National fire service industrial action - Wednesday 25 September

Sunday, 15 September 2013

On Wednesday 25 September there will be national fire service period of industrial action between 12:00 noon and 16:00. 

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (and Buckinghamshire Fire Service for Greenlands) has said that during this period it will only respond to life critical incidents, such as house fires or road traffic collisions where people are trapped. 

It will not respond to a building automatic fire alarm unless the occupants confirm that there is a real fire. The fire service will not attend if persons are shut in lifts unless the incident is ‘life threatening'.

In the event of a fire emergency at the University during this period of industrial action, the normal procedures for reporting a fire and evacuating the building must be followed. These are detailed on local fire action posters displayed throughout our buildings:

• On discovering a fire, operate the nearest fire alarm call point
• Call the Fire Service by dialling (0)999
• Call Security on x6300 or 0118 378 6300 on a mobile phone
• On hearing the alarm, you must evacuate the building immediately
• Do not re-enter the building until told that it is safe to do so

Remember, if you know there is a real fire, you must phone 999 to inform the Fire Service. When you speak to the emergency services operator please provide as much information as possible about the incident. This will ensure that the Fire Service can make an informed decision about its level of response. ‘Life and Limb' incidents will take precedence but even for this type of incident the Fire Service response will be reduced.

Automatic fire alarms

If the fire alarm sounds in your building, but you do not know if it is a real fire, you must evacuate. The Evacuation Officer must phone University Security on x6300 or 0118 378 6300 to alert them.
Security Services will also be alerted automatically by the fire alarm system. They will investigate the cause of the fire alarm, and will inform the Fire Service if there is a fire. Please note, only Security staff are trained to investigate fire alarms, all other staff must evacuate immediately by the nearest escape route.

Preventing fire

During the period of the industrial dispute it's important that everyone takes extra care to prevent fires and to mitigate the extent of damage caused by any fire.  So please:

• Postpone laboratory experiments/procedures that have a higher fire risk such as those that involve the use of naked flames e.g. bunsen burners and the heating of solvents.
• Postpone high risk activities by maintenance staff and building contractors such as hot working e.g. welding, brazing, grinding or soldering.
• Don't use toasters.
• Don't use portable heaters unless absolutely essential, turn off electrical appliances and close all doors and windows when a room is unoccupied.
• Ensure that all doors and particularly those marked as ‘FIRE DOORS' are kept closed at all times as this will restrict the spread of fire should one occur. However automatic fire doors that are on magnetic hold-open devices linked to the fire detection system can be left open on their magnetic catches
• Only use passenger lifts when absolutely necessary. If the lift breaks down, DO NOT attempt to force open the doors, you must stay in the lift until the lift engineer arrives to release you.
• Take extra care when driving. Further information on driving safely can be found here http://www.rbfrs.co.uk/fs4_take_extra_care_roads.html.
• Remind your family of the need to take care at home. Excellent and comprehensive information on home fire safety can found on the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service web site at http://www.rbfrs.co.uk/.

If staff or students have any queries, please contact Health and Safety Services on x8888 (0118 378 8888) or email safety@reading.ac.uk.