2015 is likely to be a very busy year for all us. With the word on the street that CMS and the Joint Commission may adopt the 2012 version of NFPA’s Life Safety Code®, many of us will find ourselves needing to make drastic changes to our current fire safety plan to accommodate the new requirements of the code. Many of the changes will require more work and more planning by you – the rule of thumb is to start now so you are in compliance when the code is in fact adopted.
New code requirements will mandate that all swinging fire doors in a facility undergo annual inspections based on NFPA 80’s eleven (11) major inspection points. NFPA 80 also requires that the inspections be carried out by qualified individuals with understanding of fire rated door assemblies. With hundreds of moving parts in any given fire door assembly, they can be far more complicated than one might think.
Many people don’t realize how important fire doors are to a strong barrier management plan. The passive fire protection system is part of the building’s overall construction and is meant to work in tangent with the building’s active fire protection system. This system works to slow the spread of fire and smoke through a building with use of fire and smoke barriers to compartmentalize and contain fire to a specific area. Through use of fire rated walls, ceilings and floors in combination with firestopping materials, fire and smoke dampers and fire and smoke doors , this system allows the fire to be contained so fire fighters can concentrate on a fire before it has the ability to spread to other areas of the building.
In essence, your facility is only fully protected from the risk of fire when these two systems are working together, if one is working and not the other, your facility is at risk. According to NFPA statistics, almost 70% of all building deaths are associated with smoke inhalation. This is a staggering statistic when considering the safety of your building and occupants. Knowing this, what do you plan to do different in 2015?