Hello
I have just found this message board and wanted to give members some information about PAS 79 - there seems to be some confusion as to its status and indeed to BSI's status. I Head the 'risk' cluster of sectors at BSI and am the person with responsibilty for PAS 79.
Firstly BSI isn't a government agency - we are similar in status to the BBC (except for no licence fee money!) - we are independent and neutral. We aren't allowed to have shareholders in order to retain our neutrality. We operate under a memorandum of understanding with the government which gives us the unique position of being the UK's national standards body (no-one else can produce a BS). But we have to follow strict rules about the setting up and running of committees and in order for a document to become a 'BS' - full national consultation must take place. The money we make from the sale of standards and other standards supporting products (books, seminars, PAS's) helps cover the cost. As a rough estimate less than 5% of the standards we make come close to covering their costs of development and production, thus the money we make on the others in effect subsidises this activity. Around 15% of our revenue comes from government, usually in the form of money linked to specific actions - we want a standard on XXXX. We are a non-profit distributing organisation - any surplus is put straight back into standards making.
PAS 79 is a kind of pre-standard which we produce in response to market needs. It was clear that this was an area where the benefit of a 'fire risk assessment' which had gone through our reviewing and development process would be helpful. Also the standards making process can sometimes take time to reach agreement - looking at this board for instance it is clear that there are many differing views in this area - producing a PAS means that at least some acceptable guidance is made available quickly. I could comment on how long it has taken the government to produce its guidance but I won't. A PAS differs from a full BS in that it has only 'limited consensus' (those involved are listed in the document). However as with all of our standards we are keen to make sure that it does meet your needs and so it is an evolving document. With that in mind BSI will be holding an open forum later this year ( I will announce on this board and in all the main fire magazines) to receive feedback on PAS 79 as it goes into its 2nd year and we start to think about how it might be improved.
I'm sorry that people think 100 pounds is too much - but much as I love standards I do need to pay my rent, the document includes a CD-rom with the pro-forma forms included so that you can re-use. Also it is a lot more than a template - it aims to inform the user how to use the template.
It is also soon to be available from the BSI e-shop (go to bsi-global.com and search on e-shop) to download for only 50 pounds. I'll post when this is sorted.
I hope this has helped - please send me any feedback you have on the document good, bad or ugly as we are only as good as the people that get involved in the standards making!
Nicki
