Cooking Fire Safety

[Rocha]

I have recently undertaken a fire risk assessment of a student halls of residence where the only means of escape from the ground floor flats is through the kitchen.  As the main cause of fire in the kitchens will be from cooking I am looking to recomend a system that will prevent students from leaving cooking unattended.

The kitchens are provided with adequate fire fighting equipment, automatic fire detection and ventilation with all electrical items subject to PAT testing.

My research has yielded a motion detector stove monitor that sounds when there has been no motion by the cooker for a period of time.  However they are quite costly (£200) and could be open to tampering by the students who may see them as a nuisance.

Any ideas on a student-proof system or device that may be suitable??

[Martin Burford]

No such thing as " student proof" exists... but I will give it some thought....£ 200 seems rather prohibitive,  Conqueror.

[AnthonyB]

Who on earth designed that layout (& who passed it!). I would suppose the kitchen cannot be relocated or another exit route created without being prohibitively expensive.

You could reduce the risk by:
Cooker having no hobs so no fat pans
thermostat controlled fryer so no need for fats pans
No gas
no open grills
Timed power supply to the cooker fuse so they can't do the fatal 1AM post booze chips on stove (flaw is if they turn it on when powered down, forget about it and the timer reenergises the unattended but on cooker - however at least itwould be during the day so less chance of sleeping risk)

[Brian Downes]

Rocha,
          Difficult to give an answer without knowing the exact layout of the flats.
 I note your flats are ground floor. If all occupants are able bodied, and bedrooms have windows it could be that they could be  used as  'escape windows' to provide an alternative escape route. You would need to structurally seperate the bedroms from other risk rooms, and provide early warning, to enable the students to use the window escape. You may also need to consider escape windows from other occupied rooms such as sitting rooms.
Structural seperation will involve fire doors and self closers, which probably do not mix well with students!
This approach does not reduce or eliminate the risk of a cooking fire occuring, but it does confine it whilst escape is made by an alternative route.

[Brian Catton]

Rocha,

Are you saying that the only entrance and exit to the student flats is through the kitchen? If it is there must be a case for providing an alternative exit through one of the bedrooms.
This is not only on fire safety grounds but also on the grounds of managing H and S risks.
Need to know the exact layout though.

[Martin Burford]

Rocha

I return to your Q. without knowing the full extent of your building it seems to me that the basic layout of the student accommodation is flawed, but what causes me more concerns is if that layout continues on the upper floors of the building.  By referencing Part B, it should be clear that the flats as you describe them do not have satisfactory means of escape, however this situation may be easily solved by replacing the existing windows with " french-windows", thus solving the M of E problem.  using the existing windows as exits, I consider NOT SATISFACTORY, as it may be the only place in student accommodation where students with disabilities could ne housed, as its ground floor.  you also mention AFD...is this smoke or heat within the cooking area...if its smoke then look out for many, many false alarms!....Let me give you an example... in the Midlands student accommodation had problems with false alarms, as many as 20 calls / week!!....this was solely down to the inappropriate use of smoke detectors.  Another publication you may find helpful, in addition to part B & 12/92 & Welsh Ofice25/92, is Chartered Institue of Environment Health Houses in Multiple Occupation- Model Licensing Scheme.....finally if it was me I would not be concentrating on expensive electrical gadgets... get the means of escape right!

[Bluefire1]

I have seen numerous halls where the escape route leads from the kitchen but this is for escape from the kitchen. the means of escape for the rooms is via protected corridors using the normal entrances... is this what you are saying or are you saying to get to the rooms all students must enter via the kitchen........if the latter then immediate action needs to be taken.

[Rocha]

All students must pass through the kitchen to gain access to their rooms at ground floor level.  The windows to the students rooms can be used for means of escape.  Students rooms at levels above ground are acessed via protected corridors.

[Chris Houston]

The windows to the students rooms can be used for means of escape.

Are they just normal windows?

[Rocha]

The windows are french type windows and in my opinion are adeqaute for the means of escape for able bodied persons.  No disabled students are housed within these halls.

[Chris Houston]

The windows are french type windows and in my opinion are adeqaute for the means of escape for able bodied persons.  No disabled students are housed within these halls.

They might have guests who are wheel chair users, even if they didn't, it is my opinion that normal windows are not a suitable means of escape from a fire.

[AnthonyB]

What did Building Control say about it? Were they even consulted? It does go against the fundamentals for MoE to pass through the area of highest risk. Are the windows fitted with locks and if so where are the keys?