SNU Church Fire Risk Assessment

Part 1 Information about your Church

Part 1 of the assessment is about collecting together all the information you need about your church so that you can perform the Fire Risk Assessment. It is broken down into various sections which are summarised below.

A - Our Church Details Basic information about our church location and the person responsible for the Fire Risk Assessment.

B - Church District Council Declaration A declaration about the awareness and understanding of the Church District Council (DC) or other church management committee of the requirements of the Order to be signed by the appropriate person.

C - General Information About Our Church Description of the church building and how it is used.

D - Potential Fire Hazards At Our Church Details of fire hazards, sources of ignition and their elimination or control.

E - Our Fire Protection Arrangements Details of the current arrangements we have in place for fire protection.

F - Our Fire Detection, Warning And Extinguisher Equipment Details of the equipment we have in place and its testing and maintenance.

G - Our Fire Safety Management Information about our plans should a fire occur.

Part 2 - Our Fire Risk Assessment

Part 2 of the assessment is about the fire risks at our church and how we will go about fulfilling our obligations under the order.

Part 3 - Our Arrangements for Fire Safety At Our Church

Part 3 of the assessment details the measures we have taken to offset the risk of fire at our church.

Part 4 - Our Action Plan To Reduce Fire Risk At Our Church

Part 4 details any gaps in our fire protection arrangements and outlines what we are going to do to address them.

Appendix 1 Examples to help you complete Part 2 - Our Fire Risk Assessment. Appendix 2 Examples to help you complete Part 3 - Our Arrangements For Fire Safety At Our Church. Appendix 3 Fire Action Notice A specimen notice that needs to be placed near all exit doors and in separate areas such as vestries, which you will need to complete for your church.

Part 1 - Information About Our church

This assessment should be reviewed at least annually unless there is a change that materially affects the fire risk such as a change in the method of heating or use of the building, when it should be reviewed immediately.

B. District Council Declaration

As a church, we understand that we are required to undertake a Fire Risk Assessment in accordance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (in Scotland, fire safety duties are contained in part 3 of The Fire Scotland Act 2005, as amended and The Fire Safety Scotland Regulations 2006) even if we have no employees. We note that we are required to take such general fire precautions as will ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of employees, if we have any, and to take such general fire precautions as may reasonably be required in the circumstances to ensure that the premises are safe for all other visitors to the church including volunteers, members of the congregation, and contractors.

Our Fire Risk Assessment and arrangements are therefore directed to the safety of people rather than the protection of the building itself. We understand that we must appoint a responsible person and other competent persons to give effect to such arrangements as are appropriate, having regard to the size of our undertaking and the nature of our activities, for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of the preventive and protective measures. In the case of a church, we understand that the responsible person is the person who has control of the premises. We have also appointed the responsible person as the Competent Persons under the legislation. Although the legislation only requires the responsible person to record the arrangements if five or more persons are employed, we have decided to do so anyway in order to demonstrate our commitment to ensuring the safety of everyone who uses our church and to ensure that everyone is aware of our fire safety arrangements.

We understand that the legislation is not prescriptive and that we are only required to undertake preventive measures ’where necessary’. In carrying out our Fire Risk Assessment, we have followed the Government guidance published by the Department for Communities and Local Government (for Scotland - Scottish Government’s Police and Community Safety Directorate, HM Fire Service Inspectorate for Scotland, the Scottish Building Standards Agency and the Health and Safety Executive) and have noted from this document that the action we take should be common sense and in the main, not expensive. We have also noted Appendix C of the guidance for Fire safety risk assessment: small and medium places of assembly which refers to listed and historic buildings and note that we will need to endeavour to strike a balance between ensuring sufficient fire safety measures are in place for the safety of people, yet avoid extensive alterations and helping to maintain the character of the building.

C. General Information about our Church

The Building

(You will need to measure the building to calculate things like the number of fire extinguishers required and travel distances. See also ’Plan’ below)

(Describe what the building comprises noting if there is one main undivided area and then separate parts which can be closed off from the main area which could prevent the spread of a fire.

(For example, The church is built of stone/brick with a slate/tile roof on a timber frame. The floor is of solid construction covered with tiles.)

Note the use of the building and how often it is occupied, e.g. The church is used for services twice on a week but otherwise the use is very limited. You should draw a plan of the church which can be used during the risk assessment process and then as a part of your fire safety arrangements documentation. This should be roughly to scale and should identify by name the main parts of the church and note all doors both internal which separate different parts of the church, and external which provide means of escape.

The plan can be used to note the location of fire extinguishers and other relevant information. You can use a tape measure or rule to measure the building but an easy way is to pace along the outside walls and note down the distances. A good pace is about 1 metre.

People at risk

Occupants:

Occupants at special risk from fire

(For example, does the organist practice alone or does someone undertake maintenance or cleaning whilst alone)

Background Information:

Previous fire losses:

D Potential fire hazards at our Church

Where the answer is NO then some action may be required in order to ensure that your fire safety arrangements are satisfactory. This needs to be noted in the Action Plan at the end of the assessment. If the situation does not apply, enter N/A.

Electrical

Heating

Heating

If YES, state the name of the contractor and the date of the last inspection

Arson

Cooking

Lighting

Combustable Materials

Contractors and Building Works

E. Our Fire Protection Arrangements - Means of Escape

This is addressed under the arrangements for Fire Safety Management.

(As a guide, it should be possible to evacuate the building in less than 2.5 minutes although this time may be extended for low-risk buildings such as churches. Guidance also indicates that one exit is sufficient for up to 60 persons but if the building can accommodate more than 60 persons there should be more than one exit.

(The travel distance is the furthest a person would have to travel from a point within the church in order to reach an exit door For areas with seating in rows, such as is found in the majority of churches, guidance suggests the following travel distances:

Where there is only a single escape route, the maximum distance is 15 metres for a normal fire risk area and 18 metres for a lower fire risk area;

Where there is more than one escape route, the maximum distance is 32 metres for a normal fire risk area and 45 metres for a lower fire risk area. In the case of vestries that have their own external door, travel distances will normally fall within these guidelines.

The main body of the church may be regarded as a lower fire risk area and in most cases the travel distances should be within the guidelines.

However, you do need to measure travel distances in order to answer this question. Where they exceed the guidelines, it will need to be addressed under the arrangements for Fire Safety Management.)

(Compliance with Equality legislation probably means that access to the church and therefore also egress is suitable for wheelchair users. If not, it will need to be addressed under the arrangements for Fire Safety Management.)

F. Our Fire Detection, Warning And Extinguisher Equipment

(Guidance indicates that there should be one 9-litre water extinguisher for around each 200 square metres of floor space with a minimum of two per floor. Note - a 6-litre hydro-spray or AFFF (Aqueous Film-Forming-Foam) extinguisher will have the same fire extinguishing capacity as 9 litres of water and is only two-thirds the weight making it much easier to lift and use.

In addition, 2Kg Carbon Dioxide extinguishers should be provided to deal with fires involving electrical equipment.

One certainly needs to be provided near the organ and one near the main electrical intake. If there is a kitchen or servery, a 6-litre Wet Chemical or AFFF extinguisher should be provided together with a fire blanket to smother any clothing which may catch fire.

Note that Ory Powder extinguishers are not suitable for use in historic buildings as they can cause irreparable damage to the building and contents.)

G. Our Fire Safety Management - General Arrangements

This is addressed under the arrangements for Fire Safety Management.

(You are required to have an Emergency Plan and, for most churches, Fire Action Notices together with written procedures to be followed by Stewards for larger services and events will satisfy this requirement.)

Training and Evacuation Drills

(Even if your normal congregation is small you should carry out a practice to ensure that everyone can leave the building safely in the required time of less than 2.5 minutes. This can easily be done at the end of a normal service and should be undertaken say annually.

An evacuation drill also needs to be carried out for those times when the church is full, say at weddings or at Christmas. On these occasions there may be people there who are not familiar with the building. You can simulate these situations by asking for the cooperation of the local school for example and use pupils to represent the maximum number who may be in the church. Having undertaken this exercise, it does not necessarily need to be repeated every year)

Record Keeping

Part 2 - Our Fire Risk Assessment

Once you have gathered all the information in Part 1, you can then complete the actual Fire Risk Assessment below

Our Fire Risk Assessment

Having completed our fact-finding, we now feel confident that we are fully aware of the fire hazards present in our church and the risks to people using the building. We have noted the precautions that we already have in place and where we have noted any deficiencies these will be rectified as soon as practicable. These matters are set out in Part 4 - Our Action Plan. Part 3 - Our Arrangements For Fire Safety On Our Church sets out how we will deal with fulfilling our obligations.

Our assessment of the fire risk has been based on the following factors (see Appendix 1 for some example descriptions):

Overall Fire Risk Assessment

Based on the factors set out in the Fire Risk Assessment above, the overall Fire Risk Assessment is as follows:

1. Potential consequences of fire:

2. Likelihood of fire:

Table

Based on the answers above, you can now map the amount of risk in the table below.

Part 3

Our Arrangements For Fire Safety In Our Church

This section details the arrangements for fire safety in our church. For some examples of content for this section, please see Appendix 2.

Our Arrangements For Fire Safety Management

Part 4

Our Action Plan To Reduce Fire Risk At Our Church

Action Plan

Schedule of actions to be taken as a result of our fact-finding exercise in order to maintain our risk as low and to meet our Fire Safety Management Plan.

1

2

3

Plan of Church

Please submit a drawing, (digital or by hand) via email of your church plan that identifies your evacuation arrangements to [email protected]

Appendix 1

Example descriptions for Part 2 - Our Fire Risk Assessment

When writing your Fire Risk Assessment, you may find the following example wordings of assistance in describing the circumstance at your church.

Occupation

1. Our primary aim under the legislation is to ensure the safety of people, not the property, so we have not concerned ourselves with protecting the building when it is unoccupied.

2. Our normal congregation is relatively small and know the building well, and could easily evacuate the building in the event of fire.

3. There are occasions when the church is full, but these occur on only a few occasions during the year when we have trained stewards in place to provide assistance.

4. Smoking is not permitted anywhere on the premises and there are no hazardous activities.

Fire Detection

1. We do not have an automatic fire detection system but in view of the nature of the building we are confident that when the building is occupied (and we are only concerned with safety of people and not the protection of the building) a fire would be detected almost immediately by persons either smelling or seeing smoke and raising the alarm by shouting "Fire" in accordance with our Fire Action Notice.

Escape

1. The main body of the church is one large open area with no corridors or risk of congestion and the doors providing the principal means of escape to the open are clearly visible.

2. Areas such as vestries which are separated from the main body of the church are only occupied by a small number of people who know the building well.

3. Due to the lofty nature of the main body of the church there is a large open area where smoke can be contained thus increasing the potential time to allow for evacuation.

Fire Load

1. The fire load in the main body of the church is low and comprises in the main fixtures and fittings constructed from hardwoods which are difficult to ignite or sustain combustion.

2. Whilst candles are used in the main body of the church, they are clearly visible, kept away from combustible materials and there is little risk of a fire either starting or developing undetected.

3. There are virtually no combustible linings that would aid the risk of fire spread.

Appendix 2

Example descriptions for Part 3 -Our Arrangements For Fire Safety In Our Church

When writing your fire safety arrangements, the following examples may assist you to describe the circumstances at your church.

Likelihood

We have considered the possibility of a fire actually happening based on our experience at our church.

Emergency Lighting

We do not consider there is a need for a permanent emergency lighting system. Rechargeable torches are always available for use by stewards to assist in the evacuation of the church.

Manual Fire Alarm

In view of the nature of the building and its use as detailed above, we consider that there is no need to provide any form of manual fire alarm system. In the event of a fire, a warning will be given by shouting "Fire" and stewards will guide persons to a place of safety.

Automatic Fire Detection System

We consider that our arrangements are sufficient to provide for the safety of persons in the church when it is occupied and that there is not a need to provide any form of fire detection overnight when the building is unoccupied. We have therefore decided that there is no need to install any form of automatic fire detection system.

Exit Doors

We have decided that under normal circumstances, when numbers in the church are small, we do not need to make any changes to the direction in which doors open and that there is no need for permanent fire exit signs as occupants are familiar with the location and way in which the doors open. Stewards will assist persons with limited mobility as necessary and are trained accordingly.

Major Services and Events

We do consider, however, that signage and other measures are required for major services and events when the church might be occupied by persons other than our normal congregation. In these circumstances, the following will be put in place:

1. All external exit doors will be unlocked.

2. All external exit doors will be deemed to be fire exit doors and will have the appropriate fire exit sign placed above them in accordance with The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996.

3. Where a door is not visible from the main body of the church, such as an external door from a vestry, the appropriate sign will be displayed showing the route to the door.

4. Stewards will be allocated, with at least one for each exit, and will be responsible for a specific part of the church. The stewards will be required to lead persons from their allocated area to the designated assembly point.

5. Persons with disabilities who require assistance to evacuate, such as wheelchair users, will be located in a part of the church closest to a door with the appropriate access and egress. A steward will be allotted to them to assist with their evacuation.

6. Every steward will be given a torch. These will be kept recharged and ready for use.

7. At the start of the service or event, an announcement will be made setting out the arrangements for evacuation.

8. A senior person will be nominated to make the announcement to evacuate if required and to follow the directions of the stewards.

9. Prior to the announcement, each steward will ensure that doors are open and held back.

10. A safe place away from the building will be designated as an assembly point.

Stewards and Training

A list will be maintained of all those who are nominated to undertake fire warden duties. This will comprise:

1. Churchwardens
2. Sidespersons
3. Stewards

For normal services, churchwardens and sidespersons will undertake day-to-day fire warden duties. For major services and events, additional fire wardens will be nominated from the list of stewards.
All those with fire warden responsibilities will receive training in their duties at least annually. Training will include the following:

• How to raise the alarm and contact the fire service

• Location and use of fire extinguishers

• Location and use of rechargeable torches

• How to evacuate the church

• How to help with the evacuation of persons with disabilities

• The location of the Assembly Point

• The signage that is required for major services and events, where it is kept and how it is fixed in place

• A knowledge of the Fire Action Notice and where they should be located

Record Keeping

A Log Book will be maintained noting the following:

• Dates of fire extinguisher inspection and maintenance visits

• Dates of boiler maintenance visits

• Dates of fixed electrical system inspections and tests

• Dates of portable appliance testing (PAT)

• Dates of lightning conductor system inspections and tests

• Dates of evacuation drills

Appendix 3

Fire Action Notice

The Fire Action Notice represents our Emergency Plan. Copies should be located near all exit doors and in all separate areas such as vestries.

Thank-you for taking the time to fill out and submit your fire risk assessment form if you have any further questions regarding fire safety please contact our Trust Property Coordinator Andy Foley [email protected]

To submit your form please click ’send’ below: