Sales and affluence: does a building refurbished following COVID-19 present a fire safety risk?

All owners of commercial buildings have every interest in thinking about how they will use their space to ensure the safety of employees and the public. The application of social distancing in the short and medium term (even possibly in the long term) is essential. This means that the layout and the way people move through the space must change simultaneously.

Building regulations generally stipulate that any modification made to a building involves a reassessment of the fire risk. Following changes in the layout of the buildings, numerous temporary internal and external structures such as barriers and protective glass, fire detection and fire alarm, security lighting for signaling emergency routes and exits must be reconsidered.

Escape routes

Most businesses and hotels have set up one-way traffic, either with arrows indicating the direction of travel, or by blocking certain accesses. But if the building needs to be evacuated in an emergency, these arrangements can change escape routes, create confusion, and can even prevent people from easily accessing emergency exits.

This may, as a result, have consequences for the positioning of emergency lighting luminaires for signaling emergency exits, some of which may now be poorly located for simple and safe evacuation. The presence of fire extinguishers at each of these new escape routes must be checked.

Warning: partitioned areas

If new rooms are built, areas are partitioned or the layout is changed to separate people, fire detectors should be installed in each new space and people should be able to hear and/or see fire alarms when 'they are indoors, in order to comply with the regulations. Some partitions even increase the risk of fire, for example when plastic materials are used to create separations (plastic causing a large amount of smoke in the event of fire). These partitions can also alter the effectiveness of sprinkler systems. In stores, many checkouts are separated by a temporary structure made of wood and clear plastic or Perspex® to ensure social distancing, but these checkouts are usually located near the exits. If the worst should happen and a fire breaks out, an escape route could be blocked, and if this structure should catch fire, it can increase the risk for people (for example: thicker and toxic smoke) .

Risk Assessment

The implementation of many of these measures is required in offices. But it is also the duty of owners and employers to take into account all the risks that employees and the public may face in the spaces under their responsibility. This means, in particular, that an adaptation or modification of the fire safety and emergency lighting systems may be necessary in order to be able to mitigate the risks associated with these new measures. This can also lead to reflection on certain choices such as the materials used to build partitions.

Plan fire safety by integrating the risks of redevelopment

For new construction and renovation projects, it makes sense to plan security systems with a focus on flexibility. It is increasingly likely that buildings will have to be made more flexible and that their use and layout will be changed regularly in the future. The way we work and live is likely to change.

Prescribing and installing fire safety and security lighting systems focused on flexibility, taking into account adaptive evacuation technology, means protecting the future of buildings, their managers and above all the people inside. interior. If the buildings become more adaptable and modular, the means implemented for the safety of the occupants must be too.

Tribune by Claude Boyer, Director of Life & Safety Activities at Eaton (LinkedIn).