26 Nov 2010
School fire safety education needs to be evaluated at the forefront for maintaining better safety and rescue against fires

ADT Fire & Security has launched the new Guide to Fire Safety in educational premises.

Every year in the UK more than 2,000 schools suffer fires large enough to need action from the local fire service. Besides the potential loss of life, injuries and substantial property damage, fire can cause severe disruption for schools, colleges and universities for a long time after the fire itself has been extinguished.

With schools that are maintained by a local education authority, responsibility for fire safety is usually shared between the authority, the governing body and the headteacher. Between them, they must ensure that fire precautions comply with all relevant health and safety legislation however, each year schools around the country still fail to be compliant with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

With this in mind, ADT Fire & Security has launched the new Guide to Fire Safety in Educational Premises, designed to ensure any fire precautions undertaken comply with health and safety legislation.

Included in the guide is a valuable Fire Risk Assessment Safety Checklist that looks at the following areas in four separate steps: Identifying Fire Hazards; Identifying People at Risk; Evaluate, Remove, Reduce and Protect from Risk as well as Record, Plan, Inform, Instruct and Train.

"In education premises, fire and arson prevention is a particular issue with 75% of fires being started deliberately," explains Peter Lackey, Fire Product Marketing Manager at ADT Fire & Security. "The aim of the guide is to help ensure those responsible have practical guidance and a checklist to work from that aids compliance."

The Guide to Fire Safety in Educational Premises provides an overview of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety Order) 2005, information on compliance and enforcement as well as looking at security issues that can affect fire safety and arson prevention in schools.