Just some points relating to the use of Guidelines within buildings.
Most fire crews admit that the main reason we do not consider using guidelines in certain buildings is the lack of tie-off points.
So if we, as Firefighters have identified that there is no means of securing the guidelines in most premises, what have we done about it?
The answer invariably is NOTHING! (apart from thinking that we will never have to use them anyway!)
In my opinion we have failed in at least 2 counts in relation to guidelines.
1. We have identified a potential hazard, but done nothing more, so if there is a fire in the premises we have 2 choices (A) Use guidelines in the knowledge that they will not be laid properly and will in most cases, be more of a hindrance than a help.
(B) Do not use them at all and hope that everything turns out all right and no one is injured as it would be difficult to justify not using them if there was an accident inquiry.
2. We have also not made the owner or employers of the building in question aware of the problem as they may be willing to do something about it. I know that there is legislation coming into force soon that will make it the owner/employers responsibility for the health and safety of anyone who may have to work in the premises, but in the past, during our 1.1.d visits, we have identified loads of buildings where we should use guidelines, but we know we cannot secure them properly.
Here then is a suggestion of what we could do to stop problems in the future.
When crews are carrying out Operational information gathering on a certain building and they think that there is potential for utilising guidelines if the building was involved in fire, they should see if there is any means of securing them. If not, they will inform the building owner of this, and put the responsibility onto them to provide means of securing the guidelines. If they refuse, we can then say that they were made aware of the problem and did nothing about it, which would absolve fire authorities from any possible litigation.
More importantly, it would make it safer and easier for Breathing Apparatus crews to search buildings.
The cost of fitting the Guide line securing Hooks would be minimal, and not all buildings would require them.
I would appreciate comments and opinions on this matter.
