fig leaves

The newsletter of the Fire Information Group UK (FIGUK)

www.figuk.org.uk

No. 33
September 2006

Edited by Sheila Pantry, OBE
Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd

This Newsletter contains:

News from around the World
Diary of Events
Summary of the FIGUK Meeting held on 20 September 2006
Date of next meeting 20 March 2007

FIGUK website www.figuk.org.uk ... please help to promote FIGUK whenever you can...

News items from around the world

UK Guidance connected with Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order

Guides connected with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order are now published on the DCLG website.

The Guides can be ordered for £12 or downloaded free of charge.

The TWO guides yet to come, (at the 28.9.06) are: No. 9 Outdoor events and No. 11 Transport premises and facilities.

New fire safety rules affecting all non-domestic premises in England and Wales came into force on 1 October 2006. If you are:

responsible for business premises
an employer or self-employed with business premises
a charity or voluntary organisation
a contractor with a degree of control over any premises

...then you need to act now to ensure you have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment in place. See DCLG series of guides below for assistance or the online self-assessment form on the Fire Gateway website www.fire.gov.uk/Workplace+safety

If you require further information email fire.safetyreform@communities.gov.uk.

If you require information in Welsh visit: https://llyw.cymru/tan-achub / https://gov.wales/fire-rescue

The guides

About the guides - introduction and checklist
Entry Level Guide - A short guide to making your premises safe from fire
Guide 1 - Offices and shops
Guide 2 - Factories and warehouses
Guide 3 - Sleeping accommodation
Guide 4 - Residential care premises
Guide 5 - Educational premises
Guide 6 - Small and medium places of assembly
Guide 7 - Large places of assembly
Guide 8 - Theatres and cinemas
Guide 9 - Outdoor events
Guide 10 - Healthcare premises
Guide 11 - Transport premises and facilities
Frequently asked questions

Five IECEx certificates open the door for dual ATEX-IECEx marking for hazardous area connection specialist

Renowned for the quality of their ATEX certified cable glands and hazardous connection products, Hawke International, has now received a suite of five IECEx certificates from BASEEFA. This opens the door for dual marking.

In place since 2004, IECEx was introduced to provide a worldwide certification scheme where participating countries readily accept test information for IECEx certified products that have been tested against the requirement of the IEC 60079 series of standards. This new approach enables these products to be accepted in those countries that take part.

Although the IECEx introduces some additional requirements, common elements in the IECEx and ATEX certification markings make it possible for Hawke International to include both sets of marking on their cable gland ranges. "Dual marking will make gland selection much easier for users. It will enable Hawke International's cable glands to gain an equal acceptance status in the countries signed up to IECEx as they currently receive within Europe," commented Phil O'Connor, Hawke's head of development and marketing.

"Safety is paramount in situations where potentially explosive environments are a hazard such as oil, gas, mining, chemical and many processing industries. These activities take place on a global scale so a worldwide certification scheme will give company buyers even greater confidence," concluded Phil.

Hawke International recently produced a comprehensive hazardous area wall chart to explain the similarities between ATEX and IECEx certification. A free poster size copy of this wall chart is available by request from the company's web site at www.ehawke.com/news/iecex_wallchart.html

More information: Phil O'Connor, Hawke International | Tel. +44 (0)161 830 6698 | Fax. +44 (0)161 830 6648 | Email: phil.oconnor@ehawke.com | www.ehawke.com

Bridging the explosion proof gap

Managing the risk of explosion is a critical issue for many industries, placing tremendous responsibility on decision makers. Matthew Cook from Ex-Solutions Consulting discusses the importance of bridging the gap between a consultant's report and delivering fully engineered solutions to manage the risk effectively.

By now, the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR) 2002 Regulations concerning the management of explosion risk should be well integrated into British industry, having forced many companies to employ specialist EX consultants or re-focus internal resource. This risk of explosion exists in many industries where flammable material (gas, vapour and dust) is present in the operation and could come into contact with a source of ignition (for example from fixed or mobile equipment such as a cranes).

Matthew Cook from Ex-solutions Consulting, a unique company that consults and delivers fully engineered explosion proof solutions, explains "Decision makers within many SMEs and indeed large organisations were having to deal with DSEAR in a very disjointed way, often with considerable confusion. A consultant would visit a company and provide a lengthy report concerning hazardous area classification or sources of ignition, observations and recommendations based on the findings. There were no practical solutions being offered, it was up to the company to resolve any issues for themselves or find someone else to do it. This left room for error and some unresolved issues"

Ex-Solutions Consulting provides a full range of services from hazardous area classification through to training, equipment ignition assessment, explosion proof conversion, testing, certification and product development.

Cook continues "Although we provide individual services, it is important to bridge the gaps to ensure all bases are covered and take a complete view. The consequences of getting it wrong are far reaching which is why we take a seamless approach."

Ex-Solutions consulting is a relatively new division of the safety and environmental company Pyroban Group Ltd. With dedicated consultants and engineers, Ex-Solutions is also fully supported by the Pyroban Group with access to some of it's advanced engineering and manufacturing capabilities.

"Our business thrives on problem solving and Ex-solutions is set up specifically to understand the customer's needs and deliver bespoke solutions. Whether it is a manufacturing site or the design of a hydraulic pump, we take away the headache and much of the liability so that the customer can focus on their own business secure in the knowledge that they are safe and in full compliance with statutory regulations"

Contact Matthew Cook | +44 (0)1273 466200 | Email: matthew.cook@pyroban.com | www.ex-solutions.co.uk | www.pyroban.com

If you think health and safety is expensive try having an accident! So train, train, train!

EurOhse 2006/7 Masterclasses will provide key points for future activities for all those responsible for securing good standards of health and safety in the workplace, and excellent networking opportunities. Already places are being booked - don't wait until it is too late!

Angel Business Communications Ltd and Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd are delighted to announce that EurOhse2006 will be a series of Masterclasses on topics that have been requested by delegates at previous conferences.

The Trainers are all very experienced and the first four Masterclasses will be held in November 2006 and two more in February 2007 - all being held at the Imperial Hotel, Russell Square London, details as follows:

Monday, 6 November 2006
MASTERCLASS -The Six Day-to-Day Habits of a Pro-Active Safety Culture: Active Monitoring in the workplace
Trainer - Dr Tim Marsh, Managing Director of Ryder-Marsh (Safety) Limited

Tuesday 6 February 2007
MASTERCLASS on Training of Business Continuity Management teams
Trainer - John Sharp, FBCI (Hon) FCMI, MCIM, Managing Director, Kiln House Associates Ltd and the Continuity Forum, Policy and Development Director.

Wednesday 7 February 2007
MASTERCLASS on Training of emergency planning teams
Trainer - Les Moseley, University of Coventry, Director of the Coventry Centre for Disaster Management and Course Leader for the professional diploma course in Emergency Planning

Places will be limited for these interactive Masterclasses ... Bookings have already started - make sure that you book early!

SPECIAL REGISTRATION OFFER
The cost per Masterclass is £295.
If you register for 2 Masterclass events you will receive a 10% discount.

Payment must be received prior to the event. Delegates are responsible for making hotel bookings. The organisers reserve the right to alter the content of the programme. Payment can be made online via our secure World Pay system, payment can be made by cheque or you can request an invoice to be sent to you. This booking includes admission to the Masterclass and lunch/coffee for the day.

For further details regarding the content of the Masterclasses contact the programme organiser Sheila Pantry at Tel: +44 (0) 1909 771024 or Email: sp@sheilapantry.com

For further details regarding booking a place contact: EurOhse 2006, Office and Logistics Manager, European Occupational Health and Safety Magazine (EurOhs), Angel Business Communications Ltd, Unit 6, Bow Court, Fletchworth Gate, Burnsall Road, Coventry, CV5 6SP, UK | Tel: +44 (0) 2476 718970 | Fax: +44 (0) 2476 718971 | Email: jesse@angelbc.co.uk

Fire, Emergency and Preparedness Worldwide latest edition just published

Take a FREE 30-DAY TRIAL the world's premier collection of fire and related information

Fire, Emergency and Preparedness Worldwide, arguably the world's premier collection of related validated, authoritative information aims to help all those seeking such information. Emphasis is on all aspects of fire, emergency and preparedness management principles, health and safety, fire risk assessment, practices and research.

One way to quickly gain access to this collection of fire legislation, guidance and advice that is up-to-date and relevant is to take a 30-day free trial of Fire, Emergency and Preparedness Worldwide that is focused, affordable and easy to use.

Much time is spent these days searching the Internet for validated and authoritative information often resulting in out-of date sources. In this fast moving world it is essential to have quick access to validated, authoritative and constantly updated information collections. The ones brought together and maintained by information specialists is one sure way of getting good quality data.

As new research and new ways of working, with the attendant alterations in products, services and technology developments means that no-one, especially those responsible for fire, emergencies and preparedness in workplaces of all kinds, should be without the latest information.

Searchers should also be aware that the myth abounding in the world that everything is published on the Internet and is free is just not true!

Published by Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd. since 1997 (previous title Fire Worldwide), using the powerful SilverPlatter software it is accessible via the Internet Service and also on CD-ROM for those who need access to information but do not have connections to the outside world.

Fire, Emergency and Preparedness Worldwide is the premier collection of validated, authoritative information and contains two major collections - the Full Text Collection containing thousands of pages of full text information and The Bibliographic Collection that has 7 databases which contain over 256, 000 records to journal articles, guidance and advice, circulars, reports, conference proceedings, research reports, statistics and codes of practice from worldwide sources, all of which may be easily accessed. For those organisations that do not subscribe to a range of journals/magazines this is one way of ensuring that the latest news, developments and trends are available. One of the databases - from the British Standards Institution - contains references to over 3600 fire and fire related standards.

For full details of this product, please check out the list of contents of Fire, Emergency and Preparedness Worldwide or why not take a FREE 30-DAY TRIAL OF Fire, Emergency and Preparedness Worldwide now? Send your request for a trial now.

A catalogue of errors ... Libraries' missing millions

by Marc Abrahams, Tuesday September 26, 2006
The Guardian www.guardian.co.uk

Fire Information Group members are constantly concerned by the decline of fire and fire related information centres/libraries and their contents and lack of access to information. The article A catalogue of errors ... Libraries' missing millions may also add to our worries...
How many books written in seemingly obscure languages are misfiled and languishing unfindable in libraries? Joyce Flynn's experience at Harvard suggests the answer is: a lot. See http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/improbable/story/0,,1880528,00.html

Marc Abrahams is editor of the bimonthly magazine Annals of Improbable Research (www.improbable.com) and organiser of the Ig Nobel Prize

Diary of Events

10 October 2006 - BOHS 'Webinar' COSHH Regulations 15.00 (UK time)
Contact: Anthea Page, Communications Officer, BOHS, 5/6 Melbourne Business Court, Millennium Way, Pride Park, Derby, DE24 8LZ, UK | Tel: +44 (0) 1332 250701 | Email: anthea@bohs.org
Book via the Event Calendar on www.bohs.org where the full programme is also available. The link to the Webinar website and the conference call telephone number are provided directly to those who have registered.

16-17 October 2006 - Institute of Acoustics Autumn Conference 2006 Environmental Noise, WHO, Guidelines, and Mapping
The Oxford Hotel, Oxford, UK
Contact: Linda Canty, Institute of Acoustics, 77A St Pewter's Street, St Albans, Herts AL1 3B, UK | Tel: 01727 848195 | Fax: 01727 850553 | Email: linda.canty@ioa.org.uk | www.ioa.org.uk/events

17-18 October 2006 - Firex North 2006
Harrogate International Centre, Harrogate, Yorkshire, UK
Contact: CMP, UK | Ticket-line Tel: 0870 429 4326

17 October 2006 - CHCS Module 50 "GHS - the basics of the UN Scheme"
IQA, London, UK
Contact: Chemical Hazards Communication Society (CHCS), P.O. Box 222, Lymington, Hampshire S042 7GY, UK | Fax: +07000 790 338 | Email: chcs@chcs.org.uk | www.chcs.org.uk

23-27 October 2006 - European Health and Safety Week
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work where you can find out more about the European Good Practice Awards 2006. www.hse.gov.uk/campaigns/euroweek

24 October 2006 - BOHS 'Webinar' What the Material Safety Data Sheet doesn't tell you but you need to know', 15.00 (UK time)
Contact: Anthea Page, Communications Officer, BOHS, 5/6 Melbourne Business Court, Millennium Way, Pride Park, Derby, DE24 8LZ, UK |Tel: +44 (0) 1332 250701 | Email: anthea@bohs.org
Book via the Event Calendar on www.bohs.org where the full programme is also available. The link to the Webinar website and the conference call telephone number are provided directly to those who have registered.

16 November 2006 - Fourth Annual Brakecare Conference: Supporting Families when Disaster Strikes
National Motorcycle Museum Conference Centre, Birmingham, UK
Contact: Brake, UK | Tel: +44 (0) 1484 559909 | Email: admin@brake.org.uk | www.brake.org.uk

16 November 2006 - Don't be a Bystander- Be Part of the Process "Improving Emergency Response" The Emergency Services Show & Conference 2006
Royal Horticultural Halls, London, UK
Contact: Visitors to the Show and/or the Conference will be required to pre-register by visiting www.theemergencyservicesshow.info

6 December 2006 - FIGUK Lunch, London. Venue to be announced.

21 March 2007 FIGUK Spring Meeting, HIS, Bracknell

Abbreviated Minutes of the FIG (UK) Meeting on Wednesday, 20 September 2006 held at Bureau Veritas, London

Chair	Nigel Herring, Bureau Veritas
Minutes:	Sheila Pantry, Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd
Present:
Nigel Herring	Bureau Veritas
Sheila Pantry	Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd
Penny Morgan	International Fire Consultants (IFC)
Sally Walsh	Dr Burgoyne & Partners LLP
Gail Parlane	London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA)
John Roy	IHS (formerly TI)
Amanda Collicutt	Fire Service College (FSC)
Lis Riley	Hawkins

Apologies:
Kay Helm	Fire Protection Association
Roger Berrett	Dr Roger Berrett Associates
Jackie Green	Beds & Luton FRS
Brian Saville	West Yorks FCDA
Norman Simmonds	Fire Service Inspectorate (HMFSI - DCLG)
Jim Mann	DCLG
Jackie Green	Beds FRS
John Porter	FSS
John Goodyear	FSS

1. Welcome and Apologies

Nigel agreed to chair the meeting welcomed everyone to Bureau Veritas,
Sheila taking the minutes. The list of apologies was read out.
The Agenda was agreed.

Members attending appreciated seeing the Scientific Support Unit Laboratory and seeing and hearing about some of the latest kit available for chemical, biological and radioactive investigations and also the chemical information databases CIRUS and Chemdata.

Thanks were expressed to Nigel for arranging this and also hosting the meeting.

Sally Walsh also mentioned another database of chemical properties - Design Institute for Physical Properties (DIPPR 801) http://dippr.byu.edu

2. Minutes of the Last Meeting

The minutes of the meeting in March 2006 were agreed as a true record

3. Accounts

Since the last meeting Gail has sorted out the Bank's requirements for a new Mandate and new signatures. This is now completed.

The Fire Information Group at the meeting held 20 September 2006 passed a resolution the following persons were the named signatories:
Gail Parlane, Lis Riley, Sally Walsh and Sheila Pantry.

It was also agreed that the dealings with the Bank would be from the office of the Treasurer/Membership Officer Gail Parlane, London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, Library, Room 520, Hampton House, 20 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SD, UK | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7587 6340 | Email: gail.parlane@london-fire.gov.uk

She also informed the meeting that FIGUK Bank Balance stood at £713.36. This did include some 2006 subscription renewals.

Thanks to Gail for her persistence and sorting out these requirements.

Lis Riley will ask Linda Earl if she will be the Auditor this year. (Linda Earl has now agreed to audit the accounts).

ACTION: LIS RILEY/GAIL PARLANE

FIRE INFORMATION GROUP ACCOUNTS 2005/2006

These were passed as a true record.

4. Membership

As agreed at the March 2006, Gail would write to all Members with a renewal invoice.
To-date 16 Members had replied. It was agreed that a 2^nd reminder would be made to those who had not yet replied.

ACTION: GAIL PARLANE

Sue Harris has sent in her resignation - due to change of job.
Good wishes were sent to Sue from FIGUK.

It was also agreed that Amanda Collicutt would contact Grampian FRS's Information Manager Jacqueline Mackay and IFE Helen Griffiths (formerly Bird) and that Sheila Pantry would contact Colin Simpson, Angela Richards, BRE Certification, and Ian Jerome re Membership.

ACTION: AMANDA COLLICUTT AND SHEILA PANTRY

See also Item 6 below

5. FIGUK input into the Research Event to be held at the Fire Service College, Moreton in Marsh, 14-16 November 2006

After some discussion it was agreed that FIGUK would not be offering a Poster Presentation this year. The efforts needed did not justify the returns.

6. Further recruitment of FIGUK Members

It was proposed by Sheila Pantry that a short article describing FIGUK activities would be drafted and ultimately sent to a range of fire and fire related journals. It would also be sent to health and safety journals and newsletters and websites to more fully inform the fire community about the FIGUK network and the advantages of belonging to it. Sheila offered to write the first draft.

ACTION: SHEILA PANTRY

This draft would be sent to all FIGUK Members for comment, additional information etc.
The return date for final replies is 6 October 2006.

ACTION: ALL MEMBERS

7. Round Table Discussions

John Roy, IHS informed that his organisation had been re-branded and were no longer Technical Indexes. BRE Publications were now part of his organisation.

One of the main products is OHSIS which has a fire supplement. Guides are being added that will give the current state of knowledge on specific topics. Current awareness is the main area of John's work and he recently had been involved in a DCLG seminar that invited people to look at the DCLG website. He found attendance at this seminar very useful.

Amanda Collicutt, Fire Service College (FSC) informed:

that the mix of work at FSC is changing;
The Centre for Leadership is up and running and the Centre of Excellence/ Improvement Agency concept is still flourishing but not yet funded;
The FSC Business Plan includes stakeholder consultation on how the LIRC can plan further support for the UKFRS modernization, involvement in planning for future digitization and how the Learning and Information Resource Centre can support the CoE project;
The Emergency Planning College and the Police College (formerly CENTREX) at Bramshill have both just moved to Heritage so there may be future co-operation opportunities possible.
there is a new web site - project is nearly finished but many LIRC pages still await amendment
there is also an intranet project which Margaret Fuller is leading and an MLE project which is not yet tendered so may be 2007 onwards.
a review of Library services and business case for the level of staffing to provide future services had been carried out and recruitment for a Learner Services Manager and Customer Services Librarian is underway.
a range of e-books from NetLibrary had been added to the online resources (and catalogue) including fire titles and had achieved a good response. Most are subscription titles only available to staff and students but there are also free books.
An Archive Project indexing a recently acquired collection on the Merryweather Company (manufacturing of fire engines) data is ongoing.

Amanda also attended 2 days of the Infire Conference in Sweden in her own time.

Amanda also requested that if any FIGUK Member had information on charging for information services to contact her.

Lis Riley reported: Hawkins have a new Managing Director - Richard Fletcher. Other changes include personnel in the Library - Lis remains in the library full time and Gill is spending most of her time (at present) building a new role in personnel. Hawkins have also opened a new office in Reigate and have three new recruits based around the country to support a new Claims Validation Service that the company will be offering. They have also been undergoing a rebranding of the Company and will be known as Hawkins rather than Hawkins & Associates.
Her catalogue now has a SQL front-end to assist in enquiries.

Penny Morgan reported:

Eight of the promised eleven Guides connected with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order are now published on the DCLG website. They can be ordered for £12 or downloaded. The three to come cover health care premises/open air/transport interchanges.
She is involved with the DfES "Schools guidance BB100 'Designing and managing against the risk of fires in schools' which should be published shortly. Publication may be affected by the current sprinklers in schools lobbying.
She is also involved in work with the International Association for Cold Store Construction (IACSC) on the use of sandwich panels in large buildings. IACSC published guidance in 1999 which she is now updating and co-ordinating inputs to 'Design, construction, specification and fire management of insulated envelopes for temperature controlled environments'

Sheila Pantry reported:

Fire Worldwide which was relaunched as Fire Emergency and Preparedness Worldwide to reflect the widening scope of the service is increasing at a fast rate - with over 1600 full text pages added in the September 2006 edition. This service has 11 databases that contains thousands of pages of full text documents plus over a quarter of a million bibliographic records to world wide sources including journals, reports, conference proceedings etc. There is database containing records to over 3300 fire and fire-related British Standards. See News above for details.
The OSH UPDATE service launched a year ago, will have another database added to it in October 2006 to bring the number of records to around 800,000 - with many thousands of records are linked instantly to full text documents. This additional database is from the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). If anyone wants a free 30 day trial of OSH UPDATE or Fire Emergency and Preparedness contact Sheila Pantry.
EurOHSE2006 Masterclasses
Angel Business Communications Ltd and Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd are delighted to announce that EurOhse2006 will be a series of Masterclasses on topics that have been requested by delegates at previous conferences. See News above for details.

Date of next meeting

It was agreed that this would be on Wednesday 21 March 2007 at 10.30 and would be held at and hosted by IHS, Willoughby Road, Bracknell, Berkshire with John Roy as the organiser.

It was agreed that we should ask Colin Simpson to be special guest - Sheila will contact him.

Sheila has now contacted Colin who is delighted to be our special guest and to give a talk.

Christmas Lunch
It was agreed that this would be held in London on Wednesday, 6 December 2006.

ACTION: SALLY WALSH AND SHEILA PANTRY TO SORT DETAILS.