This brief guide sets out NAHT’s response to the post-Grenfell fire-safety-in-schools debate and suggests what school leaders could do in their schools to maximise fire-safety steps.
You can use this information to provide reassurance that school leaders and their unions are being proactive in protecting children, setting a tone and narrative that you can use to communicate with staff, pupils, parents, the governing body, the academy trust and all other stakeholders.
An overview
The tragic and sad events at Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017 have naturally heightened the concern among school leaders and parents about the safety of school buildings, especially those clad in synthetic materials such as Aluminium Composite Material (ACM), which was the type of cladding on the Grenfell Tower.
Our response
NAHT has had numerous meetings with the Department for Education (DfE) and other unions to lobby the government, draft definitive guidance for school leaders, get press coverage to push the message home and provide advice for our members so that they can do the right thing.
Lobbying the government
We have, working together with other trade unions and successfully fought off attempts by the government to ‘water down’ what is known as Building Bulletin 100: Design for Fire Safety in Schools 2007 – this was, in effect, a blueprint for safe and secure school design, and it was seen as a landmark in the improvement of fire safety in schools. In 2016, the government set out proposals to remove the teeth from this blueprint. Many trade unions, including NAHT, objected in the strongest possible terms.
Following Grenfell and continued lobbying and pressing, the government finally gave in and announced the provisions set out in the original blueprint would continue to prevail. If anything, we will continue to press to build on those provisions, especially pressing for the universal installation of school sprinkler systems.
NAHT believes it would be prudent to survey all school buildings to determine whether they use combustible ACM cladding (or similar) in their construction. This would provide the DfE with a complete picture of the extent of ACM use across the school estate. It would also allow each school to conduct a risk assessment of its buildings. This would provide school leaders with relevant and clear information about their schools.
As a school leader, what practical steps can you take?
- Create a health and safety committee (if you don’t already have one)
- Consult your employer’s, school’s and trade union’s health and safety representatives
- Commission a fire-risk assessment and draft an action plan
- Assign personnel to draft or review fire-management policy and procedures
- Make sure your fire alarm system is working, and test it at agreed intervals
- Train assigned staff and raise general staff awareness, say, by an INSET day activity
- Practice evacuation procedures.
Find further information on school cladding safety checks
Questions which school leaders may have about the cladding and other fire safety issues and questions that may be asked by parents and staff
How can I find a competent fire risk assessor?
The Fire Sector Federation is an organisation that encompasses the whole fire industry. Part of the Fire Sector Federation is the Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council. The Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council is a collection of fire safety experts who, together, created a generic competency standard for fire risk assessors. A number of third-party accreditation organisations have picked up this standard and they register fire risk assessors who meet its requirements.
The Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council has published a document called ‘A guide to choosing a competent fire risk assessor’ that signposts users toward these third-party accreditation organisations. The guide can be found here and the FBU recommends its use: http://firesectorfederation.co.uk/update/resources/choosing-a-competent-fra-ver-2-1.pdf
Shouldn’t other types of cladding be tested?
The NEU, NAHT and ASCL believe it would be prudent to conduct a survey of all school buildings to determine whether any other sort of cladding has been inappropriately used in their construction. The presence of combustible cladding on a school building may have ramifications for the existing fire evacuation procedures. For example, it may be prudent to relocate an evacuation assembly area further away from a particular building that is clad with such a material, even when such a building is low rise, or to consider the safety of existing evacuation routes.
What about independent schools?
School leaders should seek expert advice from their fire risk assessor if they suspect their school has buildings clad in ACM materials, especially if they are used for residential accommodation.
What about removal of cladding?
You may face questions from parents and staff about the nature of the cladding on their school building and to what extent, if any, it poses a risk and whether it should be removed. Again, this is an issue best addressed by a competent risk assessor and is a reason why a revised risk assessment would be helpful.
Staff and parents may have legitimate concerns if a school building has been cladded in a material that makes it more likely to burn, unless they can be satisfied that expert advice has confirmed that other mitigating steps, for example a sprinkler system, are in place.
My school contains asbestos. Is it possible that checks on cladding could disturb it?
This is a very pertinent issue since nearly 90 per cent of schools contain asbestos. Checks on cladding may indeed disturb asbestos, potentially exposing both those performing the work and any staff or pupils in the vicinity. Some schools may not be well placed to manage contractors conducting invasive installations or investigations. It’s critical that contractors are made aware of known asbestos in a school and can recognise asbestos that may not be recorded.
Some schools may be considering the installation of extra protective systems, particularly sprinklers. This is an excellent idea but it’s essential that work is performed safely and without exposing contractors, staff and pupils to asbestos materials that may be present.
The NEU, NAHT and ASCL, along with the other teaching and support staff unions are members of the Joint Union Asbestos Committee which campaigns for improved asbestos management in schools. More information and guidance on managing asbestos in your premises is available on the JUAC website
DfE guidance on managing asbestos in schools is here
How should information be shared with parents and staff?
NEU, NAHT and ASCL advocate a policy of total openness and transparency. Staff briefings and meetings for parents will help reassure the school community once school leaders have all the facts at their disposal.
It’s suggested that school leaders be mindful of the terminology used when addressing staff and parents. The DfE refers to cladding that is to some extent combustible as being ‘not of limited combustibility’. The unions have pointed out that adding a negative to the phrase ‘limited combustibility’ makes it opaque and confusing. ‘Limited combustibility’ is a technical term used in Approved Document B to the Building Regulations. The term ‘limited combustibility’ was coined to describe plasterboard.
When exposed to fire, the tin paper face of plasterboard burns a little (so it cannot be described as ‘non-combustible’), but the burning is only very slight and in general, plasterboard provides good protection against fire spread (so it would be wrong to describe it as ‘combustible’). In essence, a building material of ‘limited combustibility’ is one that displays the burning characteristics of plasterboard. Certain ACM materials do not provide this protection against the spread of fire.
They are therefore described as not having properties that inhibit the spread of fire, hence the term ‘not of limited combustibility’. This is confusing to the general reader, so if a school has ACM cladding of this type we suggest that this is explained to staff and parents, alongside the fire protection systems that mitigate the spread of fire.
Also please remember to consult with trade union health and safety representatives, as this is not only good practice but is required under the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977, known as the Brown Book.
About NAHT
NAHT is the leading union for school leaders’ and as a member you get access to legal support and advice, discounts and deals on your daily purchases, access to a mentoring scheme and savings on our highly-rated CPD courses and conferences. To join us, visit out membership page.