duty of care....?

[David Rooney]

but all i want to do is fulfill my obligations and point these people in the right direction, not write their assessment for them.

Dave if you wish to give advice then you need to conduct a partial risk assessment to be able to give that advice and consequently you need to know who’s who.

Blimey... but thats a leading question...


Our BAFE people tell us not to ever mention those words "risk assessment" in any documentation as we are not qualified to give such advice.

Hence the RA is always down to the client.

We like to give the client as much help as poss because we are nice people, but where do we stop??

Do we just say "read the FSO and the relevant guide and get on with it"...??

In a quandry......!!??

[Clevelandfire]

If there is one hour separation in good condition- no need for alarm sounder in the flat - the idea is that if a serious fire occurrs a passer by or the flat owner should be aware of the fire below them well before there is a risk of fire spread affectng the flat or its means of escape.

.

I'm not having a go at you Kurnal as I know that is the general thinking within the brigade. But Im very sceptical of that.If a fire breaks out at say 3.00am in the morning theres no guarantee anyone would be around to notice a fire in the hairdressing salon.

Plus if the tenant is a heavy sleeper he or she may never wake up.I know the seperation is no different than me living in a semi detatched house - if my neighbour had a fire I'd run similar risks.

But i guess its their choice to live there (or not as the case may be) just as much as it is mine to live in a semi!

[kurnal]

Thats a fair point Cleveland but we have to draw a line somewhere - a level of risk that Society sees as tolerable. For our business its the benchmark standard as expressed in the Approved Docs or BS5588, DCLG guidance etc.

Its no different to any other aspect of Health and Safety- Noise at work setting hearing protection levels at 80 and 85 dB but some pople will be harmed by levels below this.  Manual Handling Regs provide "Filters" for safe manual handling- its considered low risk for a bloke to pick up 25kg at waist height but someone somewhere will probably hurt their back lifting a pint of Newky brown off the bar.

Whilst we say we aim for zero tolerance on fire deaths in fact Society would not be prepared to  bear the cost of delivering this.

[jokar]

I agree, it is not and can not be possible to protect against all risks.  Nothing can be totally acceptable and we have in some ways to tolerate the risks that are in society.

[Tom Sutton]

Do we just say "read the FSO and the relevant guide and get on with it"...??

Dave in my opinion yes, but not in those words you should simple say in your opinion a review of the FRA is needed and the fire alarm system needs further consideration. Point them in the direction of the DCLG guides and inform them on completion you will act on any findings of the FRA. That should discharge your duty of care.

[Graeme]

Sounds good to me , go for a day/night mode heat during the day , smokes at night , watch the spacings though will have to default to heat.
Any suggestion is better than nothing

a reasonable idea but as usual this probably will come down to the cost involved and a/a fire system will unlikely be an option for such a small premisies.

No one mentioned A/A systems

Wouldnt need one

Few detectors and a sounder job done!

Sounds good to me , go for a day/night mode heat during the day , smokes at night , watch the spacings though will have to default to heat.
Any suggestion is better than nothing


This would suggest that he was taking about a/addressable to me.

[Galeon]

a reasonable idea but as usual this probably will come down to the cost involved and a/a fire system will unlikely be an option for such a small premisies.

No one mentioned A/A systems

Wouldnt need one

Few detectors and a sounder job done!

Sounds good to me , go for a day/night mode heat during the day , smokes at night , watch the spacings though will have to default to heat.
Any suggestion is better than nothing


This would suggest that he was taking about a/addressable to me.

You would be right .