February 2007 - Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service

The February meeting of the Andover Women in Business Club was held on 6th February at the Sambuca Restaurant, Andover and our guest speaker was Simon Purnell from the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.   Simon was invited to talk and update us on the current Fire regulations required for business premises, a subject which proved to be of interest to a large proportion of our members as we had a very good attendance at the meeting.

Simon was very well qualified to speak to us having served 30 years with the Hampshire Brigade.  He was a member of the squad called out to the recent fire in St Mary Bourne where three cottages were destroyed.

He explained that all businesses have a responsibility to conform to the regulations and must assign a person within the premises to take on this task. It could be either the owner of the business, the landlord of the premises or the Company Secretary within a large business.  For small businesses the recommended supplier of fire fighting equipment can be the “responsible person” and undertake the regular inspections and maintenance necessary.  This would involve providing training for staff and completing a fire evacuation plan as well as other risk assessments.  The key points for awareness are Detect, Warn, Evacuate, leading to a situation where people can “turn back and walk away” from any fire in the building

He showed us pictures of actual premises with the Fire exits blocked by rubbish thus preventing any easy exit from the building in the event of a fire and which could result in people dying.

The Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service have wide ranging powers  and can enforce any changes to premises it considers at risk ranging from informal notifications to legal action.

It appears arson is the largest single cause of fire in the UK.  Every week fires caused by arson result in 2 deaths, 50 people injured, 2000 attacks on property including 20 schools and £40 million of damage, a very worrying thought.

Essentially the Fire Service want to avoid fires happening and have lots of helpful advice for businesses to help them provide safe working conditions for their employees.  It offers training courses and a website with guides which can be downloaded.  For the Test Valley area, the number to ring is 01256 818881

Our next meeting is on the 6th March at the Red Lion Country Inn, Clanville where our speaker will be Julia West from the Test Valley Tourist Board.  New members are  always welcome  and  anyone interested in finding out more about  AWIBC telephone the President Liz Scrace on 01264 350167