Door & Hardware Federation (DHF) is once again demonstrating its continuing support for Fire Door Safety Week, a national safety awareness campaign that was first launched in 2013, and in response to a legacy of fire-door neglect. The campaign aims to increase public understanding of the vital role that fire doors play in protecting life and property.
Taking place from 19 to 25 September, Fire Door Safety Week is managed by the British Woodworking Federation (BWF) and is supported by a number of partners, including the Home Office’s National Fire Safety campaign, the National Fire Chief’s Council and London Fire Brigade.
DHF has been an enduring champion for the objectives of Fire Door Safety Week, and a vocal advocate for third-party certification of manufacture, installation, maintenance and inspection of fire and smoke doors. Since the 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy which claimed 72 lives, it has been particularly proactive in this space and in promoting its fire-door safety courses, held in collaboration with the BRE Academy, hosting three comprehensive one day, two-module training courses around fire-door safety, inspection and ongoing maintenance.
The Fire Door Safety Week campaign comes just weeks following the June announcement of new fire-safety legislation and guidance, that cladding of the type used on Grenfell Tower is to be banned from use on any building in England. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 will come into effect on 23 January 2023 and will ensure that flat entrance fire doors are subject to annual checks and those in the common parts of High-Risk Residential Buildings (HRRB), receive quarterly checks.
‘We are a continuing supporter of passive fire protection and compartmentation which fire doorsets are a part of and are delighted to be supporting the objectives of Fire Door Safety Week once again,’ says DHF’s Head of Commercial Operations, Patricia Sowsbery-Stevens. ‘We continue to stress the vital role that fire doors play in saving lives and protecting property and encourage those in positions of responsibility to seek the correct training with regards to installation and maintenance. This is something DHF takes extremely seriously. Indeed, any site operatives who apply for a Blue Skilled worker CSCS card from DHF and who work on-site installing, maintaining, or inspecting fire doorsets, must, in addition to their NVQ, have up-to-date training from BRE or similar as part of the criteria of application.
For more information on Fire Door Safety Week, go to www.firedoorsafetyweek.co.uk
