A Complete Guide to Fire Safety in Hospitals & Healthcare Facilities

Understandably, there are few places where fire safety is more critical than hospitals. 

Where there are vulnerable patients, large sites with complex layouts and equipment critical to the health of patients, the utmost attention should be paid to fire safety — both in the prevention of fire and how to react in an emergency.

This month at Surrey Tech Services Ltd, we’re taking you through our complete guide to fire safety in hospitals and healthcare facilities. 

Common causes of hospital fires

Getting to grips with fire safety means understanding the causes. Here are the common causes of hospital fires:

• Electrical faults – Whether these are faults in medical equipment or more general equipment within the hospital, electrical faults can cause overheating and sparks, a real danger within hospital settings. 
• Cooking equipment – Hospitals provide food and refreshments for patients, staff and visitors, meaning there are many areas where cooking equipment can pose a potential risk of fire — especially ovens and fryers.  
• Improper storage of flammable materials – This includes oxygen tanks, of which there will be many in a hospital. It also includes cleaning chemicals, critical to keeping hospitals hygienic. When stored in the wrong place or in areas where they could be subject to misuse, they pose a real hazard as fuel for a fire. 
• Human error – Hospitals are such busy places, and cater to so many people from all walks of life, that human error is almost inevitable as the cause of some fires. Examples of this include smoking in places people shouldn’t, leaving equipment unattended and accidents with equipment and chemicals.

Fire risks and mitigation measures

Having outlined some of the common causes, it’s also important to know where the high-risk areas are in a hospital:

• Surgical rooms
• Laboratories
• Storage areas for flammables
• Hospital kitchens

Since almost every hospital will contain these high-risk areas, it makes sense to look at mitigating the risks at hand. As part of your efforts to minimise the risk of a fire occurring in the first place, consider:

• Regular testing and maintenance of electrical systems. The frequency of testing will often come down to the classification of the item, a subject you can read more about in our previous article covering PAT testing. 
• Maintaining compliance with the storage guidelines for flammable substances. The conditions for different chemicals and medical provisions mean you’ll need to pay close and regular attention to your storage measures. 
• Providing staff training. This can take several forms, giving them training on how they can help to prevent fires, along with emergency protocols to help them feel prepared.

Fire safety in hospitals

The NHS has its own fire safety guidance in the form of a technical memorandum, with 05-03 Part D, in particular, looking at commercial enterprises on healthcare premises. This guidance addresses the integration of fire safety features such as fire alarms, fire separation, means of escape and other fire strategies to incorporate during construction or renovations.

While not legally binding, hospitals are expected to follow this as best practice. We’ll look at other legal responsibilities later in this piece.

What is the minimum time an NHS fire door will contain fire, smoke and toxic fumes?

Fire doors for NHS hospitals should come with a minimum fire rating of FD30, with FD60 required in specific scenarios. This means that fire doors should contain fire smoke and toxic fumes for a minimum of 30 minutes or 60 minutes.

Resistance to these elements is crucial, as it protects evacuation routes to allow people to safely escape and limits the damage done before local fire and rescue services can attend.

The role of hospital layout in fire safety

Hospital layouts can often be spread over large buildings and multiple specialist departments – that’s why using the building itself to contribute to fire safety is crucial. The following are key strategic points for hospital layouts:

• Fire doors – Fire doors will be located throughout the building, creating compartments and sub-compartments. This prevents fire from spreading rapidly through the entire building.

• Ventilation systems – Ventilation and HVAC systems span across entire buildings, so it’s important to ensure they are designed to prevent the spread of smoke and fumes through compartments.

• Safe evacuation routes – With the evacuation routes in a building, specific attention should be paid to stairwells, lift access and patient transport to make sure everyone can be evacuated within a reasonable time.

Other key facets of the building structure and layout include fire stopping practices and fire barriers, both of which contribute to passive fire protection measures.

Legal obligations and responsibilities

Hospitals are required to follow the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 legislation. This outlines the responsibilities of building managers and owners concerning fire safety measures. The NHS Firecode also acts as guidance on the responsibilities and best practices to follow for both new and existing hospitals, largely in line with UK government and European standard guidelines.

If you are in hospital management, it is part of your legal responsibility to ensure the compliance of your building and staff with these regulations. As well as conducting your own regular checks, it is recommended that you have a fire risk assessment for your hospital at periodic intervals — especially if changes have been made to your building or its use.

You can read more about the government’s guidance on fire safety risk assessments in healthcare premises here. This can help you to understand what is required of you.

Emergency preparedness in hospitals

Knowing what to do in an emergency can help to save time, and therefore save lives. With this in mind, you can ensure your hospital is prepared with the following:

• Fire drills and staff training for emergency protocols – This gives staff the knowledge of how to react in different scenarios, including a fire. 
• Contingency planning for high-dependency patients – There should always be plans in place for how to protect and evacuate patients within the care of your hospital. 
• Maintenance and inspection schedules – Fire safety equipment, including alarm systems, sprinklers, fire doors and extinguishers, should be checked regularly within your own operations, alongside professional maintenance scheduled in line with industry standards.

To learn more about fire safety in hospitals, or to book your fire risk assessment with our expert team in London and the Home Counties, contact us at Surrey Tech Services Ltd today.