FIREX Presentations Revisited: Fire Doors are both Life-Saving and Profit-Saving by Neil Ashdown

Neil Ashdown, General Manager of the Fire Door Inspection Scheme (FDIS), spoke at FIREX 2015 about the role of fire doors.

Launched in 2012, the FDIS provides education and awareness to a range of people involved within the fire safety industry. This includes building owners who require an understanding of what fire doors are used for, to installers and risk assessors.

The FDIS scheme’s entirely online education programme trains candidates to fully understand the safety and effectiveness of fire doors in the industry. During the presentation Neil also emphasised the hands-on approach taken by the organisation. “We also go into business and provide half-day courses for employees so they can fully understand the importance of fire doors in the workplace.”

To demonstrate the crucial role that fire doors play, Neil used two case studies. Starting with the inspection of a children’s home, it was noted upon investigation that there was only one escape route.

This was particularly egregious given the context as children were reportedly smoking in the bedrooms, creating a potential fire risk.

Several measures had not been put in place. “Because of when the building was built, the fire doors were poorly installed and therefore not effective,” said Ashdown, who wrote about proactively improving passive fire protection in advance of FIREX.

A second case study focused on a large factory in Nottingham. Upon investigation there was a clear lack of awareness among employees about an evacuation procedure.

“In this case we worked with the investigator to identify and raise awareness of a suitable escape route.” said Ashdown.

Joining the FDIS in 2012 Neil Ashdown brought a wealth of experience from the door and timber industries, recently running his own businesses in the sale of timber doors, joinery, loose timber and allied products, and the supply of non-standard fire doors. Ashdown has long been a member of the British Woodworking Federation and the BWF-CERTIFIRE Fire Door and Doorset Scheme.

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