The
current building Regulations requires that all
commercial, industrial and public buildings
have essential safety measures fitted and maintained
to specific standards and frequencies.
Furthermore, hard copy records and log books
of the maintenance are required to be kept on
site for review by the Municipal Building Surveyor
or Fire Brigade Chief Officer.
Since July 1999, it has become mandatory for
building owners and managers to comply with
Victoria Building Act 1993.
With the establishment these regulations,
the Keo Group Australia was formed to help building owners
and managers comply with their obligations.
Our training facilities and services to our
clients play a significant role in increasing
community safety and awareness of the regulations.
KEO Group Australia manage a wide range of buildings
which include health & Agedcare facilities, retails, body strata management
commercial, Universities & TAFE, Educations and government
buildings.
For more information please refer to our current newsletters or contact us on +631 9342 2425 for a copy.
EMERGENCY
PROCEDURES
The
Occupational Health & Safety Regulation
2001, states that:
An
Employer is to provide for emergencies, an employer
must ensure that, in the event of an emergency
at any place of work at which the employer's
undertaking is conducted, arrangements have
been made for:
a)
the safe and rapid evacuation of persons from
the place of work, and
b)
emergency communications, and
c)
appropriate medical treatment of injured persons
"A
building emergency can develop from a number
of courses: fire, structural fault, bomb threat,
leakage of gas, civil disorder, earthquake and
others.
Emergency
procedures are designed to ensure the safety
of occupants in any of these happenings".
AS
3745 - 2002 (Emergency Control Organisations
for Buildings Structures & Workplaces)
states that, " Building owners, agents,
lessors or their representatives, should ensure
that leases not only cover the safety of the
occupants in an emergency, but include obligations
for occupants to participate in emergency planning
and evacuation exercises and acknowledge the
authority of designated wardens in emergency
situations".
Liability
under the Act has been described as being absolute,
with the courts having made it clear that the
term "ensure" involves guaranteeing,
securing or making certain.
Fire
Safety is important in ensuring the health,
safety and welfare of employees, contractors
and visitors to a building.
FIRE
SAFETY AUDITS
Fire
Audits are undertaken to determine if, at a
given point in time, the fire safety systems
meet, exceed or fall short of nominated benchmarks.
The audit may also provide information for determination
of options for remedial works or additional
activities.
BENEFITS
OF A FIRE SAFETY AUDIT
Fire
Safety audits are management tools to examine
fire safety systems against predetermined benchmarks.
The benchmark in this case is the Building Code
of Australia and Australian Standards.
Fire
Safety Audits are designed to collect information
and provide evidence related to the conformance
and effectiveness of fire safety systems depending
on the type and category of the audit.
The
fire safety audit can serve as an effective
tool to identify situations of potential hazard,
and thus allow corrective or preventative action.
There
is an inherent obligation on building owners
to use the fire safety audit information where
deficiencies are identified, for the purpose
of improving the fire safety system within an
appropriate time frame.
For more information click Download to download community notice issue 3.
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