FIREX Presentations Revisited: Crossrail’s Legacy for Fire Safety in Future Construction projects

Collaboration was the watchword as the health and safety assurance manager for Crossrail addressed a FIREX audience on the lessons for fire-safety best practice.

Speaking in the FPA Infozone on day two Darren Selman also introduce a speaker from the LFB, which was heavily involved in the project at all stages.

Crossrail in numbers

Crossrail, which is Europe’s largest construction project, is a truly monumental undertaking, as these numbers convey:

• 42km of railway beneath central London
• 118km of railway going east to west
• 38 stations, nine of them underground
• 8 million cubic metres of spoil removed

The scale and complexity of the project meant that planning a safe fire-risk strategy and establishing good practice was more imperative than ever.

The tunnelling part of the project, in particular, was a major challenge.  Severe fire risks were connected to the use of Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) and the presence of numerous flammable materials.

TBM Refuge Chambers – self-enclosed cabins where miners and other underground workers can retreat to should air become dangerous to breath – had to be placed in a strategic and functional way.

The station fit-out also presented many fire-risk issues from diesel-powered plant, general hot works, storage of combustible materials, temporary buildings and so on.

Fire-safety strategy

“Our approach can be summarised in five key behaviours,” said the speaker:

• Respect the basics
• Asset the risks
• Check the site
• Check all the requirements
• Support each other

Once those behaviours are established, Selman underlined how important is to keep in mind that:

• Problems are not exclusively a cient or constructor responsibility
• External agencies must be engaged
• A collaborative approach is key
• Identify and share best practice inside the team and with the different companies involved
• A constant approach to site assessment is a fundamental
• Training information should be provided before and during the operations

LFB

Sellman introduced someone from the London Fire Brigade, who concurred that deep collaboration is essential to reducing fire risk and engendering best practice.

The LFB, said the speaker, was heavily involved in the Crossrail project from the outset, creating a safe fire-risk system and being a constant presence throughout all steps of the fire-risk assessment. Checking everything from emergency practice to the position of cables, the LFB’s conducted both pre-arranged and surprise inspections.

The LFB representative outlined some key principles for fire safety in the Crossrail project:

• Constant input to reduce fire risk
• Clear understanding of the site-specific risk
• Consistent approach across all sites
• Common approach from all fire stations
• Common fire-fighting arrangements

Further to this he outlined some specific actions taken:

• Use of Channel 5 communication exclusively for the LFB, so that any emergency can be reported and solved immediately
• Establishing easy access to water storage for fire-fighting purposes
• Defining clear rendezvous points, distinguishing them from storage points
• Standardising reception arrangements
• Setting up smoke control arrangements
• Constant emergency exercise