This document discusses different approaches to fire risk assessment and remediation. It describes four approaches to fire risk assessment: the six-step method, risk value matrix method, industrial method, and algorithmic method. It then outlines the typical six-step process for fire damage restoration: emergency contact, assessment, tarp and sealing services, clean up, repair and renovation, and consultation.

1. FIRE RISK ASSESSMENT:
DIFFERENT APPROACHES
AND REMEDIATION
Submitted by:-
Deepak Kumar Behera
715mn1114
Date:-10/09/2018

2. INTRODUCTION
• A fire risk assessment is a process involving the systematic evaluation of the factors that determine
the hazard from fire, the likelihood that there will be a fire and the consequences if one were to occur.
There are four different approaches for fire risk assessment:
• The Six-Step method
• The risk value matrix method
• An industrial method
• An algorithmic method

3. A) SIX STEP METHOD
• Step 1: Identify hazards,
• Step 2: Identify people at risk,
• Step 3: Remove/reduce hazards,
• Step 4: Assign the risk category,
• Step 5: Decide if existing fire safety arrangements are OK or need improving,
• Step 6: Record findings.

4. IDENTIFICATIONOF HAZARD
• Identifying hazards entails noting readily combustible materials or highly flammable substances. These
would include such things as paints and thinners, flammable solvents, solvent-based adhesives, flammable
gases, some plastic foams, large areas of bare hardboard, highly flammable and/or reactive chemicals etc.
• It also entails noting sources of heat such as flames or sparks from processes, sources of frictional heat,
ovens, kilns, incinerators, oil or gas fired equipment or heaters, matches and lighters, ducts or flues, light
bulbs close to flammable materials, electrical wander leads, any electrical equipment, faulty wiring,
portable heaters, etc.
IDENTIFICATIONOF PEOPLE AT RISK
• In identifying people who would be especially at risk in a fire, consideration should be given to any who are
asleep, any who are present in large numbers, any who are unfamiliar with the layout of the premises
and/or the exit routes, those who may be exposed to a particular or specific fire risk, those who have
impairments such as sight, hearing, or mobility and young people or children.
• Also taken into consideration should be any people who would be unable to react quickly enough or are
unaware of the danger of fire because they are in remote areas, because they have learning difficulties, or
because they are outside contractors who are unaware of the fire risks.

5. REMOVAL/REDUCTIONOF HAZARDS
• The removal or reduction of hazards entailed in this stage of the risk assessment can have enormous benefits
insofar as, at the end of the process, it will have produced a much safer environment.
• At this stage it should be decided whether any of these removals or reductions are to be undertaken
immediately, in the medium term, or in the long term.
ASSIGNMENTOF RISK CATEGORY
• Low: There is hardly any risk from fire, few combustibles materials, no highly flammable substances, and
virtually no sources of heat.
• Normal: There are sufficient quantities of combustible materials and sources of heat to be of greater than low
fire risk but that a fire would be likely to remain confined, or to spread but slowly.
• High: There is a serious risk to life from fire, or there are substantial quantities of combustible materials, or
there are any highly flammable substances, or there exists the likelihood of the rapid spread of fire, heat or
smoke.

6. ADEQUACY OR IMPROVEMENTOF FIRE PRECAUTIONS
• Reduction of evacuation times/escape route lengths, Installation of a sprinkler system,
• Installation of an emergency lighting system,
• Institution of better programme of fire safety training,
• Provision of, or increasing the number of fire extinguishers
• Provision of regular training and practice of fire and evacuation drills.
• Protection of escape routes,
• Provision of additional escape routes,
• Installation of a fire alarm system or more fire alarm call points
RECORDING FINDINGS
This simply entails recording the findings of the fire risk assessment, and should include the significant hazards
found to be present, the details of any staff who are especially at risk, and the date on which the assessment
was made.

7. B) RISKVALUE MATRIX METHOD
• For the purposes of this method, the probability that a fire event will occur is defined as the fire risk, and the
harm that would result from that event as the fire hazard. Remembering that the two elements of risk are
the fire hazard and the fire risk, it would be reasonable to call the overall risk the 'RiskValue' defined by the
simple formula:
RiskValue = Fire Hazard x Fire Risk
• In order to numerically measure the risk value, it is necessary to express the fire hazard and the fire risk by
assigning values to each of the two elements. The size of the risk value then becomes the basis for
categorising the workplace as being of high, normal, or low risk.
Fire Hazard Value Fire Risk
Negligible 1 Unlikely
Slight 2 Possible
Moderate 3 Quite possible
Severe 4 Likely
Very Severe 5 Very likely

8. Risk Category
5 4 3 2 1 Low
5 25 20 15 10 5 Normal
4 20 16 12 8 4 High
3 15 12 9 6 3
2 10 8 6 4 2
1 5 4 3 2 1
FIRE HAZARD
FIRERISK
Figure 1: 5 x 5 Risk Value Matrix
Risk Category
1 2 3 4 5 6 Low
1 1 2 3 4 5 6
2 2 4 6 8 10 12 Normal
3 3 6 9 12 15 18 High
4 4 8 12 16 20 24
5 5 10 15 20 25 30
6 6 12 18 24 30 36
FIRE HAZARD
FIRERISK
Figure 2: 6 x 6 Risk Value Matrix
There is no particular reason for having illustrated this method by using a 5 x 5 matrix; it could
just as well have been a 6 x 6 matrix, or an unsymmetrical matrix such as, for example, a 6 x 4
matrix. To create a 6 x 6 matrix all that is needed is to add the description catastrophic to the
fire hazard classification, and add the description of almost certain to the fire risk classification;
the resulting matrix is shown in figure 2.
The final task in this method is to decide the ranges of the risk values that will correspond to the
three categories of risk. On the assumption that the majority of work places would be of
normal risk, with very few of low risk, and perhaps slightly more of high risk, a 5 x 5 matrix - can
arbitrarily, assign low risk to values of 1-2, normal risk to values of 3-15, and high risk to values
of 16-25.

9. C) AN INDUSTRIAL METHOD
• This is in essence a variant of the risk value matrix method, although the terminology is slightly different.
The classification table is drawn up in terms of the frequency of an unwanted event (hazard, defect,) and
the harm that it would cause were it to happen, and these could be given numerical values of X and Y
respectively. An example of such a classification is shown inTable.
Frequency Value (X) Harm Value (Y)
Improbable 1 Trivial Injury 1
Possible 2 Minor Injury 2
Occasional 3 One Major Injury 3
Frequent 4 Several Major Injuries 4
Regular 5 One Death 5
Common 6 Multiple Deaths 6
Risk Factor = XY

10. • Clearly for the 6 x 6 classification table, the maximum value of the risk factor will be 36 (6 x 6) the risk factor
value of any given unwanted event can then be expressed as a percentage of this maximum value. For
example, a risk factor value of 1 would be 100 x 1/36 = 2.8% of the maximum. (For a 5 x 5 matrix, the
maximum risk factor value is 25 (5 x 5) and a risk factor value of 1 would be 100 x 1/25 = 4% of the
maximum).
Risk Rating =∑ (XY) x 2.8/n
Risk Rating Risk Category
Less than 10% Low
10% to 50% Normal
Greater than 50% High

11. D) ALGORITHMIC METHOD
A Fire Risk AssessmentAlgorithm
1 Can most flammable materials be removed? Yes- Remove flammables No- Go to 2
2 Can the most likely ignition source be separated
from the flammable materials?
Yes- Separate and go back to 1 No- Go to 3
3 Are there easily ignited materials or ones which
would give rapid fire/smoke spread? Yes- Go to 4
No- Go to 9
4 Are they throughout the workplace? Yes- Go to 7 No- Go to 5
5 Is each containing area separated from the rest of
the workplace by 1hr resistance? Yes- Go to 6
No- Go to 7
6 Do the separated areas exceed 10% of the
workplace area?
Yes- Go to 7 No- Go to 8
7 Do these area have automatic suppression? Yes- Go to 8 No- Go to 9
8 Will fire, heat and smoke spread rapidly through
workplace by ducts/surfaces/structures?
Yes- Go to 11 No- Go to 12
9 Any other flammable materials in the workplace? Yes- Go to 10 No- Go to 13
10 Any likely sources of ignition near these materials? Yes- Go to 11 No- Go to 8
11 HIGH RISK
12 NORMAL RISK
13 LOW RISK

12. REMEDIATION
Step 1: Emergency Contact
• The best fire damage restoration companies offer emergency services meaning that they are able to come
out quickly when contacted and provide immediate relief for your property. This is a very important feature
and you should always look for companies that offer this when trying to find fire damage restoration.
Step 2: Assessment
• The next thing that a fire damage restoration company will do in the fire damage restoration process is to
assess the extent of the damage in your property. This will usually involve looking at how far the fire, the
smoke, and the soot have traveled as well as seeing how badly affected your walls and furniture have been.

13. Step 3:Tarp and Sealing Services
• Once the fire damage restoration begins in earnest, the main priority will always be to prevent
damage from getting worse. For instance then, if you have a leak thanks to a hole burned in your roof
or due to a hole in your wall, then your fire damage restoration company will start by addressing that.
Step 4: Clean Up
• Next, the fire damage restoration service will begin the clean-up part of the fire damage restoration
process whereby they will clean away smoke, dust, and soot from your surfaces. After a fire often you
will find that your property looks dark, stained and charred. The first job of your fire damage
restoration company will be to clean up all this damage and get your property at least looking as
normal as possible.

14. Step 5: Repair and Renovation
• The next stage is to begin actually restoring furniture and repairing the damage caused by fire. For
instance, if cabinets have been destroyed by fire, then fire damage restoration will involve either repairing
those cabinets or replacing them with new ones. Carpets can likewise be installed a new and walls can be
repainted and wallpaper can be put back up.
• The idea of this stage is to get your property looking as good as new so that you can go back to normal.
However, the very best fire damage restoration companies will go one step further than this.
Step 6: Consultation
• Following the completion of your fire damage restoration services, you may find that the company that
provided them offers you some ‘debriefing’ and consultation on how to prevent future fires. Sometimes, it
may be the case that the fire damage was avoidable and in this case, they can offer some design advice for
your rooms or help you to find the best smoke detectors and other means for being alerted to fires early.

15. REFERENCES
• http://www.westyorksfire.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Methods-of-
Fire-Risk-Assessment-112.14kb-.docx
• http://www.cstodd.co.uk/risk-assessment.html
• https://www.securerestoration.com/fire-damage-restoration-process/