Fire Door Safety
Week 2017 saw off stiff competition from the automotive, aerospace and
construction sectors to be awarded Campaign of the Year (Fire, Security, Health
and Safety) at The Safety and Health Excellence Awards for its success in
highlighting the importance of fire door safety maintenance and five simple
inspection checks that anyone can do to initiate positive change and improve a
building’s fire safety.
The 2017 Fire Door
Safety Week (FDSW) attracted its highest number of supporters ever, including 273 organisations from
the social housing and private rented housing sectors, the construction supply
chain, fire and building consultancies and local fire and rescue services. The
campaign is industry led, in partnership with the Government’s Fire Kills campaign.
Among the
high-profile supporters were London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton, and Bill
Grant, MP for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock who had 31 years’ service in the fire
brigade.
Accepting the award
on behalf of the British Woodworking Federation, Iain McIlwee, CEO said, “Thank
you to The Safety and Health Excellence Awards for awarding Fire Door Safety
Week with this prestigious industry award.
“The success of the
campaign is down to the combined efforts of the British
Woodworking Federation (BWF), BWF-Certifire
scheme and the Fire Door Inspection Scheme
(FDIS) team, but more than anything it is testament to our members who have
driven us to help raise awareness of concerns and help promote best practice,
not just in the manufacture and supply, but also the installation and
inspection/maintenance of fire doors.
“With fire safety
high on the agenda, following the tragic events of the Grenfell Tower fire, the
2017 Fire Door Safety Week campaign set out to significantly increase awareness
of the benefits of fire doors, a passive fire protection method, and how to ensure
their ongoing maintenance.
“Attracting the
highest number of supporters to date, the campaign did just that – but our work
is not done. Fire doors remain a significant area of neglect, often the first
thing to be downgraded on a specification and mismanaged throughout their
service life, propped open, damaged and badly maintained. Fire Door Safety Week
2018 is set for 24th to the 30th September, and will continue to raise
awareness of the critical role fire doors play and how everyone can play their
part to ensure they remain effective and able to fulfil their life-saving
ability in the unfortunate event of a fire.”
The campaign, now in
its 7th year, saw events running
across the UK and online, and at its heart was the simple 5
Step Fire Door Check providing users with a simple guide to assessing the
health of their fire doors.
