Working through Covid-19

Fixfire® is committed to the continued safety and compliance of our customers and their premises

As an organisation we provide and maintain life safety equipment.  Whilst we continue to take steps to provide our essential services during this challenging and difficult time, we are also committed to following UK Government guidelines to reduce the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus).

Ensuring the essential continued compliance of our Customers, the safety of their staff and/or residents, their premises and the safety of our own staff in these anxious times is of paramount importance.

Compliance with Fire Safety Legislation during the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic

While life in the UK has been utterly transformed in the months since restrictions were brought in to curb the spread of the virus, the risks arising from the danger of fire remain unchanged and in some cases are even more critical as our concentration is focused on other aspects of protecting the lives and health of those in our care.  Many buildings are either unmanned or running on reduced levels of staffing, while in other cases organisations are struggling to keep pace with demand for their goods and services.

Throughout this challenging time the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety)Order 2005 (‘RRO’) remain unchanged and the legal obligations on responsible persons to maintain adequate and effective fire protection measures stand.  

Maintaining regular inspections on Fire Safety equipment and installation is vital to ensure compliance with the RRO.

The backbone of compliance with the RRO is the Fire Risk Assessment (‘FRA’) and it is a requirement that your FRA accurately reflects the current usage and occupancy level of your building.  Particular care should be taken if persons need to sleep in premises where this is not normal practise.  Fire safety measures within buildings are designed for their specific use and necessary fire safety measures may not be in place to make this a safe practice.

Fixfire will be glad to undertake a review of your Fire Risk assessment in the light of changes imposed by the current restrictions. In line the advice of the National Fire Chiefs Council to Fire and Rescue Services  a desktop approach will be taken to this where professional qualitative judgement permits.

Compliance with the requirements of Insurers

Premises which are currently unmanned or occupied by lower levels of staff than normal carry an increased risk of arson or other vandalism which could put insured assets at risk.  Similarly, if your premises are being put to alternative use risk levels may have changed.

Fixfire®recommends that you notify your insurers under these circumstances and our engineers are available to install links to manned control centres ensuring that the Fire Brigade and/or key holders can be alerted in the event of a fire being detected.

Site Visits

Government has been clear that all employees should be encouraged to work from home unless it is impossible for them to do so.  We have put this into practise and arrangements have been made for home working wherever possible.

Activities such as installation and maintenance work require attendance on site we have put in place measures to protect both our workforce and our customers.

In this context it is very important to know whether there are any known cases of C-19 or whether anyone is self-isolating on site and what control measures are in place prior to attendance.  We count on the cooperation of our Customers in providing this information in a timely manner.  In turn, our engineers will take care to ensure that their activities do not put themselves or anyone else at unnecessary risk.