Fire Protection Engineering Consultancy
Work with the Industrial Specialist.
Fire Engineering and Technical Consultancy is at the heart of our business. We have developed extensive experience across various sectors throughout the UK and worked with some of the biggest chemical companies in the world. By forming partnerships with our clients, we deliver bespoke solutions to ensure your business is prepared should the unthinkable happen.
Prescriptive vs Performance Based
Unlike other fire protection companies, we don’t just adopt a prescriptive approach to every situation. While prescriptive code compliance may be suitable for some projects, it can severely hinder the progress of others. At Firenta, we adopt a risk based, performance approach with our fire engineering to ensure you facility is suitably protected without constraint.
Extensive network of specialists
We have a network of Fire Engineering specialists throughout the UK who specialise in different sectors and we maintain strong links with governing bodies, local authorities, and training establishments. This is to ensure we keep up to date with the latest developments and our people are the right people to support you, front start to finish.
If you would like to discuss the fire protection needs within your company, contact us for further information.
Computational Fluid Dynamics
In many projects (particularly buildings of innovative design and complexity), computational fluid dynamics (CFD) will likely be required as part of a design process to establish expected temperatures and smoke movement a fire situation. This may be to validate a building design or to justify deviation from codes or ‘best practice’.
Working closely with one of our chartered associates, we can provide computational fluid dynamic modelling to assess the tenability limits within a compartment and the sizing of smoke control vents.
To speak to us about how Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) modelling can support your project, contact us.
Consequence Analysis (DNV PHAST)
As Competent users of DNV’s PHAST, If you need consequence analysis for Safety case submission, modelling for your pre-incident plans or you want to demonstrate best practice to industry regulators by demonstrating risks have been analysed as far as reasonably practicable, we can help.
PHAST is the world’s most comprehensive process hazard analysis software, to provide consequence analysis for all stages of design and operation. PHAST examines the progress of a potential incident from the initial release to far-field dispersion analysis including modelling of pool spreading and evaporation, and flammable and toxic effects. To meet your risk management goals, you need a robust understanding of the hazards posed by a process facility.
Industrial Emergency Pre-Incident Planning
When it comes to Pre-Incident Planning, we really are specialists. We utilise over 10 years of experience across various COMAH sites to produce bespoke pre-plans to support your onsite personnel and the local fire authority during a major incident. We have delivered pre-plans for some of the largest oil companies throughout the UK covering a wide range of Incident scenarios.
Our pre-plans involve an evaluation of your credible scenarios, an assessment of their potential consequences and an analysis of resources required to respond to them. We base our plans on the logical steps required to mitigate the effects of the incident and bring it to a safe and successful conclusion. We continually develop our plans to ensure they are innovative and industry leading, while remaining practical for use by the people who need them.
Some of the main features our plans include (but not limited to):
Fire Strategy Development
Design Phase:
A fire strategy is recommended in the design of all new buildings. The aim of the strategy is to identify the fire safety objectives for life safety as well as property protection, and specify how these objectives are achieved. In some of the simpler building designs, fire strategies may be achieved through a prescriptive basis by adhering to codes such as Building regulations and British standards. However, when achieving compliance against these codes is not practicable due to the innovative and complex design, an engineering solution may be required.
A comprehensive fire strategy should contain (but not limited to) sections including the strategy for management of fire safety, evacuation strategy, fire and smoke control, fire service access and the fire protection strategy.
Construction Phase
Fire Strategies can also cover construction projects to ensure the safety or personnel is continually maintained as the environment changes around them. Firenta have experience in reviewing fire strategies on construction projects around the UK and making recommendations for their improvements.
Existing building
When looking at Fire Strategies for existing buildings, they may be required as ‘due diligence’ on a building before major financial investment is made to ensure the building is compliant with fire safety legislation. This prevents organisations buying property only to find they have been modified without consent and now require further investment to rectify and make safe for occupancy.
Evacuation Modelling
For most standard building designs, codes such as BS 9999 and Approved Document B (ADB) are usually sufficient to establish the design of travel distances, escape routes and exit doors to a reasonable standard.
However, with more innovate and complex building designs and the subsequent large numbers of people to facilitate, hand calculations (such as those found in PD7974) may not be suitable. Therefore, evacuation modelling is usually the best option.
Speak to us now to find out how our evacuation modelling services can help you.
Compliance Auditing and Consultation
If you would like your facility audited as preparation to a corporate audit or you would like us to audit your tenants within your industrial complex, we can help. We have experience auditing tenants for our clients to ensure they are operating in a safe and compliant manner. If we find that things are not quite right, we work closely with all parties to ensure that standards are raised and maintained, in a cost effective and timely manner.
Regulatory Advice
The Industrial, chemical, and oil and gas sector has a vast range of guidance codes available to ensure your facility is both compliant and demonstrating best practice. Sometimes it may seem daunting trying to understand the overwhelming amount of information which is available but don’t worry -we can help.
We have extensive experience of the fire prevention legislation and supporting guidance documents that governs these sectors. So if you need advice on understanding and implementing the guidance within these documents, get in touch.
Gap Analysis Services
We understand that continual assessment of safety critical procedures and control measures within an organisation are important. A Gap Analysis review is an extremely useful tool to evaluate a company’s current position to identify any areas for improvement. There are various approaches which can be taken when carrying out a gap analysis. The analysis can assess compliance across a full fire prevention policy or it can be a focused examination of an area within your response philosophy. There is often advantage in using external specialists to support you and provide a fresh perspective.
Here at Firenta, we can help you with this. We have a multi-disciplined team of specialists who can carry out a gap analysis and then work with you in producing a workable action plan. Contact us now to find out more.
After a successful launch of our new website, we would like to thank the team at Blast Digital in Hartlepool (Blast-digital.com) for their work and support throughout the duration of the project. We look forward to working with James and the team on the next phase of the project.
The 24th and 25th of May saw the return of HAZMAT 2017 - an event ran by NCEC (part of RICARDO-AEA) which provides the opportunity for Hazmat specialists to share experiences and knowledge with like-minded professionals working in the hazmat response industry. The event draws upon the knowledge and experience of a range of hazmat professionals and industry leaders, as well as that of NCEC’s own emergency responders & Tactical HAZMAT. This Year, Firentas' own Senior Fire Engineer, An...
