Ireland Legislation - Factory Fire Escape Issue

[Chris Houston]

I was over in Dublin doing some work for a client (not fire safety work, but general insurance surveying).  Within the factory were 2 small mezzanine levels (timber flooring on metal supports).  The mezzanine levels were open sided, and in fact the entire factory is one large fire compartment, the mezzanine levels have no walls, only metal barriers around the edges.  The only way to get to the mezzanine levels is via one open metal staircase, or one elevator.  In a fire situation the elevator obvioulsy shouldn't be used and therefore there is only one escape route from the mezzanine levels.  If a fire should start under or near the only set of stairs, they would be trapped (no doubt they would be forced to use the lift).

Although I wasn't there for fire safety purposes, it is my job to point out any obvious issues like this.

I'm not familiar with the legislation in the Republic of Ireland, can someone tell me what the relevant legislation is and if it seems that my client is in breach of it?

[CivvyFSO]

I am not from N.I but it seems to be nice 'catch-all' simple legislation, providing I have the right legislation...

---
Duties of employers to employees
     25. —(1) Each employer shall ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of his employees in respect of harm caused by fire in the workplace.
    (2) Each employer shall–
(a) carry out an assessment of the workplace for the purpose of identifying any risks to the safety of his employees in respect of harm caused by fire in the workplace; and
(b) take in relation to the workplace such of the fire safety measures as are necessary to enable him to comply with the duty imposed by paragraph (1).
---

Seems to be quite simple legislation. They need to do their assessment, that should point out what, if anything, is required. There's no point going into depth of what I think may be required as the assessment is the first step and that should point everything out for them.


If there is no fire resistance to the underside of the mezz then the Fire Service may decide they will not go on or under (Or even near) the mezz. Which as an insurance assessor I am sure you would be an interested party if that were the case.

[Tom Sutton]

Try the Irish Fire Services Act 1981 it seems one act deals with it all. http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1981/en/act/pub/0030/index.html#zza30y1981

If you require more info try http://irishfireservices.com/forums/index.php

[Chris Houston]

Just to clarify, I'm talking about the Republic of Ireland.

[William 29]

Chris, this is my understanding of current fire safety law from my contacts in N.I. hope it is of help

The current legislation is the Fire Service (Northern Ireland) Order 1984, under which relevant premises are Certified, and the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regs (Northern Ireland) 2001 which came into effect 1st Dec 2001. There is no policing policy yet and as such they do not carry out inspections or audits under these 2001 Regs.

The Fire & Rescue Services (NI) Order 2006 came into operation in July 2006 but will be subject to various Commencement Orders. The Fire Safety section of this legislation has not been commenced yet.

The resulting Fire Safety Legislation will be "The Fire Safety (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2006. These Regulations are due to be released for consultation shortly as required by Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act. This consultation will last for a period of 12 weeks. It is envisaged that the Fire Section of the new Order will commence around the middle of 2008.

With that aside with regard to the mezz floors, I would be asking if the client has received building regs permission and if they complied with the current regs. at that time in terms of size of floor, storage only? persons working? required fire resistance, AFD and emergency lighting (underneath the mezz) and also meeting the required single direction of travel depending on the risk cat.

[nearlythere]

William
This is Northern Ireland legislation you are quoting. The original query was in relation to the Republic of Ireland. Different country - different legislation.

Try Dublin Fire Brigade website Chris.

[kurnal]

I cant comment on the Irish situation as I dont know without looking it up, but common sense dictates there will be two main considerations- ie how big was the mezzanine and is it used for storage or do people work up there?

As you are probably aware in the UK small mezzanines  used for storage are allowed certain relaxations in terms of fire resistance to elements of structure and are treated for means of escape as a part  of the general floor area in which they sit.

If they are bigger than 10m or 20m if detectors are sited underneath then elements of structure have to comply as a floor in the same circumstances. Means of escape- in many cases with mezzanines the flowing fire plume will spill out around the soides of the mezz so fire curtains are often enough to protect the means of escape.

The specific relaxations for storage mezzanines are one of the least understood and most abused aspects of the ADB - by developers, fire officers and building inspectors.
There are many multi level huge mezzes wth no fire protection.

[William 29]

Appologies my reply has crossed over with Chris's stating Republic of Ireland

[CivvyFSO]

And I need to check my geography. I wouldn't normally be ashamed about getting something related to geography wrong, but I have been to Dublin.

[Chris Houston]

Thanks guys.  The first floor mezz is a workplace for a handful of people, the second floor is used for cardboard storage.  

There is no automatic fire detection, but there is sprinkler protection including under the mezz flooring.

Part of my argument is legal compliance, but frankly even if it was legal, I'm not happy about it and will be making recommendations to install a second means of escape in the form of a steel staircase.

[William 29]

Not sure if you need that second staircase Chris?  What is the single direction of travel on the mezz and then how far to a final exit from the foot of the mezz?

[Chris Houston]

Mezz is 18x19 therefore furthest corner is 26m to the staircase (if my pythagoras is acurate!).  Didn't pace it out (wasn't doing a fire safety risk assessment) but then down 1 or 2 slights of stairs and about a further 25 metres to the final exit.  No protected coridors or stairwells, but fully sprinklered (sprinkler specification unknown, but probably to US property protection standards).

Any comments would be welcome..........

[kurnal]

When you get to the foot of the stairs from the mezz do you have a choice of routes to the nearest storey exit or do you have to go down these one or two flights of stairs?

In the UK for a normal risk factory the maximum single direction travel distance  (ie on your mezz) should be of the order of 25m then a further 20m or so to the nearest storey exit. But sprinklers can be used to justify an increase in these recommended travel distances, depending on the overall level of risk, ie High medium or low risk which are determined by a combination of what the building is used for, what its made of, how big it is and ceiling heights, and how well it is managed.

So if you class travel on the mezz as stage 1, the conditions in stage 2- travel to a final exit are equally important, especially if more open staircases are involved. After all the one big advantage of a mezzanine is that you can easily see the surrounding areas and become aware of a problem very early on. If there are other levels to encounter we may not have this advantage in this case.

[Chris Houston]

It is true, those on the mezz have a good view of the surrounding area.

Those on the mezz can only exit via one corner, then down 2 flights of metal stairs to ground level.  At the foot of the stairs there are other escape options in different directions.

There is sprinklers, but property protection standards, I think.

Are you

[Tom Sutton]

I found some guidance documents but none for factories at http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/FireandEmergencyServices/

Also go to http://www.irishfireservices.com/ and note the article at the bottom of the page.