Fireshield Fire Protection | Fire Blankets

FIRE BLANKETS

FIRE BLANKET PROVISION

“The responsible person, where necessary, must ensure that the premises are equipped with appropriate fire-fighting equipment in order to safeguard the safety of relevant persons.”

Following the Code of Practice for the Selection, Installation, Commissioning and Maintenance of Fire Blankets Manufactured to BS EN 1869 will ensure compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

Fireshield Fire Protection Ltd can assist on the selection and positioning of fire blankets to ensure your building complies.

A fire blanket is an essential item of fire safety equipment. Used to extinguish fires such as cooking oil, saucepan and frying pan fires, as well as flammable liquid and clothing fires by cutting the supply of oxygen to the fire.

Our JT510 fire blankets are certified to BS EN 1869:2019, the first fire blanket in the world approved to the new standard. This certification provides complete peace of mind in the fire blankets performance when it is needed most. The new revision includes some important changes and for the first time assesses the performance of fire blankets against both cooking oil fires and flammable liquid fires.

Our fire blankets are manufactured in the UK from a unique 3-ply material, two layers of woven glass fibre fabric with an inner layer of fire-retardant film.

As with all safety equipment, care should be taken to avoid inferior products

Fire blankets should be available for immediate use at all times in the room where it is likely to be required. They should be wall mounted where they can be readily seen and should be indicated by signs.

Fire blankets should be mounted so as to position the pull tapes approximately 1.5m from the floor.
Ideally Fire blankets should be sited in the same room as the fire hazard concerned and no further than 10m from where they are likely to be needed.
The prospective operator should not be required to pass through doorways to reach the nearest fire blanket

Fire blankets should not be located:

Where a potential fire might prevent access to them.
Over or close to heating appliances.
In concealed positions behind kitchen furniture and/or equipment, behind doors, in cupboards, drawers or deep recesses.
Where they might be damaged.

FIRE BLANKET SELECTION

Fire blankets are available in various sizes and should be selected to extinguish or aid extinction of the fire risk in the location

To smother and extinguish small fires on a surface or in small containers, a smaller blanket should ideally be selected.

To smother and extinguish fires involving clothing a larger fire blanket should ideally be selected.

FIRE BLANKET MAINTENANCE

“Where necessary in order to safeguard the safety of relevant persons the responsible person must ensure that any facilities, equipment and devices provided are subject to a suitable system of maintenance and are maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair.”

Fireshield Fire Protection Ltd can assist with the maintenance requirement of fire blankets to

ensure your building complies.

COMMISSION SERVICE AND INSTALLATION

The commissioning of a fire blanket should be carried out by a competent person. Upon removal from its packaging and transit protection, and immediately prior to placing in its designated place, the fire blanket should undergo a sequence of commissioning service actions:

Examine the container for serious damage that could impair the safe operation of the fire blanket or the life of the blanket held inside.
Check the operating instructions for correctness and legibility, ensuring that the text is in English.
Wall mount the fire blanket securely, ensuring that the pull tapes are readily accessible, as designed.
Check that the blanket is able to be easily released from the container as the manufacturer intended, by following the operating instructions.
Check that the fire blanket has not been used; is not obviously damaged or has any pull tapes missing or unsatisfactorily affixed to the blanket.
Affix the maintenance label to the blanket in an appropriate position on the container, and complete the details on the maintenance label as recommended in the Basic Service.

VISUAL INSPECTION

The responsible person should carry out visual inspections of all fire blankets at least once a month.

Check fire blankets are in position, accessible and visible.
Check operating instructions and signage are legible.
Check pull tapes are visible and undamaged.
Check blanket has not been used.
Check for signs of obvious damage.
Record results and arrange corrective action if required.

BASIC SERVICE

To comply with the Code of Practice for the Selection, Installation, Commissioning and Maintenance of Fire Blankets Manufactured to BS EN 1869 all blankets should be subject to a Basic Service at least annually carried out by a competent person.

Examine the container for serious damage that could impair the safe operation of the fire blanket or the life of the blanket held inside.
Check the operating instructions for correctness and legibility, ensuring that the text is in English.
Check that the fire blanket is securely wall mounted ensuring that the hand hold devices are readily accessible, as designed.
Check the age of the fire blanket.
Check that the blanket is able to be easily released from the container as the manufacturer intended by following the operating instructions.
Check that the fire blanket has not been used; is not obviously damaged or has any pull tapes missing or unsatisfactorily affixed to the blanket. Check the label attached to the blanket to ensure it is manufactured to BS EN 1869.
Reassemble the fire blanket in accordance with the folding instructions of the blanket manufacturer.
Complete the details on the maintenance label.
Write an inspection report advising the responsible person of the state of maintenance of the fire blanket.

The maintenance record should be indelibly marked on a durable label that is fixed firmly to the fire blanket container without obscuring any of the manufacturer’s markings and instructions.

The following information should be given on the maintenance label:

Type of action (commissioning or basic service).
Name and postal address of the maintenance provider.
The date (year and month) of the maintenance

This information should be readable without any special equipment.

EVALUATION OF FITNESS

Any fire blanket with a major defect or defects which make it unsafe for use should be immediately removed from its designated place, and marked “CONDEMNED” together with the reason for this assessment.

The responsible person should be advised in the written report that a permanent replacement is needed as soon as possible.

Evaluation of whether the damage or wear to a fire blanket make it unsafe for use depends on the judgement of the service provider.

Potentially the most serious hazard presented by a defective fire blanket is its inability to either (a) be deployed or (b) starve a fire of oxygen, allowing the fire to burn uncontrollably after deployment. These could be caused by any of the following conditions:

Wear, contamination or damage to the fire blanket material.
Wear or damage to the fire blanket pull tapes.
Serious damage to the container.
Fire damage to the container or fire blanket.
Age. Follow manufacturer’s instructions, or if there are none then if more than 7 years from date of commissioning, consider replacing the blanket.
Illegible marking or operating instructions.
Instructions not in English.
Not manufactured to comply with BS EN 1869.