JOIFF now has 70 Full Members (Organisations) and 23 Corporate Members (Companies) in 24 countries and is enjoying an increased influence based on its participation with other organisations. 
Mike introduced Stephen Howard, Business Group Manager, BRE Passive Fire Protection Products and Services who welcomed all on behalf of BRE Certification. BRE’s Fire and Security Testing and Certification activities fall under fire and security Approvals, construction and environmental approvals and fire, security and electronics testing, research, specialist advice, investigation and training.
Keeping up with standards
An important part of the work of BRE is directed at finding ways to reduce the very high cost in property and lives lost as a result of fires in the UK. The BRE is involved in research, policy development and guidance, in particular with the maintenance and update of UK Fire Safety Regulations for the Government. BRE Guides are available from www.brebookshop.com
BRE is a major contributor to British and International standards and is involved in all aspects of fire and security training, fire testing of products to ascertain reaction and resistance to fire, structural fire engineering and the full range of passive fire protection products, testing fixed and portable equipment for fire extinguishment, detection and alarm equipment for fire, dangerous substances and explosive atmospheres etc.
Stephen Howard points out that there are claims commonly used by suppliers when referring ‘Approval’ which include the descriptions such as: ‘Complies with’, ‘Designed to’, ‘Tested to’, ‘Certified to’ and ‘Certified by’.
These claims are no guarantee that products will meet the right standards or that they will continue to do so. The purchaser must establish for himself/herself that the correct standard been applied and should ask - will the product being bought be the same as the one tested?
BRE’s approval gives major benefits as it is risk-assessment based, applied with expert knowledge and is widely recognised.
National Occupational Standards
Geoff Carroll from the Employers Organisation, the second speaker, reported on the work of the Fire, Rescue and Safety Vocational Standards Group (FRSVSG). This represents all the major employers, trade unions, commercial fire safety organisations, professional associations and training organisations in the sector and works under the auspices of the Employers’ Organisation for local government. It is Funded by the Sector Skills Development Agency and Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and supported by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Scottish Executive.
The purpose of FRSVSG is to define, maintain and improve National Occupational Standards (NOS) for the fire and rescue services, to develop and maintain qualifications based on these NOS and to develop and maintain Apprenticeship Frameworks based on the qualifications.
NOS represent an analysis of good practice in an occupation which is broken down into units (modules) and specifies what persons should be able to do and the standard they should achieve and the knowledge and understanding for the particular occupation they require.
Geoff also discussed Apprenticeships, which are structured training programmes combining on-and-off job learning aimed at young people 16 - 25 inclusive (where Government funding is available).
He concluded his paper with a note on the current and future work programme for FRSVSG.
Halon alternatives & workwear safety
Andrew Shiner and Alan Elder of Tyco Safety Products introduced Novec 1230 Fire Protection Fluid and its use in fixed fire protection systems under the tradename Sapphire. As Novec 1230 is liquid at room temperature it is easy to transport, store and fill. In fire suppression systems, the liquid is super-pressurised with Nitrogen.
Comparisons between Novec 1230 and other Halon replacements showed that Novec 1230 has a very good environmental profile as its ozone depletion potential is 0 and its global warming potential 1, with an atmospheric lifetime of just 3 to 5 days. Because of its low vapour pressure, cylinders can be refilled on site. Approvals have been obtained in many countries and are currently being obtained in others.
Andreas Fries of DuPont Personal Protection talked about the sustained performance and comfort of personal protective equipment during its working life and the implications towards risk assessment and user specifications. In recent years, firefighters have had an increased diversity in their activities, with firefighting now forming only a small percentage of their work  - a CTIF survey in 19 countries showed it to be as low as 9%.
Figures from the USA show that heat stress is the single most important cause of injury and death of firefighters and Andreas explained how some of today’s turnout coat systems are causing firefighters to sweat and feel hot after a short time - such coats are often heavy and reduce movement.
Andreas comments that modern solutions for PPE must be a balance between protection, comfort and ergonomics and value in use. He outlined some of the work DuPont is doing with EMPA in Switzerland on its ‘Sweating Torso Mannikin’. DuPont wants to use this to identify suitable clothing assemblies that will provide the required level of protection whilst reducing heat stress to the firefighter.
Andreas identified some issues where - due to cost savings in manufacturing - the protection levels of some types of clothing have decreased in recent years. He also discussed the impact of solar radiation on colour fastness and mechanical resistance of materials and revealed that, more recently, new outer shell materials have shown significant differences in mechanical strength retention after UV exposure and natural weathering.
In conclusion, Andreas reports that comfort of PPE can be qualified and quantified by appropriate testing and that it can be monitored throughout its wear life in order to minimise heat stress. Harmonisation and standardisation may not sustain protection levels of PPE and the total useful wear life of PPE can be assessed using known testing methods of ageing materials and subsequently analysing compliance to the existing standards, he argues.
The risks from avian flu
‘Bird Flu - Tip of the Iceberg’ was a paper presented by James Ricci, a PhD Student researching National Security at the University of Canterbury. He feels that infectious diseases are a very serious non-military threat. He explained that ‘pandemic’ diseases affect humans of all ages indiscriminately and summarised the main pandemics during the 20th Century. Bird Flu is not pandemic Human Flu, he stresses.
Infectious diseases are global and Bird Flu ‘hype’ obscures the realities, he reports. He mentioned some of the diseases which have occurred globally in the 21st Century: Yellow fever, Cholera, Acute fever, Hepatitis E, Ebola, SARS, Avian Flu and Dengue fever and revealed that the most dangerous diseases in the world are categorised as special pathogens branch bio-safety level 4. Bird Flu does not even appear in this list.
Personnel in the petrochemical industry who travel to high-risk parts of the world can face a wide range of killer diseases - and there are few, if any vaccines for these diseases, James explained. Human contact is not the only way to get disease and people can be infected without knowing as some illnesses can incubate in humans for up to 3 weeks. Higher profit plus less resources equals more risk, he points out, and advised everyone to remain informed about Public Health debates and regional threats from disease. When travelling, he says, do not to assume that adequate disease treatments exist - make sure you know that they exist and plan for these kinds of threats.
LPG fire report & monitor summary
Dave Murray, JOIFF Executive Member and retired Chief Fire Officer of ConocoHumber Refinery, presented an illustrated report on a refinery fire which started at approx 14.20hrs on April 16th, 2001, when a pipe failed, leaking LPG out of a 6-inch pipeline.
The explosion occurred when the LPG got into a heater, some 45metres away and this was followed by a number of other explosions, reports Dave. Debris from the final blast was estimated to have gone 120 - 150 metres into the air.
The fire was eventually extinguished three hours later. Dave paid tribute to the Emergency Responders of ConocoHumber Refinery, Total Lindsey Refinery (which is next door) and the firefighters of Humberside Fire Brigade.
Neil Woodley of Leader Group UK Ltd. gave a paper on monitors. This included comprehensive information on what monitors are used for, the types of monitor available, flow rates and pressures, weight size and portability availability and features. Mature candidate benefits
David Charters, Director of Fire Engineering in BRE Fire and Security and International President of the Institution of Fire Engineers gave the final paper in which he discussed recent developments in the professional recognition of Fire Engineers.
He reported on the opportunities available to Mature Candidates who had years of experience in the Fire Safety Sector and detailed how they could apply for qualification with the Institution of Fire Engineers - and cross-referenced qualifications to the relevant Engineering Council Awards -without the necessity of having to sit examinations.
He emphasised the necessity of using Fire Engineering to ensure professional and safe practices. His closing remarks - on behalf of BRE - reflected how pleased BRE was to be able to host the JOIFF Members Meeting. David commented that working with organisations like JOIFF helped BRE to fulfil its charitable aim of  “championing excellence in the built environment for the benefit or all.”
The JOIFF Chairman concluded the event by thanking BRE for sponsoring the facilities and DuPont Personal Protection for sponsoring the refreshments and lunch.

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