Commissioning and maintenance of Fire Blankets BS EN
1869 – Code of practice
1. Scope
This
code of practice gives guidance on:
· Regular
inspection of a fire blanket
· Regular
maintenance of a fire blanket
· Life of
a fire blanket
· Reasons
to render a fire blanket unserviceable
2. Terms and Definitions
2.1.
Container
The box, packet or cabinet (including closures)
in which a fire blanket is normally housed.
2.2.
Fire Blanket
A fire
blanket is a safety device designed to extinguish small incipient
(starting) fires. It consists of a sheet of fire retardant material which is
placed over a fire in order to smother it.
Small
fire blankets, for use in kitchens and around the home, are usually made of
either fibreglass or woven-nylon coated with silicone-based flame retardant and
folded in to a quick-release container for ease of storage.
2.3.
Hand hold devices
Hand
hold devices often made of woven material, securely attached to the blanket
which can be seen and accessed from outside the container which allow the user
to release the fire blanket from the container ready for deployment.
2.4.
Manufacturer’s instructions
Instructions
written by the manufacturer to aid users deployment of the fire blanket.;
including any instruction which aids the service provider to carry out
maintenance of the blanket.
2.5.
Service provider
Person with the training and experience, with access to the
relevant tools, equipment and information, manuals and knowledge of any special
procedures recommended by the manufacturer of the fire blanket, to carry out
the relevant maintenance procedures
2.6.
Responsible Person
Person or persons responsible
for, or having effective control over, fire safety provisions adopted in or
NOTE For the purposes of this
document, the term “responsible person” includes a nominated representative.
3. Process of Commissioning
The commissioning of a fire blanket should be carried out
by a service provider as defined in 3.5. Upon removal from its packaging and
transit protection, and immediately prior to placing in its designated place,
the fire blanket should undergo this sequence of commissioning service actions:
4. Mounting
4.1. Fire Blankets should be mounted so as to position the hand
hold devices approximately 1.5 m from the floor.
4.2.
The positioning of kitchen furniture and/or equipment should not
preclude access to the blanket.
5. Visual Inspection by the Responsible
Person
5.1 The
responsible person should carry out visual inspections of all fire blankets
regularly. These visual inspections should be carried out at least monthly.
When circumstances require, inspections should be carried out more frequently.
NOTE 1
Fire legislation in England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and its
associated Guidance Notes suggest that good practice is to determine whether
the fire blanket has been used and to check for damage on a weekly basis.
5.2 When
carrying out these visual inspections, it should be ensured that:
5.3 each
fire blanket is correctly located in the designated place;
5.4 each
fire blanket is unobstructed and visible
5.6 each
fire blanket container is not obviously damaged and that the hand hold devices
are visible and undamaged
5.7 the
tamper indicators of each fire blanket, where fitted, are not broken or
missing.
5.8 The
responsible person should record the results of these visual inspections and
arrange for corrective action, where necessary, by a service provider. In the
event of doubt the responsible person should arrange for a service provider to
examine the fire blanket.
NOTE 2
Responsible persons have obligations under fire legislation in England &
Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland to use a service provider to maintain
extinguishing equipment in an efficient state, in efficient working order and
in good repair, where it is necessary to provide such equipment to safeguard
employees in the event of fire.
6.
Basic service
6.1 The
responsible person should ensure that basic service be carried out at 12
monthly intervals. The maintenance intervals given for basic service have for
practical purposes a tolerance of ±1 month. Intervals should be taken from the
date of installation or the last basic service. Intervals may be shortened, on
the recommendation of the service provider where inspection reveals
environmental and/or special hazards, or at the request of the responsible
person.
6.2 The
basic service of a fire blanket should be carried out by a service provider as
defined in 2.4. The fire blanket should undergo this sequence of commissioning
service actions:
7. Labelling
7.1. General
Any
labelling that is applied to the fire blanket container should not obscure any
marking required by BS EN 1869;
7.2 Maintenance
label
7.2.1
The maintenance record should be indelibly
marked on a durable label that is fixed firmly to the fire blanket container
without obscuring any of the manufacturer’s markings and instructions. Where
there is no more space on the maintenance label and a new label is fixed, the
date of commissioning should be marked on the new label.
7.2.2
The following information should be given on
the maintenance label:
7.2.3
type of action (commissioning or basic service)
7.2.4
name and postal address of the maintenance
supplier;
7.2.5
a mark clearly identifying the service
provider;
7.2.6
the date (year and month) of the action in a)
above;
7.2.7
the
date (year and month) of commissioning
This information should be readable without any
special equipment.
Any
additional information for the benefit of service providers may be shown in a
more compact form, such as bar codes.
NOTE 3
The information on the maintenance label of each fire blanket may additionally
be entered into a central record. In this way one aspect of the important
information on fire prevention can be kept readily available.
8. Evaluation of
fitness - Blankets which are to be condemned
Any fire
blanket with a major defect or defects which make it unsafe for use should be
immediately removed from its designated place, and marked “CONDEMNED” together
with the reason for this assessment. The responsible person should be advised
in the written report (see 9) that a permanent replacement is needed as soon as
possible. Evaluation of whether the damage or wear to a fire blanket make it
unsafe for use depends on the judgement of the service provider.
8.1.
Conditions indicating that a fire blanket is unsafe for use
Potentially
the most serious hazard presented by a defective fire blanket is it’s inability
to either (a) be deployed or (b) starve a fire of oxygen, allowing the fire to
burn uncontrollably after deployment. These could be caused by any of the
following conditions:
8.1.1
wear,
contamination or damage to the fire blanket material.
8.1.2
wear
or damage to the fire blanket hand hold devices;
8.1.3
serious
damage to the container;
8.1.4
fire
damage to the container or fire blanket;
8.1.5 age. Follow manufacturers instructions or if
there are none then if more than 7 years from date of commissioning consider
replacing the blanket.
8.2 Additional
reasons for condemning a fire blanket include the following (unless rectified
by the replacement of the appropriate components):
illegible marking or operating
instructions;
instructions not in English;
9.
Provision of a written report
The service provider should
advise the responsible person in a written report:
9.1 of any
fire blankets that have been condemned or are missing;
9.2 of any
permanent replacement fire blankets required to replace those reported in a);
9.3 of any
additional fire blankets required to ensure that the level of cover at the
premises is appropriate for the risks present;
9.4 that any
replacement or additional fire blankets reported in b) or c) should be provided
as soon as possible; and
9.5 of the
responsible person’s obligation under fire legislation to provide an
appropriate level of fire-fighting equipment at all times.
10. Maintenance documentation
A certificate of
inspection should be issued in all cases.
10.1 The
certificate of inspection should include the following information:
10.2
the name, postal address and telephone number
of the maintenance company;
10.3
the date of maintenance;
10.4
identification of the maintenance technician;
10.5 a list
of all fire blankets included in the maintenance programme; including all
nonconforming equipment, and recommendations for appropriate corrective action
or reference to where this information can be found;
10.6 the signature of the responsible person, which
should be obtained upon completion of the service visit and prior to the
service technician leaving the premises, or a record of the reason why this is
not possible (e.g. unmanned sites);
11. Permanent
replacement of a Fire Blanket.
It is
the duty of the responsible person to arrange for permanent replacement fire
blankets to be put into place as soon as possible after inspection has shown
that some fire blankets should be replaced. The service provider is responsible
for bringing this duty to the responsible person’s attention in the written
report.
