Introduction

 

It is the policy of BrisDoc to ensure that all co-owners, patients, contractors and visitors are protected from the risks of fire. This policy forms part of BrisDoc’s Health and Safety Manual.

With this aim appropriate fire prevention/precaution measures will be taken. Also appropriate evacuation procedures will be developed, implemented and periodically tested. All persons shall be provided with sufficient and appropriate fire awareness training and instruction. All premises shall comply with relevant fire safety legislation and recognised good practice the main legislation being Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Through compliance BrisDoc will ensure it meets it core objectives for workforce, patient, quality and financial care in accordance with its  5 way business model.

 

General Co-owner Instruction

 

All co-owners must be familiar with the fire procedures as required by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The management of a fire and emergency evacuation will be undertaken with reference to business continuity plans for each service.

Fire procedures are posted at each site and can be found near exit routes.

All co-owners must ensure that they are familiar with alternative means of escape in case of fire, in the areas in which they are employed to work.

Co-owners should ensure that they know where the assembly points are, noted on the fire procedures for the building.

If the evacuation of premises is necessary:

• Do exit quickly and calmly
• Do go directly to the open-air assembly point
• Do not enter adjacent buildings unless directed by the fire co-ordinator/fire brigad
• Do not stop to collect bags and belonging
• Do close the windows and door behind you.
• Do not use lift

Fire Alarm Testing

 

Routine fire alarm testing is carried out at each site:

 

Marksbury Road Surgery	Tuesdays at 8am
Clevedon	Thursday morning
168 Medical	Wednesday between 12-1pm
Cossham	Wednesday at 8.30am.  OOH test at 8.30pm at the end of each month.
Greenway	Wednesday
Broadmead Medical Centre	Tuesday morning
Osprey Court – Unit 20 & 21	Friday morning
Osprey Court – Unit 4	Friday morning
Homeless Health Service	Riverside is responsible the routine fire alarm testing which occurs weekly but not on a specific day or time.
Charlotte Keel Medical Practice	NHSPS is responsible for the routine fire alarm testing which occurs weekly but not on a specific day or time.

 

If the alarms continuously sound, co-owners MUST leave the building.

 

Fire Safety

 

Fire safety is everyone’s responsibility. All co-owners, contractors and visitors are expected to follow safety procedures and to ensure the safe use of electrical/gas equipment; the safe use, disposal and storage of hazardous/combustible materials; and compliance with NHS policy for all NHS premises to be non-smoking zones.

 

Fire Safety Precautions

 

• Fire doors must be kept closed at all times (unless they are doors that automatically close when the alarm is sounded). Doors must never be propped open.
• Corridors, stairways, landings and escape routes must be kept clear at all times.
• Hazardous materials must be stored, used and disposed of in accordance with legal requirements and safe working practices.
• All fire-fighting equipment must be kept free from obstruction and be readily available for use in an emergency.
• Any obvious or suspected damage to, or misuse of, fire-fighting equipment must be reported immediately to the relevant service Fire Warden / Health and Safety Lead, who will report it to the Facilities Manag

 

Fire Action Procedure

 

Any person suspecting or discovering a fire shall:

• Raise the alarm by operating the nearest fire alarm call point.
• Call 999
• Provide the details of the building and any other information that the emergency service requir
• If possible, tackle the fire with the correct type of extinguisher – but only if there is no risk to oneself and practical hands-on training has been given.
• If circumstances dictate, or an order has been given to do so, leave the building by the nearest available exit.

Any person hearing a continuously sounding alarm should:

• Leave the building by the nearest available exit rout
• DO NOT use the lifts.
• Go directly to the designated assembly point as set out in the fire evacuation notice.
• Never re-enter the building unless instructed to do so by a member of the Fire Brigad Never re-enter whilst the alarm is still sounding.
• Failure to obey instructions given in an emergency evacuation by a member of the fire brigade/security/nominated persons will be considered serious and will be dealt with under BrisDoc’s disciplinary procedur

Responsibilities of Fire Warden / Senior Person on duty

Fire wardens / senior Persons on duty in any BrisDoc service are responsible for the safe evacuation all patients, visitors, contractors and members of staff from their building/work area in accordance with their local procedure. An example is:

Osprey Court – unit 20 & 21:  The Fire Officer is responsible for general fire safety systems and procedures in the building. The Fire Wardens/Senior Person take responsibility for ensuring all staff evacuate the premises safely, ensuring all windows and doors are closed behind them. Fire Warden/Senior Person for Unit 21a (Ground Floor) will also check the toilets on the ground floor. Fire Warden/Senior Person in 21b (1^st Floor) will also check and report on the ‘Safe Haven’ located in Clifton Room. Fire Warden/Senior Person in Unit 20a and 20b (Ground and 1^st floor) will check the toilets in 20a. The Fire Officer will take the fire folder/log book to the assembly point for use by the Fire Brigade.

 

Osprey Court – unit 4: The Fire Officer is responsible for general fire safety systems and procedures in the building. The Fire Wardens/Senior Person is to  take responsibility for ensuring all staff evacuate the premises safely, ensuring all windows and doors are closed behind them.  Member of staff on the ground floor are to check the toilets to ensure they are vacant.  Fire Warden/Senior Person for Unit 4 will collect the fire folder/log book to the assembly point for use by the Fire Brigade.

 

On hearing a continuously sounding alarm the Fire Warden / Senior Person must ensure that patients, visitors, contractors and co-owners know where the assembly points are.

Patients in waiting areas will be informed and told to leave the location, in a calm and orderly fashion, and to meet at the designated assembly point.

NEVER open a door that is hot or warm to the touch or where it is suspected the fire may be behind or near it.

The Fire Warden / Senior Person should take a BrisDoc mobile phone if it is in the immediate vicinity, or collecting this would not put them in danger, and take the service’s fire folder with them to the assembly point for use by the Fire Brigade officer.

Clinical staff responsibilities

On hearing a continuously sounding alarm it is the responsibility of the clinical staff on duty to inform and escort patients from the consulting rooms to the designated assembly points.

Patients with disability/impairments

On hearing a continuously sounding alarm the clinical staff on duty will assess the patient’s capabilities for leaving the building. If a patient can be escorted safely then the clinician must instruct, or direct the patient to the assembly point.

If the patient is not capable of being transported safely the patient should be left in a consulting room with the door closed. The clinician should then inform the Fire Warden / Senior Person of whom and where the patient is, and what their disability/special requirements are. The Fire Warden / Senior Person can then relay this information to the fire brigade.

At the Assembly Point

 

All co-owners will report their presence to their Team/Line Manager.

Team/Line Managers will check the completeness of their team and report their status to the Fire Officer / Fire Warden / Senior Person.

The Fire Officer / Fire Warden / Senior Person will inform the fire brigade / landlord’s fire co-ordinator that evacuation has taken place. Information on the location and status of any patients/persons still inside the building, for whatever reason, will be handed over.

The Fire Warden / Senior Person should check with patients that their whole party is present and if not, who is missing. This information should be passed to the fire brigade.

The Fire Officer / Fire Warden / Senior Person will act in accordance with any business continuity plan for BrisDoc or their service with respect to endeavouring to secure the most practicable service continuity possible in the circumstances.

On no account should the Fire Officer / Fire Warden / Senior Person return to the building to search for patients or staff who are unaccounted for.

In the Integrated Urgent Care Service, if possible, the Fire Warden / Senior Person should communicate with one of BrisDoc’s other IUC Treatment Centres to inform them of the emergency. The other Treatment Centre will review the evacuated Treatment Centre’s appointment schedule and inform the Fire Warden / Senior Person of how many patients are recorded as being in the evacuated building.

At Osprey Court the Fire Officer / Fire Warden / Senior Person will be responsible for silencing the alarm on the fire panel if and when requested to do so by the fire brigade. Relevant information will be held in the fire folder.

At 168 Medical, Marksbury Road Surgery and Greenway Community Practice, the Shift Manager / Host will be responsible for silencing the alarm on the fire panel if and when requested to do so by the fire brigade. The Treatment Centre Set Up document describes the evacuation procedure and details of how to silencing the alarm.

At BMC, HHS, CKMP, and all other IUC Treatment Centres (hospital-based services) it is expected the Landlord’s Estates Response Team will manage their alarm panel.

Finalising the incident

 

When the emergency has finished and work resumed in the premises or at the nearest opportunity, the Fire Warden / Senior Person must:

• IUC – telephone the other treatment centre to inform that the emergency has finishe
• Establish normal phone contact with patients by ensuring that any divert arrangements have been rev
• Where it is BrisDoc’s responsibility, i. Osprey Court, Marksbury Road Surgery, Greenway Community Practice and 168 Medical, reset the fire alarm panel
• Complete a learning event form stating any relevant details i. fire caused by smoking in foyer, extinguisher used, fire service did not attend for an hour etc.
• Undertake a risk assessment of the haz
• Submit the learning event through the correct channels at the earliest opportunity.

The Service Manager will undertake a lesson learnt and de-briefing session with the co-owners and provide feedback and recommendations to the relevant Health and Safety Steering Group.

 

Fire Safety Drills

 

In accordance with fire safety legislation, fire evacuation drills will be carried out at least annually.

The drills will monitor the effectiveness of the evacuation process and where necessary identify changes that need to be made. The drill will be timed to ensure acceptability and if necessary, the drill will be repeated to reduce the time taken to evacuate.

A report on the effectiveness of the drill will be produced and reported to the relevant Health and Safety Steering Group.

 

 

Training Instruction and Information

 

All new co-owners will be given fire instruction training as part of their induction procedure. This will include identification of escape routes, location of extinguishers, fire alarm positions and where the assembly points are. They will also be made aware of any known hazards.

All co-owners will undertake annual statutory fire safety training.

BrisDoc will ensure that evacuation procedures, assembly points and routes are available and in view at all bases and sites.

Brisdoc will promote fire safety twice a year with an emphasis on refresher training and fire awareness

Fire Risk Assessments

 

In accordance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Service) Order 2005, fire risk assessments will be carried out in each base by a BrisDoc competent person.

Risk assessments will be reviewed whenever any changes are made to structure, layout or usage of the building.

Fire risk assessments will be recorded on the risk assessment log and saved electronically on the share drive.

The outcomes of and action plans arising from the risk assessments will be reported to the Health and Safety Steering Group.

 

Change Register

 

Date	Version	Author	Change Details
2.4.2014		CL Nicholls	Formatting, updated roles and responsibilities, inclusion of related policies and procedures
2.15		CL Nicholls	Update to include additional Fire Warden responsibilities and fire panel silencing arrangements.
16.9.16		CL Nicholls	Update to include new values slide and H&S structure, alarm testing arrangements in NFP and HHS. General re-formatting.
21.11.2018		CL Nicholls	Update to include Fire Warden responsibilities and evacuation procedures (Osprey Court), new H&S structure.
August 2019	2.4	CL Nicholls	Remove reference to NFP and BMP, update in relation to new governance framework and services, include reference to location specific local procedures. Map to new policy template.
July 2022	2.5	Sabrina Flew	Update wording from incident to learning event. Removed Nicholson House from Fire Alarm Testing. Update wording from staff to co-owners.
September 2024	2.6	Gemma Cuff	Updated owner to Gemma Cuff.  Updated days & times of fire alarm testing carried out. Changed Knowle to Marksbury Road Surgery. Review date changed. Core values updated.  In IUC bases, the Shift Manager or Host is responsible for silencing the alarms. Removed Fire Coordinator.  Removed related policies.
October 2024	2.7	Gemma Cuff	Added Unit 4 fire testing and evacuation details.