Site-Specific Risk Information

Fire and rescue authorities must make arrangements to obtain the information necessary to deliver their legislative responsibilities. This includes the requirement for site-specific assessment.

Developing Site-Specific Risk Information (SSRI) will also help to inform the wider topic of operational risk planning and management.

A site-specific assessment should take into account current legislation and regulations for inspections, and should include information on pre-planned fire and rescue service activities.

It may not be possible to identify and plan for all risks in a services area. Fire and rescue services should consider developing risk information for contexts with common hazards, such as roadways, bodies of water or warehouses.

SSRI process

Fire and rescue services should establish a programme of work for developing and distributing SSRIs, which includes the following steps:

• Develop the criteria for requirement of SSRI
• Develop systems and processes to embed a culture of SSRI gathering, recording and communication
• Produce suitable templates to record and capture the SSRI
• Identify the sites to be inspected
• Assess the type, size and severity of identified risks
• Record significant findings
• Gain local specialist advice from partner agencies or other organisations
• Ensure that familiarisation visits and exercises are carried out at identified premises or sites; this may require participation from cross-border resources
• Establish a delivery method to present SSRI in a clear and timely manner
• Embed a quality assurance programme
• Schedule reviews and audits for the validity and accuracy of such information
• Ensure communication systems are in place to inform relevant personnel, stakeholders and partner agencies of the SSRI; this may need to include resources across borders or boundaries
• Make SSRIs available to personnel in accessible formats, to help them successfully plan for and resolve incidents
• Structure risk information so it is easy to identify risk critical content, such as evacuation arrangements and significant hazards
• Identify specific operational knowledge, equipment, skills and understanding, which may need to be incorporated into local training plans
• Encourage feedback from personnel about any errors or omissions in SSRIs
• Ensure inaccuracies in or omissions of SSRIs are resolved and systems updated

Communication about and distribution of SSRIs should be compliant with the data and information strategy of the fire and rescue service. For example, information about sensitive sites may need to be protected and distribution limited to personnel who have the appropriate security clearance.

SSRI content

This guidance provides some suggested topics for the development of SSRIs. However, each fire and rescue service should develop SSRIs for the qualifying sites in their area. An SSRI gathering template has been developed for the use of fire and rescue services.

SSRI: Generic content

• Location of:
  • Specified access routes and points
  • Restricted or prohibited access routes, areas or zones
  • Rendezvous points (RVPs)
  • Strategic holding areas (SHAs)
  • Areas that are unsuitable for vehicular access
• Contact details of:
  • Responsible person
  • Duty holder
  • Accountable person
  • Specialist resources for advice or assistance
• Environmental risk
• Ground conditions
• Presence of confined spaces
• Type and location of mains utilities
• Presence of hazardous substances, including UN number
• Presence of cylinders, including acetylene
• Presence of biological hazards
• Proportionate level of response
• Salvage plans
• Disaster plans
• Alarms or warning signals
• Noise hazards
• Evacuation plans
• Facilities to evacuate or shelter large numbers of people
• Appropriate locations for firebreaks

SSRI: Firefighting media

• Water supplies:
  • Tank capacities of fire and rescue service vehicles, including tenders and carriers
  • Location
  • Distance
  • Water undertaker
  • Open water supplies
  • On-site water supplies
• Hydrants:
  • Location (available from mapping systems, local knowledge or the water undertaker)
  • District metered areas
• Requirement for specific firefighting media
• Requirement for auxiliary or specialist adaptors or coupling
• Requirement for large volumes of firefighting media
• Potential sites for high volume pumps (HVPs)

SSRI: Radio communications

• Type of radio equipment available
• Radio communication coverage for the site
• Contingency plans for failures in radio communications

SSRI: Bodies of water

• Type of use
• Launch sites and safe entry points
• Water movement, including the impact of tides
• Upstream and downstream features
• Water temperature charts
• Contact details of responsible agencies

SSRI: Buildings

• Location of:
  • Secure information boxes (SIBs)
  • Building fire control room
  • Access, egress and designated evacuation routes
  • Refuge points and protected zones
• Lifts for the use of firefighters:
  • Type of lift:
    • Firemen’s lift
    • Fire-fighting lift
    • Firefighter lift
    • Lift modernised for fire service use
  • Location of lift
  • Load rate of lift
  • Type of lift key
  • Location of lift key
  • Testing of lift controls
  • Access to reports of lift faults received from the responsible person
• Evacuation lifts:
  • Location of lift
  • Load rate of lift
  • Method of operation
• Communications
  • Radio communications between potential bridgehead floors and other floors
  • Fixed communications systems
• Presence and control of:
  • Building systems
  • Engineered solutions and associated fixed installation systems
  • Security features
• Design and layout of building:
  • Open-plan layouts
  • Atriums, including any fixed ventilation systems
  • Mezzanines, galleries, raised storage areas
  • Auditoriums or stadiums
  • Basements
• Occupancy type:
  • Vulnerable people
  • Presence of hoarding
  • People who may require assistance
  • Presence of medical oxygen
• Evacuation:
  • Evacuation strategy
  • Evacuation alert systems
  • Personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs)
  • Residential personal emergency evacuation plans (RPEEPs)
• Building design:
  • Structural elements, frames and materials
  • Construction materials
  • Compartmentation, including concealed spaces
  • Information about alterations or conversions
• Potential bridgehead locations
• Firefighting facilities, such as:
  • Protected shafts, staircases and lobbies
  • Firefighting lifts
  • Rising fire mains
• Firefighting contingency arrangements
• Firefighting water flow rates to floors in the building:
  • Critical flow rate
  • Tactical flow rate

SSRI: Flooding

• Locations that are subject to flooding
• Links to flood response plans
• Potential sites for high volume pumps (HVPs)

SSRI: Industry

• Design, layout, fixtures and fittings of site
• On-site machinery, including robotics
• On-site vehicles, including:
  • Remotely or computer-operated vehicles, including self-driving vehicles
  • Drones
• Security features
• Places of lawful detention
• Stacked materials
• Waste and recycling
• Silos and storage tanks
• Slurry storage
• Extreme heat
• Extreme cold
• Laser equipment
• Scanning equipment:
  • X-ray machines
  • MRI scanners
  • CT scanners
• Oxygen therapy chambers
• Laboratories
• Magnetic equipment
• Non-ionising radiation
• Molten materials
• Munitions
• Explosives
• Motor vehicle repair workshops
• Animal facilities
• Mines, mineshafts and quarries

SSRI: Sites of special scientific interest

• Location and boundaries of the site of special scientific interest (SSSI) or other conservation area
• Environmentally-safe areas for deployment and movement of fire and rescue service resources

SSRI: Transport

• Transport networks:
  • Type
  • Likely modes of transport
• Evacuation from:
  • Transport networks
  • Modes of transport
• Agencies likely to respond to transport related incidents:
  • Availability of incident response plans
  • Roles and responsibilities
• Methods and routes for transporting hazardous material cargo
• Aerodromes:
  • Buildings
  • Infrastructure
  • Access arrangements
• Railway infrastructure:
  • Routes and their railway infrastructure service providers
  • Provision of safe access for the fire and rescue service
  • Type and control of rail traction power:
    • Overhead line equipment (OLE)
    • Conductor rail equipment (CRE) – third rail or fourth rail systems
  • Ownership and management responsibility:
    • Train operating companies (TOCs)
    • Freight operating companies (FOCs)
    • Specialist resources for providing hazard information, including rail freight
    • Specialist resources who will attend tactical command group (TCG) briefings, including details of their jurisdiction
  • Contact details for:
    • Railway infrastructure service providers
    • Train operating companies (TOCs)
    • Freight operating companies (FOCs)
    • Specialist resources
  • Complex railway infrastructure features:
    • Railway tunnels
    • Level crossings
    • Railway arches
    • Railway bridges
    • Railway viaducts
    • Depots or sidings
•  Waterways:
  • Type of operation
  • Access and egress points
  • Isolation points

SSRI: Tunnels and underground structures

• Type, size and use
• Confined space working risk assessments
• Ventilation plans
• Compressed air working

SSRI: Utilities and fuel

• Uninterruptible power supply systems or standby generators:
  • Type and location
  • Emergency isolation
• Renewable energy systems, including photovoltaic (PV) systems and wind turbines:
  • Type and location
  • Emergency isolation
• Battery storage, including:
  • Battery energy storage systems (BESS)
  • Grid scale energy storage systems
• Gases, liquids and flowing materials:
  • Type and location
  • Emergency procedures
• Presence of chemicals:
  • Type and location
  • Emergency procedures
• High-security features:
  • High fencing with barbed wire or razor wire
  • Electrified fencing
  • Anti-climbing guards on transmission towers and poles
  • High walls
  • Armed on-site protection
• Transmission network operators and distribution network operators
• Arrangements for high-voltage isolation requests

SSRI: Wildfires

• Locations that are subject to wildfires
• Availability of wildfire fire plans
• Roles and responsibilities of agencies likely to respond to wildfires
• Potential sites for high volume pumps (HVPs)