Fire damper testing compliance relies on having inspection hatches in the right places. If you don’t, then the need to fit them should be right at the top of your risk register.
So says Airmec Essential Services managing director Andrew Steel in the latest issue (November 2022) of Health Estates, the journal of the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management (IHEEM). While the article specifically addresses the challenges facing managers of older healthcare buildings (newer ones should have had this problem designed out on the drawing board) lack of access to fire dampers is an issue Airmec surveyors come across in all industries.
A reminder: fire dampers must be inspected and tested annually. If you cannot get to them, you cannot maintain them or certify that they are safe. Sooner or later, they are not going to do their job and become a potentially life-threatening danger.
This can mean losing control of the spread of fire and smoke which, even in small volumes, can cause significant and expensive damage to critical equipment as well as a threat to life. Sometimes dampers cannot close properly due to accumulation (often over many years!) of contamination, or they have failed and closed, which can lead to stuffy rooms and an imbalance of ventilation systems. We’ve even seen them wedged open after ‘nuisance tripping’.
Our argument is that while they may be out of sight, fire dampers cannot be out of mind. If faulty, they are never a low-risk issue. They are a live fire risk. The simple fact is that health and safety guidance tells us that every fire damper should be inspected and physically tested annually. The risk is known and documented and the measures to be taken are unambiguous: annual testing and inspection, which requires access. If you don’t have that access, you need to provide it.
The solution to providing access is generally not complex. It usually involves fitting inspection hatches to ventilation ductwork adjacent to each fire damper. Sometimes additional access such as ladders/walkways is needed but we have plenty of experience with safe site logistics.
Let’s be clear: operating premises with ineffective and untested fire dampers is unlawful and unsafe.
See the full article here.
Fire damper compliance is a major concern for any premises manager. Find out more abot how we can help here.
January 2023
