Fire Door Safety Week successful in raising awareness

Fire Door Safety Week, a campaign organised by the British Woodworking Federation (BWF), BWF-CERTIFIRE scheme and the Fire Door Inspection Scheme, has enjoyed success in promoting the issues surrounding fire door safety.

An interim evaluation report for Fire Door Safety Week has revealed the 2015 campaign has reached more than 4.7 million people up to the end of September.

The campaign’s website saw more than 7,000 people visit and also enjoyed a 30% increase in its number of twitter followers.

Further awareness was generated by the BWF’s fire door safety films and the “Remember Sophie’ video attracted a significant number of views via Youtube.

The campaign has also benefitted from political support.

Fire Minister, Mark Francois, commented: ““Fire doors offer vital protection and can make a real difference to the impact of a fire. I commend the BWF and supporting organisations for this excellent industry-led Fire Door Safety Week and encourage everyone to use this timely reminder to check their fire doors, keep them closed and report any substandard ones to the owners of the building.”

Mike Penning, Minister of State at the Home Office, said: ““As a former fireman, I am all too aware of the importance of fire doors and the devastating consequences of propping them open and letting them fall into disrepair. A fire door is so much more than a door; at times it can be the difference between life and death.

“We all need to step up and ensure we can recognise and report common problems. I urge everyone to have a look at the Five Step Check – it may just save a life.”

The campaign was supported by nearly 130 organisations representing the property, FM and construction industries. Many businesses in the fire door industry organised their own events and marketing campaigns during Fire Door Safety Work, including Association for Specialist Fire Protection, Midland Building Products, Arnold Laver, Lorient Polyproducts, Vetrotech Saint Gobain, Ironmongery Direct, Yeoman Shield, Premdor, BM TRADA and Intastop.

Iain McIlwee, Chief Executive of the BWF, said: ““The BWF and all the Fire Door Safety Week campaigners have taken a big bite out of the problem this year. Our thanks go to the very many firms and individuals who have put their own energies into this campaign. Together we are reaching millions of building owners, users and professionals whose job it is to keep us safe.

“But the scale of the issue still threatens to swamp us. We need even more to join us to voice our concerns regarding the lack of basic knowledge of fire door safety by the very individuals and organisations who have the formal responsibility to keep us safe in the buildings they own or manage.

“When the worst happens, it is the compartmentation of fire and the correct installation of certificated fire doorsets which buys us time, creating safe refuge and a protected route for the emergency services to come to our aid. On average there are 25 people seriously injured or killed in building fires every day in Great Britain. Our friends, our loved ones, our work colleagues, our tenants, our fire officers. This cannot continue.”

2016 marks the 350^th anniversary of the Great Fire of London and next year’s Fire Door Safety Week (26 September – 2 October) will look to generate even more awareness through events marking the anniversary.

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