Fire Safety Management
As underlined in article 13 of Legislative Decree 139/2006 and subsequent amendments, fire prevention is: "a function of pre-eminent public interest aimed at achieving, according to uniform application criteria on the national territory, the objectives of safety of human life, safety of people and protection of property and the environment through the promotion, study, preparation and testing of standards, measures, measures, devices and ways of action intended to prevent the onset of a fire and events connected to it or to limit its consequences".
In the Decree of 25 January 2019, published in the Official Gazette on 5 February 2019, the “Amendments and additions to the annex of the decree of 16 May 1987, n. 246 concerning fire safety standards for residential buildings”.
What is meant by fire prevention
Fire prevention has as its ultimate goal the containment of the risk of fire, understood as the probability that the fire event will occur and that the consequences connected to it will be generated: on the first aspect, the prevention activities and actions explain their effectiveness; on the other hand, the set of active and passive protection measures has a preponderant effect.
However, the adoption of adequate prevention and protection measures must be suitably integrated by the use of suitable management measures, both in ordinary conditions and in emergencies.
In this sense, the fire prevention code provides for the application of measure S.5 “Fire Safety Management” (GSA), with the aim of promoting the identification and implementation of a system of measures for the “management of an activity in safe conditions, both during operation and during an emergency, through the adoption of an organization that provides for roles, duties, responsibilities and procedures”.
Fire safety management
The law obliges interventions in residential buildings to comply with the new provisions set out in Annex 1 of the Decree regarding the GSA. Fire safety management is differentiated according to the height of the condominium and provides for 4 performance levels (from 0 to 3) with increasingly restrictive standards. For a fire-resistant building between 12 and 24 meters in height, the fire-fighting measures are the minimum required for level 0, while at the opposite extreme there are civil structures higher than 80 meters for which much more complex rules are envisaged.
One year after the approval of the Decree (May 2020) all buildings must be adapted, but for the installation, where necessary, of manual fire alarm signaling systems with optical and acoustic indicators and voice alarm systems (EVAC) the deadline is May 2021.
The four Performance Levels (L.P.) associated with the different types of buildings are as follows:
- LP 0 for fire-fighting heights from 12 m to 24 m
- LP 1 for fire-fighting heights over 24 m to 54 m
- LP 2 for fire-fighting heights over 54 m up to 80
- LP 3 for fire-fighting heights over 80 m
The minimum measures that concern the level of performance 0 include the instructions that the manager must provide to the occupants of the building for calling for help, making the equipment safe, the indications for a safe exit, the prohibition of the use of elevators.
Level 1 adds the contingency plan to the previous requests. In the LP 2 it is also necessary to install a fire-fighting system with sound and visual emergency devices. The buildings forming part of the L.P. 3 must have preventive fire prevention measures, emergency planning and an emergency management center in which all useful information must be present (plans of the buildings, telephone numbers, schemes of systems), the central fire-fighting systems and the EVAC.
The management of fire safety in operation
The key points of fire safety management during the activity are:
- Reduction of the probability of fire outbreak (application of fire prevention measures, good practice in operation and maintenance scheduling);
- Control of fire-fighting systems and equipment (register of controls, compliance with current regulations, state of the art, use and maintenance manuals);
- Preparation for emergency management (planning, fire drills, evacuation drills).
The check register represents the tool on which checks, checks, maintenance interventions on fire-fighting devices, information, education and training activities, evacuation drills are recorded, and must be kept updated and available for the control bodies. check.
Maintenance activities must be carried out in compliance with the legislative and regulatory provisions in force, in accordance with the rule of art and in accordance with the use and maintenance manual of the specific fire protection device. The aforementioned activities must be carried out by expert personnel, in consideration of the state of the art.
On the other hand, the concept of “emergency preparedness” implies the preparation of a plan of actions to be carried out in the event of an emergency and, in the case of work activities, the implementation of training and periodic training for the personnel responsible for implementing the plan of emergency, as well as the execution of evacuation tests: this takes the form of the preparation of plans and documents that contain the indications and information necessary for emergency management, including the instructions or procedures for the exodus of the occupants, therein including those with specific needs.
The person in charge of fire safety management
At the same time as the required performance levels increase, the tasks that the Activity Manager must carry out also increase.
The basic actions that the manager must perform are:
- Identification of standard fire measures
- Information of condominiums on fire prevention procedures
- Posting of sheets showing useful information in case of fire
- Verification and maintenance of all fire-fighting tools
The levels above the L.P.0 provide for more and more tasks for the GSA manager in order to always maintain a high degree of safety.
How ECO Next works
ECO Next offers the Evacuation Plan Drafting service according to the DM 25/01/2019 (GSA Fire Safety Management), preparing the Drafting of the Emergency Plan and the Fire Safety Management Manual.