User Manual

Siemens Switzerland Ltd

Building Technologies Division

1.5. Fire safety management

The risks to human life and property in historical buildings and museums are relatively high, due to the

concentration of people and to the combustible nature of the interior furnishings and fittings frequently present

in such buildings. These risks, however, can be drastically reduced by taking appropriate fire protection measures.

Good fire safety management is essential to ensure that:

· The probability of a fire occurring is very low

· If a fire should occur, then it should be

o detected early

o extinguished quickly

o restricted to a small area of the building

· If, in spite of all effort to restrict the spread of the fire, it should get out of control, then all people inside

the building must be evacuated safely and quickly

First we need to understand the mechanisms involved in estimating and managing fire risks.

1.5.1. Fire risk

The fire risk for each specific hazard can be quantified by multiplying the probability of a fire occurring by the

consequences resulting from it. Consequently, in cases where the artifacts are deemed to be priceless, the

associated risk will practically be infinite (even when the probability of fire occurring is low).

Figure 6 Fire risk

The aim of the building owner is to reduce the probability of a damaging fire occurring by implementing an

appropriate fire protection concept. The more effective the fire protection measures are, the lower the probability

of a damaging fire will become.

A paper published in the Journal of the Canadian Association for Conservation (Volume 33) entitled “Fire Risk

Assessment for Collections in Museums” by Jean Tétrault [3] presents a quantitative analysis based on Canadian

museum fire statistics.

1.5.2. Fire risk assessment

We may be confronted with many different types of historical buildings and each building is unique, presenting its

own set of challenges. In each case, the key to establishing effective fire risk management is to start with a

detailed fire risk assessment. In the UK, for example, the responsible person in all premises with five or more

employees must conduct a fire risk assessment and keep a record of the findings: other countries also have similar

requirements.

Fire risk assessment is the process of risk identification, risk analysis and risk evaluation, assessing and controlling

risks and potential threats to staff, visitors and property.

This process consists of the following steps:

· Identify the hazards and determine who or what might be harmed and how

· Reduce the risk of those hazards causing harm to an acceptable minimum

o Decide what physical measures (both passive and technical) should be implemented

o Decide what management procedures should be implemented

· Record the findings

· Regularly review the assessment and revise where necessary

Risk = Probability of occurrence x Consequential damage