Last week I stayed in a hostel (bunkhouse) in Scotland. It was spanking new and beautifully set up. The kitchen was very well equipped. In its well-filled guest book, all the guests said how good it was, and how nice the staff were. But there were two faults that were mentioned many times. This is one of them:
The dorms were off a covered outdoor deck, motel-style. They had windows on to the deck, with roller blinds. Along the deck were 3 BRIGHT lights, which were set to be ON throughout the hours of darkness. These lights were almost exactly outside the dorm windows. So, within the dorm, it looked like dawn was breaking outside. All night. Such a pity in a quiet location where no other lights are in view.
I mentioned this to the owner on the occasion that I saw her. She said, essentially, "I was told to do this by the health & safety person, otherwise I wouldn't have got the certificate. They are in case there is a fire".
Of course I have no idea what discussions went on between the designers and the officials. But I could see that the fire problem would be sufficiently solved by a fainter light at each end of the deck, not shining directly on any of the windows.
Of course fire precautions are important, but isn't this absurd? Has anyone had any discussions with fire officials, and are they rigid in their demands or are they open to modifications?
15 years
Fire inspectors are a necessary pain. Every one we have had over the years picks out stuff previous one missed and encourages us to upgrade and then comments on stuff that was put in early based on another inspection and says it was unnecessary. Rule of thumb. Always be polite and nice even if they irritate you. If you don't they can make your life a living hell even if you do everything right.
15 years
I can't somment in this case, but it is important to distinguish between fire regulations and advice from H&S consultants. In my opinion consultants can often be trying to get themselves work, and give conflicting advice to another consultant. The fire sevice themselves will doa consultation if asked - I've found their advice often conflicts with that of consultants. To me the most important thing is to comply with the letter of the law. In the UK this is quite explicit, and in the UK includes self closing fire doors, emergency lights which come on in every dorm and public area, alarms audible in every room to a certain db rating, dectectors connected to a central control in every room - amongst many other things. Whether maintained (always on) lights are a legal requirement outside every dorm, I'd have my doubts - but I'm no expert on this.
A lot of these things such as the closing (sometimes slamming) doors, quite bright LEDs on emergency lights in dorms which are always on have made the abience of hostels a bit less personal, but certainly must be complied with if you want to be in business.
15 years
Scotch Argus,
I do agree with your comments on the consultants. They will sell you whatever you will take. Have a quote for over $6000 sitting on my desk due to all the supposed deficiencies. Funny how the fire inspector noted none of the so called deficiencies but commented on a couple of other things (that we upgraded quickly) and also commended on some of the other items we had already upgraded. I may not have been clear in my previous message.
15 years
We had one consultant in one year who told us that the fire blanket in the kitchen (heat proof cloth to throw over a burning pot on stove) was to close to the stoves, and if there was a fire could be obscured by smoke, or be behind a pot that was on fire. We were advised to move it to the other side of the romo. The next year we had another guy in who told us that it was too far away from the cookers, and should be moved next to them. Clearly they can't both be right, and each recommendation was just one man's opinion - as far as the regulations go, we are just required to have afire blanket in the kitchen - there's no stipulation exactly how far it has to be from the stoves. The point to me is that if you get a H&S type conultant in, they will feel obliged to make recommendations - it's just important to know when they are advising about legal requirements, and when they are just an opinion. Opinions can be fine of course, and they may well see some things that others don't, and offer good advice - personally I take it all on board, but make my own mind up (with reference to our legal obligations of course).
Related Pages
Log in to join discussion