As Fire Door Safety Week begins (today), research suggests that the majority of people cannot identify a faulty fire door. This year’s campaign is the 10th Fire Door Safety Week. The initiative, led by the British Woodworking Federation (BWF), and aims to empower people to spot and report fire door safety issues, using the tagline ‘Recognise it, report it’.
More than half (57%) of the UK public couldn’t spot a problem with a fire door, analysis from a survey of 2,000 UK adults revealed, despite awareness about factors that can prevent a fire door performing properly in the event of a fire being high. Less than a third (29%) of respondents indicated that they wouldn’t report a faulty fire door because they didn’t know what would make it faulty.
What’s more, 21% would not report in future because they don’t think anything would be done about it. Around (49%) didn’t feel it was their responsibility to report a faulty fire door.
More positively, 60% indicated that they would report a faulty or propped-open fire door because they would feel responsible if a fire occurred that they feel they could have prevented. The majority (86%) of respondents stated that they would report a faulty or propped-open fire door in the future.
“Fire doors perform an essential role in the event of a fire – they are the barrier preventing the spread of fire and smoke,” explained Helen Hewitt, CEO of the BWF. “They simply must be in working order. Keeping them so relies on everybody who encounters them to spot and report issues, so they can be immediately addressed.
“The fact that so many say they are unable or unwilling to do so is incredibly worrying and puts lives at risk. The problem is two-fold: not knowing how to spot issues, and not having confidence that concerns raised will be acted upon.
“As part of this year’s campaign, which marks 10 years of Fire Door Safety Week, we’re giving everybody the tools to be able to recognise major fire door faults, to boost confidence over reporting them. We need to empower people to play their role in keeping the buildings they live in and occupy safe.” For more information, visit the campaign website.
