Fire Safety and the Importance of Fire Doors

 Fire doors are of the utmost importance in many types of private and public buildings in the UK. Through regulatory control and health and safety practice it is vital that as the owner of a building, or the person responsibility of managing a building with tenants living and working within it, you have a clear and thorough understanding of the reasons behind the necessity of implementation of fire doors. Health and safety, especially fire safety, should always be paramount and at the front of your mind when developing processes and protocols for building management, and the correct implementation and use of fire doors is a key concept of this process.

For certain types of buildings it is a legal compliance to have fire doors installed correctly, and for there to be an extensive and thorough fire management and plan in place, where all inhabitants of a building understand exactly how to act and where to go in the event of a fire. What type of buildings are bound by law to have fire doors installed and a clear fire safety management process?

·       Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs)

·       Multi-Occupancy Commercial Buildings

·       Medical Institutions

·       Museums

·       Art Galleries

·       Public Schools

·       Council and Government Buildings

Within all of these types of buildings the person responsible for fire safety management and training must ensure that all doorways have secure and high quality, durable fire doors installed. On top of that there is also a need to have a clear philosophy of fire safety that is understood from day one by all inhabitants and employees in the building, as well as transferable to and easily understood by any visitors on site.

Fire safety compliance and a thorough management of fire safety on a daily basis is often overlooked, or not conducted in a thorough enough manner across many different types of buildings in the country. A much higher standard of fire safety across the board makes it less likely for a fire to break out in a modern building, but when you are faced with terrifying situations as we saw with Grenfell Tower in 2018 it is still something that requires focus at all times. It only takes one person to drop the ball once for a fire to cost lives.

It is always best to be as proactive as possible when it comes to fire safety and this begins with the installation of fire doors. Find a fire door supplier with a track record of high standards – from the doors themselves to the installation process and the customer service that threads through the entire process. A fire door provides extra minutes that could save lives, preventing the fast spread of fire and smoke.

Once you have found the correct fire door supplier and installed fire doors at the property you manage you can build the use of fire doors into a proactive and extensive fire safety management training programme, including fire drills and training that covers what to do in the event of a fire, and clear fire escape routes and proper use of fire doors throughout the building.