Fire safety is essential in every single building across the UK. However, if you live in, manage, or own an apartment building, there are several specific things to consider.
These include evacuation protocols, longer egress times, smoke movement, and compartmentalisation.
Without the proper precautions in place, smoke and flames can spread through entire apartment buildings at a rapid rate.
This means that a fire in your apartment would not only put your home and loved ones in danger, but also pose a serious threat to the lives of your neighbours.
Here are some of the most important fire safety tips for both apartment building manager and residents:
Create a fire safety plan
As a building manager/owner, it is your job to create a fire safety plan unique to the requirements of your property and the findings of the fire risk assessment.
The information that this plan should contain includes:
- Building information
- Construction type
- Fire safety tips
- Evacuation procedures
- Fire Safety systems in place
Once this plan has been created it should be dispersed widely to ensure that all residents are aware of the content.
Post a copy in common areas, provide a copy to each resident (both existing and new tenants), and ensure that a fresh version is produced and distributed every single year.
Building Manager Responsibilities
All building managers have a responsibility to protect the well-being of residents to the best of their ability.
To do this they should:
- Consult with a respected fire safety organisation and fit the recommended alarms, sprinklers, and other fire safety equipment.
- Have all the electrical appliances in communal areas, such as washing machines and dryers serviced and checked for faults by a qualified electrician.
- Ensure staff and residents are aware of all the relevant fire safety procedures on site.
- Arranging evacuation drills.
- Keeping evacuation routes free of obstructions.
- Ensuring that all flammable liquids are securely stored in approved containers.
Safety Tips for Residents
Above, we have detailed the responsibilities of managers and building owners, but it is vital that each and every resident is just as attentive when it comes to fire safety.
Besides ensuring that you have a working smoke alarm system in your apartment that is tested once a month, residents should:
- Don’t overload electric sockets
We all have numerous electrical devices plugged in in our homes at any one time, but overloading a single socket can create a major fire hazard.
Avoid overloading extension cords or creating a chain of extension cords as this could cause a power surge.
Instead, only ever use fully safety tested devices and fit surge protectors if required.
2. Stay Calm in the case of a fire
There is a fire safety plan in place for a reason and the worst thing to do if a fire does start is to forget all the safety measures in place and panic as this will only make the problem worse.
Stay as calm as possible and concentrate on getting to the exit detailed in your evacuation plan.
Once all residents are safely outside, contact the emergency services.
If you are trapped within the property, call 999 immediately, stuff wet towels, tape, or bedding into the cracks of the doors between you and the fire, and wait for the fire service to come to your aid.
If you can, open windows to let smoke escape and to make your location known.
3. Purchase a fire extinguisher
Having a small fire extinguisher in your kitchen is a must. This will allow you to quickly eliminate a small fire caused by a cooking spillage almost immediately, preventing the problem from escalating.
Make sure your extinguisher is fully operational and all residents are aware of how best to operate it.
4. Contact the building manager with any concerns
If you are concerned that there may be a fire risk on the premises, or to learn more about the building’s safety features, contact the building manager.
It is their duty to ensure effective fire safety measures are in place and to resolve problems such as faulty alarms, sprinklers, or blocked fire escapes as quickly as possible.
If you feel as though the manager or management company are not taking the problem seriously, contact your local authority.
Additional Safety Measures
If your building has been found to be at a heightened fire risk due to unsafe flammable cladding being installed on the exterior, you may require a Waking Watch Fire Marshals service.
Waking watch involves highly trained fire marshals patrolling your site 24/7 looking for signs of a fire and raising the alarm if needed.
Waking watch was introduced in response to the horrifying event of the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 and is designed to be a temporary solution until such time as a common fire alarm system can be installed, or building work is completed on the property.
Here at V360, we offer both temporary highly trained waking watch officers, and an industry leading V-Fire common alarm system.
