘no smoking’. Communicate the rules clearly.
• Allow smoking only in designated areas that are a good distance away from the building and away from areas used for the storage of combustible or highly flammable items.
• Smoking shelters must be constructed from non-combustible material and suitable means of disposing of smoking materials must be provided.
• Smoking areas must have a nearby fire point.

Plant and equipment

• Consider use of alternative fuels to petrol.
• Ensure plant is positioned away from escape routes and combustible material and is used in a well-ventilated area.
• Modern batteries in electric vehicles or plant must be checked for damage after any collision.
• Ensure refuelling is carried out in a suitable, designated location.
• Provide charging stations for tools.
• Keep air filters and intakes clean and free of dust.
• Portable plant must be maintained and used safely.

Hot Works

• Ensure equipment is maintained and inspected before use.
• If you cannot avoid hot work, ensure that hot watch arrangements are in place. Use a hot work permit-to-work system as required.
• Design out hot work as far as possible or have the work done off site, such as alteration of any structural steel, or substitute with other methods of construction, such as push-fit service instead of soldered or other suitable cold working techniques.
• Maintain a careful watch for fire while hot work is being carried out. Maintain a fire watch in the hot works area when breaks are taken during the working day. There should be a continuous fire watch of the hot work area for at least an hour after the end of hot work, followed by at least one more check two hours after the end of hot work.
• Complete all hot works 2 hours before the end of the working day to allow for the appropriate fire checks to be carried out.

Electrical

• Maintain fixed and portable electrical equipment to prevent it becoming a source of ignition.
• Do not put temporary electrical supplies in emergency escape routes unless justified by a robust risk assessment
• Festoon lighting and cables should be adequately supported off the ground to avoid damage.

Bonfires

• Avoid burning waste materials on site.
• Never use petrol or similar accelerants to start or encourage fires.

Security/arson

• Install perimeter fencing, or hoarding, and secure all access points such as windows and doors and scaffolding.
• Liaise with the local police service.
• Secure storage of (or if necessary remove) flammable liquids, gas cylinders and other combustible materials, ideally in locked containers.
• Store materials and waste within the site perimeter, preferably in secure compounds or away from the perimeter fencing (skips are often a target; consider their vulnerability).
• Where there is a known risk of vandalism or arson in an area, or where the consequences of a fire on surrounding premises are high, such as petrol stations, hospitals and residential, consider the additional security precautions for a high-risk site.

Storage and use of volatile and flammable materials (LPG, acetylene or other fuel types)

• Store acetylene or oxidising materials in a separate facility (units may be permitted during normal working hours but must then be removed from site).
• Keep the quantity to an absolute minimum.
• Provide a suitable storage area that is secure, well ventilated and appropriately separated from combustible materials and work areas.
• Ensure storage is organised and tightly controlled.
• Do not store materials in a building under construction.
• Dispense fuels, including hydrogen gas and petroleum, in a safe area away from
• Handling practices must limit likelihood of spills and flammable vapour.
• Ensure equipment is maintained and inspected.

Combustible material

• Substitute combustible materials with less combustible or fire-resisting ones.
• Soft landing system bags should be fire-retardant.
• Install vulnerable features as late as possible to reduce the quantity of protective coverings.
• Ensure protective coverings and scaffold sheeting are to flame-retardant specifications.
• Ensure discarded coverings are disposed of correctly.
• Plan to reduce storage of combustible materials, such as by using just-in-time ordering. Keep combustible material away from Temporary accommodation units (TAUs), buildings being constructed and escape routes.
• Control access to stores to prevent materials being distributed across the site.
• Do not use Temporary accommodation units (TAUs) for storage of materials, including on the roof.

Rubbish disposal and housekeeping

• Set site rules relating to tidying up and disposing of waste.

For all construction (including high-risk)

• General Fire Precautions (GFPs) will always be needed to mitigate the effects of a fire occurring and ensure the safety of anyone who might be affected by it, no matter the process precautions put in place.
• The General Fire Precautions (GFPs) may change for different stages of the project.

Means of escape

• Plan escape routes from all working areas.
• Ensure escape routes are a sufficient size for the number of people using them.
• Sequence the build to ensure the early commission of the permanent stairways to enable them to be used as an escape route. For buildings over two storeys high, maintain the permanent stairways as a 30-minute protected escape route that progresses up with the building.
• Fit self-closing fire doors early, or use temporary fire doors if necessary.
• Use suitable signage and keep it up to date to reflect any escape route changes.
• Ensure everyone is accounted for; for example, by carrying out a head count or sweeping the location being evacuated.

Compartmentation/stopping spread

• Any openings need to be fire stopped to an equivalent standard of fire resistance to the rest of the compartment. This means that holes and gaps must be correctly filled and if doors are needed through the compartment they need to be fire-resisting.
• Manage and monitor work activities carefully to ensure that any openings made, such as for service, are immediately refilled or covered.

Fire alarms – giving warning and detection

• Automatic detection may be needed in TAUs and other areas where fire could start and go unnoticed.
• Alarms need to be tested and serviced by a competent person.

Emergency procedures

• Clearly defined roles and responsibilities for managing fire safety;
• Fire drills, which are an important check for the principal contractor on whether induction and fire safety plans work, and whether training for site workers had been effective;
• Arrangements to ensure the fire and rescue services can access the site and are made aware of site specific risks, such as the storage of hydrogen gas or lithium-ion batteries;
• Post-fire re-ignition risks from lithium-ion batteries should be part of the induction.

Temporary accommodation

• The responsible person must carry out a risk assessment, identify the necessary precautions and ensure these precautions are in place.
• All stacked TAUs must be protected to achieve a fire resistance of at least 30 minutes in line with guidance in Appendix 1.
• All vertically stacked TAUs must have suitable protection to achieve a minimum of 30 minutes’ fire resistance (integrity, insulation and load-bearing capacity) of the roof/floor assembly and the supporting members. This is required to prevent fire spread and/or structural collapse within the stack.
• Include TAUs in emergency plans.
• Ensure the TAU is used only for its intended purpose.
• Provide adequate means of escape, means of raising the alarm and fire-fighting equipment.