A Proactive Approach To Fire Door Safety
By Helen Hewitt, CEO of the British Woodworking Federation.
Fire doors play a life-saving role in the event of a fire. Their ability to hold back the spread of smoke and fire is essential in allowing residents to exit a building and emergency services to enter safely.
Despite this, there remains a significant gap in awareness and education regarding fire doors, particularly surrounding spotting and reporting issues that may affect their performance. In fact, research from this year’s Fire Door Safety Week campaign showed a concerning 10-point decline compared to 2023’s campaign, ‘Recognise it, Report it’ in the number of people who would report a fire door issue – falling from 84% in 2023 to 74% in 2024.
The annual Fire Door Safety Week campaign, established by the BWF, raises awareness of the vital role of fire doors and encourages all building users to take a proactive approach to fire door safety.
The latest research also revealed that people tend to view certain buildings - such as hospitals, care homes, and schools - as the safest when it comes to fire safety. However, publicly available data has shown that some of these buildings have seen a recent increase in fire incidents, underscoring the importance of not taking fire door safety for granted. For instance, 52% of respondents in our survey said they consider hospitals as the buildings they feel safest in the event of a fire, despite NHS data reporting a concerning rise of 18% in fire incidents.
For this reason, it is important for facilities managers to be aware of the fire safety arrangements, particularly the condition of fire doors, in their buildings to help ensure the safety of all building users.
To support busy facilities management professionals with monitoring the condition of fire doors, the BWF has developed the five-step check which provides guidance on what to look for when checking whether a fire door is in working order.
The 5 Step Check encourages users to check for:
- Certification — Look for a label, a plug, or similar marking to show that it’s certified, and follow the instructions. Without a certification mark, you cannot be sure this is a fire door.
- Apertures - Altering the door for glazing apertures and air transfer grilles will make certification void.
- Gaps and seals - Check the gap around the door frame is constant and around 3mm to 4mm & CE Marked hinges are firmly fixed with no missing screws. Also make sure that seals are fitted at the top and sides of the door and that gaps are not big enough that smoke and fire can travel through the cracks.
- Closers - Check the closer shuts the door onto the latch from any position – check from 75mm from the closed position.
- Operation - Ensure the door closes correctly around all parts of the frame.
Spotting and addressing maintenance needs swiftly helps ensure the fire door remains fit for purpose throughout its lifespan. However, when the time comes to replace or install a new fire door, it’s important to select products that are third-party certified.
Opting For Third-Party Certification
Third-party certification demonstrates that a fire door, when installed and maintained correctly, will perform as designed to protect lives and property.
A robust process, third-party certification achieved by members of the BWF Fire Door Alliance scheme includes three key stages: a test of a full fire door assembly or doorset to BS 476:Part 22 or BS EN 1634-1, a manufacturing process audit and ongoing regular audits.
This independent process verifies product performance and manufacturing consistency providing peace of mind for the building owner and manager, as well as the building users.
Third-party certification also provides full traceability throughout the supply chain. This makes it easier to maintain fire doors, by being able to access original certification details, and share key information between building owners and managers.
Keeping Everyone Safe
Fire doors can only perform their life saving role if they are well maintained and fit for purpose. Through Fire Door Safety Week and the BWF Fire Door Alliance we continue to champion awareness of fire doors, and the part that everyone can play in maintaining fire doors by spotting and reporting issues.
For more information visit Fire Door Safety Week or the British Woodworking Federation.
