FIREX International 2022 agenda announced

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Some of the leading personalities in fire safety law and standards, fire risk assessments and building safety will provide a mix of informative individual presentations and expert panel discussions at FIREX International in May.

Gill Kernick has partnered organisations in high hazard industries to develop the leadership and culture needed to prevent major accidents. A former resident of Grenfell Tower herself until 2014, she is author of the book Catastrophe and Systemic Change: Learning from the Grenfell Tower Fire and Other Disasters. She will be kicking off the programme by sharing her thoughts on systemic change and the role of trust and disruption in the fire industry on 17 May.

Discussing more about the wide-ranging implications of the Building Safety Bill, the Deputy Director of the Building Safety Regulator – Tim Galloway – will be on hand on Tuesday 17 May to discuss the HSE’s new role in the building safety regime and its approach to compliance and enforcement.

View the full Expertise & Guidance Theatre agenda here

The golden thread of building safety information has been a feature of much work since Dame Judith Hackitt’s independent review of building regulations and fire safety in 2018. On 17 May, an expert panel on the role of digitised building information will discuss the ways ahead, including the provisions of the standard BS 8644 Digital management of fire safety information.

So much good practice in fire safety is underpinned by independent third-party certification of products and services. Also on Tuesday, a panel of senior representatives from third party certification organisations – such as BRE Global, BAFE and UL – will come together to discuss the steps specifiers should make to ensure they are procuring independently certificated products and services – from passive and active fire safety products and their installation, to service providers such as fire risk assessors.

The headline act for Wednesday 18 May will include a presentation from BSI on the increasingly prominent role IoT is playing in fire safety, followed by a panel discussion with key members of the Fire Industry Association’s IoT Forum debating the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Since the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the spotlight on the role of ‘stay put’ in purpose-built blocks of flats has come under scrutiny. Andy Scott, Chair of BSI’s FSH/12/5 committee on fire alarm devices, voice alarm evacuation sub-systems and emergency voice communications, examines BS 8629, the code of practice for evacuation alert systems to be used by fire and rescue services when ‘stay put’ is no longer tenable.

The specific challenges of improving fire safety in the social housing sector will be examined by Andy Frankum, Chair of the National Social Housing Fire Strategy Group, while a new standard for fire alarms for those with sensory sensitivities will be exclusively launched at FIREX by Sonny White and James Jones.

And, on Thursday 19 May, Erin Shoesmith, the Health and Safety Partner at solicitors Addleshaw Goddard, will be outlining how the legal landscape is changing under the Building Safety Bill – and not just for high-rise residential buildings.

Magirus will not participate in Interschutz 2022

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In a major development, German truck manufacturer Magirus has announced it will not participate in this year’s Intershutz.

The firm said it made careful considerations, not to take part at the Interschutz 2022 exhibition and “allocate part of the planned investment to charitable initiatives in support of firefighters in the Ukrainian conflict”.

After two long years marked by the global pandemic, which has deeply depressed the business environment, the brand was already focusing its resources on the development of its “Next Generation Firefighting” portfolio.

A statement from Magirus added: “Now, the unexpected war in Ukraine is further impacting the whole automotive and firefighting industry. Issues ranging from chassis supply to logistics challenges and very significant cost increase acceleration require Magirus to take an even more decisive step in focusing on core activities: developing the best firefighting products and services to ‘serve heroes‘.”

The brand will continue its marketing efforts for the entire product portfolio through plans to conduct an roadshow, to participate at the September IAA Transportation event in Hannover, and to host an in-house Magirus fair in the latter part of the year on its home turf in Ulm, Germany.

Additionally, in light of the ongoing crisis, Magirus has donated two turntable ladders to firefighters in Ukraine and has decided to use part of the planned Interschutz investment where it can make an immediate positive impact, contributing to the German Fire Services Association’s charitable initiative in support of Ukraine. “Magirus remains more committed than ever to its clients, dealers, suppliers, and all its stakeholders and will start planning right away to find new direct and effective ways to engage with them on an ongoing basis,” the firm added.