Education and training on fire door safety ‘vital

Fire doors’ importance in protecting buildings and their users continues to be ‘vastly underestimated’, particularly in older healthcare buildings, says Intastop, the supplier of anti-ligature and door and wall protection products. At a recent fire door safety seminar at its Doncaster headquarters, speakers including Karen Byard, Maintenance and Fire Safety manager at Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, and Frank Gallagher from Doorset Technology, discussed the topic. Here Phil Barsby, Intastop’s Business Development director, highlights the importance of effective fire door technologies, shares key points from the day, and discusses ‘why collaborative working is the only way to protect more people’.

Fire doors have become a topic of much discussion in the past 18 months, and yet it is still apparent that not enough importance is afforded to the significant impact they can have on protecting building users, and, equally, the fabric of the building. They are the first line of defence, and a physical barrier between fire, smoke, and harm coming to building occupants. A fire door forms part of a building’s passive fire protection system, and such doors are designed and developed to save lives and protect property. One issue that poses a problem is that there is no overarching legislation that determines a minimum standard for fire doors, yet it is requirement that they are fitted to all public buildings, offices, and factories. However, due to neglect, downgrading of specifications, and mismanagement of such doors, they have become an area of concern for those working in the industry, and especially those who are striving to standardise and elevate manufacturing and certification procedures.

With this in mind it is vital that facilities managers and maintenance teams ensure that the correct doors are specified, and that they are maintained appropriately – it is here where minimal training and a lack of understanding can have a significant negative impact, compromising safety, putting building users at risk, and exposing employers, landlords, and building owners, to damaging criticism and legal action should things go wrong.