![PP Construction Safety logo and link to home page [1]](http://www.ppconstructionsafety.com/wp-content/themes/ppcs960/images/ppcslogo.jpg)
TIMBER FRAME BUILDING FIRE RISK DEBATE
Trade body calls for withdrawal of “misleading and inaccurate report”
The UK Timber Frame Association has called from withdrawal of a RISCAuthority Report BDM14 on fire in timber frame buildings. The report was drafted by the Fire Protection Association.
The report draws parallels between fire statistics for timber frame buildings in the US and the UK. The UKTFA states that the report as “highly misleading, technically inaccurate, lacks any credible substance”.
Timber frame is here to stay
Jim Glockling, technical director of the Fire Protection Association, which administers the RISCAuthority, said it was working with the UKTFA towards a “common goal of ensuring that timber-frame structures may be insured on an equitable basis to conventional building methods”. He said: “New construction methods may alter the business and property loss potential and need to be fully understood.”
Geoff Arnold, past chairman of the UKTFA said:
“We accept that the timber frame industry has had to work hard to limit the risk of fire on construction sites but this document is quite clearly stating that the growth of lightweight timber frame will have ‘significant implications for the insured environment which may extend to the safety of firefighting personnel and building occupants alike’. In fact, if the FPA had done their job properly and employed a professional statistician to carry out this study, the exact opposite conclusion would have occurred.
From a statistical evidence point of view the report completely ignores the fundamental law of analysis that correlation does not mean causation – this is the first indicator that its author is out of his depth. There are great swathes of unjustified assumptions made throughout the report, which are then treated as facts. Warnings about the accuracy of the underlying assumptions in the source data are not replicated in the RISC report which further misleads the reader.
With clear sustainability credentials and an ability to deliver high performance low energy buildings, timber frame is here to stay. We welcome constructive dialogue on how the performance of timber frame can be further improved but inaccurate sensationalistic reports such as this by an organisation that purports to represent the insurance industry are at best unhelpful and at worst misleading.”
Latest Construction Health and Safety News
HSE CONSTRUCTION DUST CONTROL ‘BLITZ’ STARTS
Regulator inspections will check health taken as seriously as safety
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 20th September 2018FLOOR CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM OF WORK UNSAFE
Welder fell 3m from mezzanine area through purlin openings
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 20th September 2018WORKER SUFFERS FATAL BURNS IN OXYGEN RICH AREA
Sparks from angle grinder ignited clothing of workman in confined space
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 19th September 2018RIBA PUBLISH DRAFT POST GRENFELL FIRE SAFETY PLAN
Architects institute consults on ‘golden thread of fire safety information’
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 19th September 2018MAJOR UK CONTRACTORS HIT BY MAJOR FINES
Firms ordered to pay over £3m after foot trapped in rotating ‘screw’
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 19th September 2018HSE ENFORCEMENT WEEKLY UPDATE 19th SEPT 2018
Prosecutions and enforcement notices register latest version
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 19th September 2018DRIVER DIED TRAPPED BETWEEN TRAILER AND VEHICLE
Firm fined £1.5 million over failure to assess coupling operations
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 14th September 2018ACTUAL SYSTEM OF WORK WAS OPPOSITE OF RAMS
Workman fell 4m through fragile asbestos roof sheet
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 13th September 2018CDM PRINCIPAL DESIGNER FUNCTION MISUNDERSTOOD?
Consultants claim CDM 2015 design risk management has ‘gone backwards’
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 8th September 2018RISK ASSESSED PRECAUTIONS NOT IMPLEMENTED
Action not paperwork essential to prevent fall during lifting operation
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 7th September 2018CROSSRAIL PUBLISH BEST PRACTICE H&S GUIDES
Sharing major project best practice can leave a lasting legacy
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 5th September 2018SCHOOL STAFF LACKED ASBESTOS AWARENESS TRAINING
Council fined £200k over asbestos flue and gasket rope failures
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 5th September 2018INCIDENT: MEWP OVERTURN IN CITY CENTRE
Images show aftermath of mobile elevating platform collapse
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 5th September 2018SAFETY ALERT: DEFECTIVE SCAFFOLD COUPLER
National Access and Scaffolding Confederation issues warning
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 31st August 2018DEMOLISHING INTERNAL WALL REVEALED ASBESTOS
Firm lacked survey and asbestos management plan for premises
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 31st August 2018NEW HEALTH AND SAFETY TEST FOR ARCHITECTS
RIBA raise the bar for members on design risk management and ‘life safety’
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 31st August 2018POWER BUSINESSES FAILED ON LIFTING OPERATION
Panel fell on workman during turbine maintenance project
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 31st August 2018MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE FIRM COMMITS TO ZERO HARM
Behaviours to deliver zero lost time injury incident rate by 2021
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 31st August 2018MANAGING TOWER CRANE FALLING OBJECT RISK
CPA issues new technical information note
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 31st August 2018POST EXPLOSION ASBESTOS WORK WAS UNSAFE
Asbestos cement panels removed and cut with power tools
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 31st August 2018FALL THROUGH UNFLOORED FACTORY ROOF SPACE
Non-routine tasks require assessment and clear risk controls
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 31st August 2018SEVENTH LONDON CYCLIST DEATH DURING 2018
Building products vehicle involved in death of Queens doctor
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 17th August 2018MAJOR CONTRACTOR FAILED TO SUPERVISE LIFT
Errors whilst lifting pre-cast concrete blocks fined £600,000
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 14th August 2018FIRM FINED £400,000 OVER VIBRATING TOOLS RISK
Hand-held orbital sanders, rivet guns, grinders and drills caused harm
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 14th August 2018OVERHEAD POWER AND EARTHING OF SCAFFOLDS
NASC combines updates advice on scaffold electrical risks
Posted on 9th August 2018
