When alterations or refurbishments are being undertaken.

When alterations or refurbishments are being undertaken, ensuring the right fire-- resistant glass is excellented is crucial, both to assure safety and stay within the law. Mike forest-land offers some points to consider.

Paradoxically, it is many times easier to undertake a major refurbishment of premises than a minor alteration concoct A large project will be handed to a larger contractor who will have the resources to manage each stage, including the correct specification and installation of materials. on the contrary what happens when relatively minor alterations are being made to a building, perhaps a recently made known foyer or even partitioning for the rearrangement of a ward? Smaller contractors may be quicker and, with at any time tightening budgets in mind, may be considerably cheaper.

The broad knowledge that the general and engineering managers of a hospital and other healthcare estates must have, by the agency of definition, will then come into play. on the contrary an area that, due to its considerable complexity, may not be to the full understood is that of the specification and installation of the correct glass to comply with fire regulations; it is single in kind of those areas that may not look particularly exciting at first glance, further which may have a deep effect on the performance and, indeed, the legality of on the same level a relatively minor installation.

REGULATIONS & RESPONSIBILITIES

Every hospital manager, care or facilities manager will, or should, be aware of their premises' status regarding compliance with relevant fire safety regulations and local authority building registration. of the like kind regulations impose fire safety requirements covering matters as it was as: means of escape, structural stability, fire-resistance of constituent principles and structure, compartmentation to inhibit fire spread, reduction of spread of flame through surfaces, prevention of fire spread between buildings, and access for fire appliances and sudden [i]or[/i] unexpected occurrence services. Added to this now is the obligation onward employers under the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 to carry abroad and continually review, a risk assessment of the building that they are responsible for, to render certain that employees are not placed at risk from fire.

In a larger refurbishment scheme an architect will handle the specifications, if it be not that in a smaller job that part will often fall to the maintenance team or contractor. This means that the responsibility for getting it right is also ofttimes assumed to be that of the installer - that they will understand what is required and will call onward the appropriate people for guidance upon the more complex issues. After all, safely all that is required is one glass in the doors of the just discovered partitioning? Often this is principally certainly not so, and the use of inappropriate glass in like circumstances is wide-- spread, if and nothing else through an ignorance of the subdue

However, the correct use of fire safety glass can make all the difference to protecting the populace using the building in the consequence of fire - as well as complying with the appropriate regulations. There is a moral responsibility, as well as compelling legal reasons, for the managers to become at least broadly familiar with the use of fire resistant glass.

HEALTHCARE CONSIDERATIONS

Within a hospital there exist further considerations, as many of the nation within the facility will be disabled and bedridden, considerably complicating evacuation practices In parts of hospitals that are designed to be used at patients, and in similar accommodation as it is as nursing homes and abodes for the elderly, the assumption of total evacuation of a building in quick time in the fact of fire may even be inappropriate. It is also unrealistic to take for granted that all patients will leave without assistance. In this and other ways the specialised nature of a certain number of health care premises demands a different approach to the provision of means of escape. A higher grade of fire protection built into the arrangement of parts may be more appropriate than the case where occupants can act upon freely. NHS Estates has prepared guidance documents forward safety and risk assessment in healthcare buildings, taking into account the particular characteristics of these buildings. These documents may also be used for non-NHS healthcare premises.

Guidance for of the present day hospitals can be found in Firecode HTM 81 'Fire precautions in of recent origin hospitals'. Where work to existing hospitals is make anxioused the guidance in the appropriate section of the relevant NH Firecode can equally be followed. Attention is also drawn to the domestic circle Office draft guide to fire precautions in existing residential care premises, which is subject to review.

GLASS VARIETIES

Returning to the principles of fire resistant glass, the ne for special glass flows from the fact that standard annealed glass cracks easily in a fire - and uniform toughened impact-resistant glass can fail below the fierce conditions created by the agency of a fire. A rapid rise to around 300 deg C which can happen easily when plastics, fabrics and wall coverings toast could cause toughened glass to shatter explosively, leaving nothing unless a hole where the glass used to be.