Minister backs Fire Door Safety Week

Fire and Rescue Minister Penny Mordaunt MP is the latest in a long list of high profile supporters backing Fire Door Safety Week which finishes on Sunday (21 September).

After its hugely successful inaugural year in 2013 when it reached in excess of 6 million people with information and advice about fire door safety, it is already evident that more organisations are engaged this year, including many regional fire and rescue services, resident associations, social landlords and private businesses.

The brainchild of the BWF-CERTIFIRE Scheme and the UK’s Fire Door Inspection Scheme (FDIS), the initiative aims to raise awareness of the critical role of fire doors, drawing attention to specific issues such as poor installation and maintenance, and encouraging building owners and users to check the operation and condition of their fire doors and to report those that aren’t satisfactory.

In the process, the campaign hopes to engage and educate people, helping the whole building industry and every property owner to understand the correct specification, supply, installation, operation, inspection and maintenance of fire doors.

Among more than 100 Fire Door Safety Week supporting organisations this year are the Government’s Fire Kills campaign, the Association for Specialist Fire Protection, the Fire Brigades Union, The Chief Fire Officers Association and the Fire Industry Association.

Property and building industry supporters include Local Authority Building Control and the Association of Consultant Approved Inspectors, the National Landlords Association, Federation of Private Residents’ Associations, Guild of Architectural Ironmongers, National Specialist Contractors Council and Construction Industry Council.

Fire Minister, Penny Mordaunt MP said:

“A properly specified, installed and maintained fire door can save lives and property, and I am delighted that the British Woodworking Federation’s Fire Door Safety Week is returning in 2014.

“I very much welcome this sector-led approach to promote appropriate use of fire doors: this is the perfect opportunity for owners and occupiers to check their own fire doors and make sure they are in good, safe, working order. Spread awareness, not fire.”

There are about 3 million new fire doors bought and installed every year in the UK, the vast majority made from timber. Fire doors are often the first line of defence in a fire and their correct specification, maintenance and management can be the difference between life and death for building occupants.

However, they remain a significant area of neglect, often the first thing to be downgraded on a specification and mismanaged throughout their service life, propped open, damaged and badly maintained. And analysis by FDIS of the Fire Safety Order prosecutions last year suggests that ill-informed or negligent property owners are more likely than ever to receive large fines or even significant prison sentences.

For updates on the campaign and the many other events scheduled throughout the week, follow Fire Door Safety Week on Twitter @FDSafetyWeek or search for tweets with hashtag #firedoorsafetyweek.

Following on from Fire Door Safety Week, FDIS is also running free seminars for building owners and property managers around the country, including in Newton Abbott and Lincoln this month, Coventry and Tamworth in October, West Drayton in November and Cardiff in December. See more information regarding FIre Door Safety Week on the website.