Late last year an Essex company was ordered to pay fines and costs totalling almost £41,000 after pleading guilty to breaches of fire safety regulations at their premises, in particular fire doors wedged open and exits obstructed.

Commenting on the case, the fire service commander said: "would also like to remind those responsible for properties of the need to carry out a full and comprehensive risk assessment and emergency plan".

This is timely advice and highlights a worrying trend identified by a recent UK survey of fire risk assessors, sponsored by Fireco Ltd, makers of Dorgard, that showed nearly 70 percent of business premises audited for fire risk were found to be wedging open fire doors.


Unaware of the regulations
These grim findings have also been confirmed by Norwich Union Risk Services who carried out a post-RRFSO study showing that more than a third of businesses were unaware of the regulations. The study also revealed that over a third of businesses had failed to carry out a Fire Safety Risk Assessment, a procedure crucial to compliance under the Order.


£250,000 fine for fire safety breaches
A record £250,000 fine for breaches of fire safety law, imposed last year on a major UK retailer, is an example of the seriousness with which fire door wedging is regarded by the enforcing authorities. In this case the fire safety offences were deemed so serious that the case was referred to the Crown Court for sentencing.

The evidence produced by the fire and rescue service was damning. Vital exits, critical for life safety, were wedged open with beer cases and other objects. The sheer number of offences indicated 'a fundamental breakdown of the company's fire safety management procedures at the highest levels'.


Wedge Pledge campaign
These worrying trends highlight the importance of Fireco's Wedge Pledge, a major new campaign that aims to eliminate the highly dangerous practice of wedging open fire doors, which - in a real fire emergency - would allow smoke and flames to spread rapidly with the risk of life-threatening injuries. Fireco is asking businesses to send them their illegal fire door wedges and receive £5 off every Dorgard - the legal, wireless hold-open solution for holding open fire doors. PLUS Fireco is pledging to donate £1 for every Dorgard sold from the campaign that's expected to raise thousands of pounds for burns charities that care for victims of fire.

The success of the 'Wedge Pledge' campaign has meant wedges of every description - wood, rubber, plastic - have flooded into Fireco's sales office to be redeemed by Dorgard discounts.

This important fire safety message is reinforced by the keynote statement from campaign supporter, Susan Cookson, star of BBCTV's 'Casualty', who says, 'The tragedy of disfigurement for the burns victim is a catastrophe that this campaign aims to avert. That's why I fully support the aims of this safety campaign to stamp out hazardous malpractices in the workplace that could cause injury or loss of life in the event of fire.'

For more information contact Fireco on 0870 85 000 84,
e-mail sales@dorgard.com or visit www.dorgard.com

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