Vulnerable People

Grenfell Firefighters – Serious Health Disorders Resulting From Smoke Inhalation Both Inside & Outside The Tower. Does Anybody Care ?!?!?

2025-01-10:  DOES Anybody Care ?  AHJ’s ?  Fire Service Administrations ?  Civil Society ?

Frontline Firefighters (and their long-term Health) are severely ill-treated as a disposable asset in far too many societies around the world … a shameful reality … completely and utterly unacceptable !!

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Sustainable Fire Engineering (SFE) facilitates the realization of a Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment for ALL

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Resilience: The ability to function reliably during normal conditions, to withstand, adapt to or absorb unusual disturbance, disruption or damage, and thereafter to quickly return to an enhanced state of function.

Does it not make the utmost sense, therefore … if there is a Fire in a #Building or #Facility … that healthy, disciplined, expertly trained … and properly equipped, protected and resourced (under competent leadership and management) … #Firefighters would arrive quickly at the #FireScene and effectively extinguish the #Fire before it causes too much damage to property and harm to people … thus enabling the rapid and economically-efficient re-commencement of that building’s / facility’s functioning ??

Firefighters are an Invaluable Social Asset in a Resilient Built Environment !

Firefighter Safety Must Urgently be Included as a Functional Requirement in ALL Building Fire Codes

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THE GRENFELL TOWER FRONTLINE FIREFIGHTERS

In its January 2025 issue, the Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine (JOEM) published the following Paper :

Grenfell Tower Fire – Toxic Effluents and Assessment of Firefighters’ Health Impacts

by Anna A. Stec, PhD ; David A. Purser, PhD ; and T. Richard Hull, PhD.

[ Click Title Above – PDF File, 175 Kb ]

Objective: This study assesses the health symptoms and longer-term health outcomes of Firefighters who attended the Grenfell Tower Fire in June 2017.

Methods: All available data sources were analysed, including databases published by the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry, the Firefighter Cancer and Disease Registry, incident logs, and sickness reports up to 3 years post-fire.

Results: More than three times as many firefighters who reported exposure to smoke during the fire also reported digestive and respiratory diseases following the fire, compared with those not reporting exposure to smoke.  Other more complex relationships are reported among smoke exposure, immediate health symptoms, and longer-term health outcomes.

Conclusions: The incident’s urgency led many professional firefighters to operate without Respiratory Protection Equipment (RPE), resulting in debilitating health effects.

Paper Introduction …

Recently, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer ( https://www.iarc.who.int ) classified the firefighting occupation as Carcinogenic to Humans – Group 1.  Studies show that the incidence and mortality of cancers and other diseases among firefighters are higher compared with the population they serve.  Recent data from UK Studies revealed that more than 4% of surveyed firefighters have received a cancer diagnosis.

Furthermore, the age-specific cancer rate was up to 323% higher for firefighters aged 35 to 39 years, when compared with the general population.

Firefighter exposure to fire effluents occurs through different phases of fire intervention (e.g. attack, knockdown) and in firefighters’ work environments, such as fire stations, vehicles, and firefighter turnout gear.  These residues may be inhaled or ingested via hand-to-mouth contact, depending on hygiene practices after firefighting.  Moreover, they have been detected on firefighters’ skin due to gear penetration, contact with contaminated gear, or contact with exposed skin areas such as the face and neck.

With the exception of the Fire Department of New York World Trade Centre Health Programme ( https://www.fdnywtcprogram.org ), there is no data on firefighters’ health symptoms from major building fires.  In this investigation, relationships have been identified between various long-term exposures to toxicants from fire and different health disorders.  For instance, exposure to fire effluents such as benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, 1,3-butadiene, ethylene oxide, and formaldehyde has been linked to myeloid leukaemia.  Similarly, prostate cancer has been associated with exposure to benzene and styrene.

Inhaling fire effluents such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide results in hypoxic stress, forcing the heart to exert extra effort during firefighters’ physical stress.  Also, inhalation and absorption into the bloodstream of ultra-fine soot particles enhance atherosclerosis and thrombosis.  Both effects can lead to cardiovascular diseases.  Exposure to asbestos, silica, and inorganic dust through inhalation is also believed to contribute to firefighters’ heightened risk of pulmonary diseases.

There is mounting evidence from both human and animal studies indicating that inhalation of air pollutants (carbon monoxide, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, etc.) can also increase the risk of neurological diseases including neurodegenerative health and cognitive impairment.  Furthermore, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter have been linked to adverse respiratory outcomes.  The combined effects of frequent dehydration and chronic exposure to fire effluents may also synergistically damage the kidneys.  Certain metals such as cadmium, chromium, copper, and lead can adversely affect multiple bodily systems, including the gastrointestinal tract; haematopoietic, cardiovascular, central and peripheral nervous systems; kidneys; and immune and reproductive systems, potentially leading to cancers.

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry ( https://www.grenfelltowerinquiry.org.uk ) was instructed to examine evidence relating to the circumstances in which 72 Victims lost their lives.  It was not instructed to consider any short and long-term health effects of the firefighters / other emergency responders, survivors of the fire who escaped from the Tower … or residents who lived, or still live, within the vicinity of the Tower.  The aim of this study was to collect and evaluate all available data from the Grenfell Fire, assessing firefighters’ self-reported exposure to fire smoke and heat, and physiological and toxicological health symptoms and outcomes related to their activities and the use of respiratory protective equipment (RPE) during the first 20 hours of the Fire.

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POST-FIRE CONTAMINATED SOIL AROUND GRENFELL TOWER

Part-Map of London, in colour, showing the location of Grenfell Tower between Notting Hill, Shepherd's Bush and Ladbroke Grove ... and a very lightly shaded area, in red, within a deep red circle approximately 1 Km from the Tower ... which indicates where soil has been found to be contaminated by toxic effluents from the Fire back in 2017. At the bottom of this map, on the right, can be found a scale for distance: 0.5 Km relative to 0.5 Mile ... and, on the left, a thumbnail map of the whole city showing the area of concern.
Click to enlarge.

For Local Residents, especially Vulnerable Residents – What are the Short and Long-Term Adverse Health Effects Resulting from the Fire in June 2017 ?   It is now 2025 !

Does Anybody Care ?!?!?

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‘Forever Chemicals’ … PFAS CONTAMINATION – HIGH PRIORITY JOINT PRESENTATION

Large portions of this joint Presentation are concerned with Firefighter #Safety, Firefighter #PPE, and Firefighting #Foams …

U.S.A. National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health – 21 April 2023

Overview of Per and PolyFluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Activities and Considerations

by Miriam Calkins, PhD, MS, Research Industrial Hygienist – CDC / NIOSH / DFSE / FRB

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NIOSH Research, Technical Support & Strategies

by Susan Moore, PhD, Associate Director for Science, Co-Coordinator Public Safety Sector, Co-Coordinator Personal Protective Technology – CDC / NIOSH / NPPTL

[ Click Either Title Above – PDF File, 7.03 Mb ]

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OTHER INFORMATION SOURCES

  • New York City WTC 9-11 Health Registry.  Established in 2002 to monitor the health (physical, mental, psychological) of any person directly exposed to the WTC 9-11 Fires & Building Collapses … https://www.nyc.gov/site/911health/index.page

 

  • World Health Organization / International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).  Monograph Volume 132 – Occupational Exposure As A Firefighter … https://publications.iarc.fr/615
Click to enlarge.

WHO / IARC Monograph Volume 132 – Occupational Exposure As A Firefighter

 

Click to enlarge.

NIOSH (USA) Graphic Breakdown of Firefighter Safety

AND … Better Design of Buildings & Facilities for Firefighter Safety ?!?!?

In Addition to ‘Access’ … Firefighter Safety Must Urgently be Included as a Functional Requirement in ALL Building #FireCodes

 

  • Findings from a 2010-2015 NIOSH (USA) Study of Cancer among nearly 30,000 Firefighters active between 1950 and 2009.  Published July 2016.  Download PDF File (118 Kb).

 

  • Lancet Oncology Editorial: ‘Fire and Their Smouldering Health Effects’.  February 2025.  Includes many important Links.  Download PDF File (153 Kb).

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END

#SFE #SustainableFireEngineering #Reality #Reliability #Redundancy #Resilience #Safety #FFsafety #Health #FFhealth #Welfare #FFwelfare #GrenfellTowerFire #GrenfellTowerInquiry #SmokeInhalation #RPE #SCBA #ToxicEffluents #WHO #IARC #WTC911 #FDNY #WTChealthProgram #LocalResidents #VulnerablePeople #FireSafety4ALL #HarmfulHealthImpacts #PFAS #ForeverChemicals #Cancer #FirefighterTurnoutGear #FirefightingFoams #JOEM #TheLancet #Oncology #AHJ #FireServiceAdministrations #CivilSociety #Sustainability #SIA #SustainabilityImpactAssessment #SocialWellbeing4ALL

Miserable Excuse For A Fire Evacuation Staircase In The Grenfell Tower – Supported By Shoddy ‘Expert’ Evidence !

2024-10-06:  After reading the  Grenfell Tower Inquiry  Phase 1 Recommendations (Chapter 33) … I was naturally curious about what would be happening during the next phase.  Paragraph 34.14 in Chapter 34, however, struck me as strange, even unbelievable … the single narrow #Stairs in the Tower would NOT be the subject of further investigation in Phase 2..

This is the Ridiculous Single Narrow Fire Evacuation Staircase in the High-Rise Residential Grenfell Tower … Very Badly Designed With a Handrail on One Side Only …

Colour Photograph showing the Single, Narrow Staircase (1.04 metres in width between a handrail on one side of the stairs and a bare wall, without any handrail, on the other side) in London’s High-Rise Grenfell Residential Tower.
Colour Photograph showing the Single, Narrow Staircase (1.04 metres in width between a Handrail on one side of the stairs and the Bare Wall, without any handrail, on the other side) in London’s High-Rise Grenfell Residential Tower.  Click to enlarge.

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Colour Photograph - a screen grab from a video - showing the immediate post-fire condition of the Tower's Single, Narrow Staircase which became smoke logged during the fire.
Colour Photograph – screen grab from a video – showing the immediate post-fire condition of the Tower’s Single, Narrow Staircase which became smoke logged during the fire.  Click to enlarge.

Although the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Recommendations (Chapter 113) concluded by looking back to Phase 1, and specifically mentioning Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (#PEEP) … nothing was said about the Fire Evacuation Staircase.  Case closed.  And there is only one word to describe this outcome: FUBAR !!

Struggling to understand that highly questionable decision by Martin Moore-Bick … two pieces of technical evidence supported and gave shape to the outcome (Paragraph 34.14, Phase 1-Volume 4: ‘Stairs’) … evidence which is shoddy, technically inept, entirely divorced from the reality of how real people use real buildings … and shamefully unethical.

A deep dive into the Phase 1 ‘Expert’ Technical Evidence led me, first of all, to the question of ‘Width’ … and to this Page from Report BLAS0000019, dated 2018-10-24 …

Graphic Image from Report BLAS0000019, in colour, purporting to show that the single narrow staircase in Grenfell Tower was, in fact, wide enough to properly function as a Competently Designed, SAFE Fire Evacuation Staircase for Occupants, while also serving as an Attack & Rescue Staircase for Firefighters ... utterly absurd nonsense ! Click to enlarge.
Graphic Image from Report BLAS0000019, in colour, purporting to show that the single narrow staircase in Grenfell Tower was, in fact, wide enough to properly function as a Competently Designed, SAFE Fire Evacuation Staircase for Occupants, while also serving as an Attack & Rescue Staircase for Firefighters … utterly absurd nonsense !  Click to enlarge.

A later deep dive into the Phase 1 ‘Expert’ Technical Evidence led me to that Headline Grabbing ‘7 Minutes’ Full Building Evacuation Time … and to these 2 Pages from Report DAPR0000001, dated 2018-11-05 …

Graphic Image from Report DAPR0000001, in colour / highlighted text, purporting to show that 293 Able-Bodied Adult Occupants could 'clear the building' in a maximum time of approximately 7 Minutes ... using this single 'quite narrow', badly designed staircase in Grenfell Tower ... academic tripe divorced from reality ! Click to enlarge.
Graphic Image from Report DAPR0000001, in colour / highlighted text, purporting to show that 293 Able-Bodied Adult Occupants could ‘clear the building’ in a maximum time of approximately 7 Minutes … using this single ‘quite narrow’, badly designed staircase in Grenfell Tower … academic tripe divorced from reality !  Click to enlarge.

These 2 Pages above flesh out the details behind that ‘7 Minutes’ … a period which DOES NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT … more than a doubling of the ‘normal’ time necessary for evacuation during the highly stressful conditions of a ‘real’ fire emergency (refer to the NIST WTC 9-11 Final Reports) … extra, extra time needed for vulnerable occupants to evacuate or be rescued, e.g. children, people with disabilities, people with serious health conditions, pregnant women … extra time for evacuation in pitch black, dense smoke and toxic/irritant gas logged conditions … extra time for trampling over other incapacitated/dead occupants and fire hoses on the staircase … extra time for the creeping sensation that the single staircase handrail is becoming too hot to grasp and give much needed assistance and guidance … extra time required when encountering ‘firefighters with bulky equipment’ on the stairs, either coming up or going down … etc., etc., etc.

Graphic Image from Report DAPR0000001, in colour / highlighted text, outlining many of the important and obvious qualifications to that Headline Grabbing '7 Minutes' Full Building Evacuation Time. The single 'quite narrow' staircase in Grenfell Tower was NOT WIDE ENOUGH, in reality, to properly function as a Competently Designed, SAFE Fire Evacuation Staircase for Occupants, while also serving as an Attack & Rescue Staircase for Firefighters. Click to enlarge.
Graphic Image from Report DAPR0000001, in colour / highlighted text, outlining many of the important and obvious required qualifications to that Headline Grabbing ‘7 Minutes’ Full Building Evacuation Time.  The single ‘quite narrow’ staircase in Grenfell Tower was NOT WIDE ENOUGH, in reality, to properly function as a Competently Designed, SAFE Fire Evacuation Staircase for Occupants, while also serving as an Attack & Rescue Staircase for Firefighters.  Click to enlarge.

At 02.35 hrs on the morning of 14 June 2017, 116 people were still inside Grenfell Tower.

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So … What Should Any Competently Designed, SAFE Fire Evacuation Staircase For Building Occupants Look Like … Which Will Also Successfully Serve As An Attack & Rescue Staircase For Firefighters ?

Three Important Documents Relevant To Staircase Design :

  1. Orientation Manual for First Responders on the Evacuation of People with Disabilities, Document FA-235 / August 2002, published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (#FEMA) in the #USA.  Yes indeed, this document was published way back in 2002, and is still freely available on the Internet.

A vital piece of information with regard to the Firefighter’s Lift, and the serious harm which can be inflicted on People with Disabilities by its use …

Click to enlarge.

In the absence of an operable Lift/Elevator Fire Evacuation Assembly in a building … which is still usually the norm … this photograph provides vital information with regard to the Correct, Best and Least Hazardous Method of assisting the evacuation of a person using a Manual Wheelchair.  Electric wheelchairs are too heavy, and too awkward in shape, to be lifted down/up a Fire Evacuation Staircase, even with three sturdy individuals assisting.  Note that some elaborate, highly-adapted and very expensive manual wheelchairs cannot facilitate being lifted.  In all cases, however, Vulnerable People requiring Mobility Aids will be most reluctant to leave them behind in an emergency … and they MUST be allowed to keep their personal mobility aid.

Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.

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  1. Final Report on the Collapse of the World Trade Centre Towers 1 & 2 (on 2001-09-11), Document NIST NCSTAR 1 / September 2005, published by the National Institute of Standards & Technology (#NIST) in the USA.  Refer to Recommendation 17 on pages 215 and 216.

[ Contraflow Circulation, in a Fire Building:  Emergency access by firefighters or rescue teams into a building and towards a real fire, while building users are still moving away from the fire and evacuating the building. ]

Contraflow Circulation during a Fire Emergency is essential.  This facilitates rapid and safe movement of firefighters towards Fire Protected Lift/Elevator Lobbies and Areas of Rescue Assistance in order to check on the presence, or otherwise, of Vulnerable People who may be waiting for rescue.

Once Firefighters enter a Fire Building … and without provision for #Contraflow Circulation … the ordering of a ‘Stay Put’ Policy for building occupants is the only difficult option … but this is NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE.

Carefully examine the photograph below.  Firefighters wearing heavy protective clothing and also carrying firefighting equipment require far, far more circulation width than 510 mm !!   However, this staircase is still not wide enough to facilitate unhampered building user evacuation.  Notice how people have to twist sideways in order to allow firefighters to pass … and this inevitability slows down evacuation progress in the ‘real’ world.

Click to enlarge.

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  1. International Standard ISO 21542: Building Construction – Accessibility & Usability of the Built Environment, published in 2011 and revised in 2021.  Standardizes good design for accessibility and the safe usability of buildings, which has been common practice for many decades.

Basics Of Staircase Design … Going, Rise, and Height of Handrails … ON BOTH SIDES of every flight of stairs …

Click to enlarge.

Basics Of Staircase Design … Clear Unobstructed Width – Between 2 Continuous Handrails.  ALL Fire Services MUST adopt this single understanding of ‘clear unobstructed width’ of a staircase !

Click to enlarge.

Basics Of Staircase Design … Staircases pose a serious hazard, especially during the stressful process of Emergency Evacuation … HAZARD Tactile Walking Surface Indicators (stippled, for hazard) at the TOP and BOTTOM of every flight of stairs.  Concerning this particular design issue, British Standards and English Building Regulations MUST be ignored !

Click to enlarge.

Basics Of Staircase Design … Handrail Tactile Plates, essential for the evacuation information to be used by people with a visual impairment in an emergency.  Refer to Figure 38 in ISO 21542.  However, this is a much more informative photograph … from one of my previous visits to Japan.  Notice the high colour contrasting …

Click to enlarge.

Basics Of Fire Evacuation Staircase Design … The Clear Unobstructed Width of 1.50 metres between Continuous Handrails on a Fire Evacuation Staircase facilitates Contraflow Circulation, the Safe Assisted Evacuation of People in Manual Wheelchairs, and Stretcher Evacuation of Building User and/or Firefighter Victims during an emergency.

Click to enlarge.

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CONCLUSIONS

Having been directly involved in the drafting of national and international Accessibility Standards and Technical Guidance since the 1980’s … I am really, really annoyed by the inept and incompetent misuse of raw anthropometric data to try to justify the width of this miserable excuse for a Fire Evacuation Staircase in the Grenfell Tower … and inflicting the Firefighter’s Lift/Carry on People with Disabilities is NOT ACCEPTABLE.  This shoddy ‘expert’ evidence clearly demonstrates a profound ignorance of Building Design, and about how ‘real’ people use ‘real’ buildings.

My great fear is that the technical justification for this shambolic fire evacuation staircase will become a benchmark for similar shambolic staircases in other buildings … not just in England, but in other jurisdictions who are dim-witted enough to copy England’s bad example … whatever it does.

Professional building design, construction and technical control disciplines, who practice in England, MUST carefully read … and keep re-reading, as necessary … Paragraph 113.12 in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report … which is expressed in too mild a form for my liking …

Our investigations have shown that levels of competence in the construction industry are generally low and that by the time of the Grenfell Tower fire many contractors, designers and building control officers treated the Statutory Guidance as containing a definitive statement of the legal requirements.  It is understandable that those who turn to the Guidance for advice about how to comply with the Building Regulations should be tempted to treat it as if it were definitive … We therefore recommend that a revised version of the guidance contain a clear warning in each section that the legal requirements are contained in the Building Regulations and that compliance with the Guidance will not necessarily result in compliance with them.

I must go further … where the Technical Guidance in any of the English Approved Documents is known to be inadequate, or even suspect, it is the ethical duty and responsibility of a true professional to find a better way of complying with the relevant Functional Requirements in Building/Fire Regulations.

In addition, and specifically in relation to Building Fire Safety … it is necessary, at the same time, to comply with ALL of the relevant Functional Requirements in England’s Building Regulations … that means NOT ONLY WITH REQUIREMENT B … BUT ALSO WITH REQUIREMENTS A, K & M (for a start) !   The recent publication of a single document which merges ALL of the Approved Documents is a small step in the right direction of improving a deeply flawed body of building legislation.

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Competent Building Design / Ethical Building Design … Lies Beyond Codes !!

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END

#FireSafety4ALL #NobodyLeftBehind #NeverStayPut #VulnerablePeople #SustainableFireEngineering #SFE #GrenfellTowerFire #GrenfellTowerInquiry #ShoddyTechnicalEvidence #FireEvacuationStaircase #EthicalDesign #BeyondCodes #PeopleWithActivityLimitations #PwAL #WHO #ICF #PeopleWithDisabilities #PwD #Accessibility4ALL #InclusiveAccessibility #FUBAR #MobilityAids

Inclusive Accessibility of The Built Environment & Successful Implementation In Japan

2024-09-14:  Inclusive Accessibility of the Built Environment – ‘Accessibility for All’ – is a dynamic, continuously evolving concept … the effective implementation of which is essential if we are to realize a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment … for ALL, i.e. including everybody, every ‘Person’ in society … particularly ‘Vulnerable People’.

Whether it’s People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF), or #Refugees, or #Migrants … how does ‘Inclusion’ differ from ‘Integration’ ?

Graphic Image, in colour, showing the meaning of ‘social inclusion’… and differentiating that concept from ‘integration’, ‘segregation’, and ‘exclusion’.  Always grateful to Solidarité Lilloise Étudiante (So’Lille – France) for this very clever and informative image.  Click to enlarge.

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Vulnerable People :

Those people – in a community, society or culture – who are most at risk of being physically, psychologically or sociologically wounded, hurt, damaged, injured, or killed … and include, for example, people with disabilities, young children, people with health conditions, frail older people, women in late pregnancy, refugees, migrants, prisoners, the poor, and homeless.

People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF) :

Those people, of all ages, who are unable to perform, independently and without assistance, basic human activities or tasks – because of a health condition or physical / mental / cognitive / psychological impairment of a permanent or temporary nature.

Accessibility of a Building :

Encompasses the complete cycle of independent use of a building – in a dignified manner and on an equal basis with others – including the approach, entry and usability of the building and its facilities, services and information/communication systems, egress from the building during normal conditions and removal from its vicinity and, most importantly, evacuation during an emergency to a place of safety remote from the building and reached by way of an accessible route … by all of the building’s potential users, with an assurance of their health, safety, welfare and security during the course of those activities.

Successful Accessibility Implementation :  [ Principle 2 – 2015 Dublin Declaration on ‘Fire Safety for All’ in Buildings ]

Successful Accessibility Implementation … meaning high quality accessibility performance in the built environment … is reliant upon:

  • A robust Legal Base mandating accessibility for all and fire safety for all ;
  • Determined Political Will ;
  • Sufficient public Financial Resources ;
  • A compassionate and understanding Bureaucracy at all levels ;
  • Competence … meaning duly educated, trained and experienced in accessibility and fire safety design … spatial planners, architects, structural engineers, fire engineers, quantity surveyors, technical controllers, industrial designers, building managers, and people at all levels in construction organizations ;
  • Independent Monitoring of accessibility and fire safety performance ;
  • Innovative, well-designed accessibility and fire safety related Products and Systems which can be shown to be ‘fit for their intended use’.

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Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan :

Colour Photograph (1 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan.  Photograph by CJ Walsh.  2024-04-13.  Click to enlarge.
Colour Photograph (2 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan.  Photograph by CJ Walsh.  2024-04-13.  Click to enlarge.

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Colour Photograph (3 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan.  Photograph by CJ Walsh.  2024-04-13.  Click to enlarge.
Colour Photograph (4 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2024-04-13. Click to enlarge.
Colour Photograph (5 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan.  Photograph by CJ Walsh.  2024-04-13.  Click to enlarge.

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Colour Photograph (6 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan.  Photograph by CJ Walsh.  2024-04-13.  Click to enlarge.
Colour Photograph (7 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan.  Photograph by CJ Walsh.  2024-04-13.  Click to enlarge.

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Principle 9 – 2004 Rio Declaration on Sustainable Social Development, Disability & Ageing :

Concerted and properly resourced programmes of #Disability and #Age Related education and training should be provided in every U.N. Member State … at all levels … to politicians, educationalists, bureaucrats, administrators, and technical personnel connected, directly or indirectly, with the spatial planning, design, construction/de-construction, operation, management and maintenance of the Human Environment – in order to ensure that the implementation and monitoring of disability and age related Sustainable Social Policies, and the requirements of International Law, are competent and effective.

The #Dignity, #Privacy, #Autonomy and #Independence of every #Person should be respected.

Every U.N. Member State should adopt measures for the production and management of national disability and age related #Statistics – within an agreed and harmonized international framework – which are impartial, reliable, objective, scientifically independent, and accessible to the Public.

For #Survival and #Liberation, the priority targets for a comprehensive range of disability and age related sustainable social policies should be …

–  Residential Buildings ;

–  Public Transport … including buses, coaches, taxis, trams, trains, ferries, ships and planes ;

–  Educational Buildings ;

–  Places of Work.

Good #Education, within a context of Lifelong Learning for All, and Good #Employment are important keys to Social Inclusion.

For #Health and #SocialWellbeing, the priority targets for a comprehensive range of disability and age related sustainable social policies should be …

–  Health Facilities ;

–  Electronic, Information & Communication Technologies (#EICT’s) ;

–  Civic Buildings ;

–  Existing Buildings & Infrastructure … of Historical, Cultural or Architectural Importance.

In the short term, properly resourced programmes of work should be carried out and monitored in all U.N. Member States – in order to ensure that the Human Environment (social, built, institutional and virtual) is effectively Accessible for All.

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END – But More Examples To Follow !

#Inclusive Accessibility #Accessibility4ALL #VulnerablePeople #PwAL #2001whoICF #PwD #FrailOlderPeople #Buildings #BuiltEnvironment #SocialInclusion #RioDeclaration2004 #FireSafety4ALL #DublinDeclaration2015 #NobodyLeftBehind #EthicalDesign #UNmemberStates #InternationalLaw #Sustainability #SocialWellbeing4ALL

2016 Dublin Code of Ethics – Design, Engineering, Construction & Operation of a Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment for ALL

2020-09-22:  Adopted at the International Fire Conference: SFE 2016 DUBLIN (www.sfe-fire.eu) …

Many years have passed since the 1972 UN Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment and the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.  In 2016, Sustainable Development remains an intricate, open, dynamic and continually evolving concept.  The guide and driver for frontline practitioners, policy and decision makers must be a personal Code of Ethics … an integrated and inter-related whole which cannot be reduced to fixed rules inviting game playing and ‘trade-offs’.  After working with this Code, it may be necessary to expand on and discuss its principles and/or some of the issues raised … not to narrow its focus, but to broaden interpretation.

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2016 Dublin Code of Ethics – Design, Engineering, Construction & Operation of a Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment for All   (Download PDF File, 91 Kb)

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CODE APPLICATION & PURPOSE

The realization of a Safe, Inclusive, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment demands a concerted, collaborative, very creative and widely trans-disciplinary effort at national, local, regional and international levels across the whole planet – Our Common Home.  The informed operation of appropriate legislation, administrative procedures, performance monitoring and targeting, and incentives/disincentives, at all of these levels, will facilitate initial progress towards this objective … but not the quantity, quality or speed of progress necessary.  Our time is running out !

This Code of Ethics applies … for those who subscribe to its values … to policy and decision makers, and the many different individuals and organizations directly and indirectly involved in the design, engineering, construction, and operation (management and maintenance) of a Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment for ALL.

The Purpose of this Code of Ethics is to guide the work of competent individuals and organizations in a context where incomplete or inadequate legislation, administrative procedures and incentives/disincentives exist … but, more importantly, where they do not exist at all … and, amid much confusion and obfuscation of the terms, to ensure that implementation is authentically ‘sustainable’, and reliably ‘safe’ and ‘resilient’ for every person in the receiving community, society or culture … before it is too late !

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END

#Twitter … @sfe2016dublin …

#Sustainability #HumanRights #ResponsibleNeeds #Ethics #ValueSystem #SustainableDesign #Creativity #BuiltEnvironment #ClimateDisruption #CascadeEffect #CulturalHeritage #SocialSolidarity #FireEngineering #Construction #CJWalsh #DublinCodeOfEthics #SustainableDevelopment #PersonCentred #LocalContext #BeyondCodes #VulnerablePeople #PwAL #FireSafety4ALL #Accessibility4ALL #SocialWellbeing4ALL

2015 Dublin Declaration on ‘Fire Safety for All’ in Buildings – A Call to Action and Successful Implementation !

2020-07-15 …

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2015 Dublin Declaration on ‘Fire Safety for All’ in BuildingsA Call to Action and Successful Implementation !   (Download PDF File, 106 Kb)

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Within the professional discipline of Fire Engineering … either a building is Fire Safe, or it is not ;  the design philosophy of the Fire Engineer is irrelevant.  Similarly, building designers must now begin to think and act in the simple terms of a building being either Accessible, or not.  Too many pointless discussions, and too much petty squabbling, about constrained and constraining accessibility philosophies have wasted valuable time, energy and resources.

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Colour photograph showing a typical, everyday scene in countries all over the world … a young person in a manual wheelchair, independently attempting to mount an external flight of steps in front of a building entrance.
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Reality Check: A Universal, Dismally Inaccessible Built Environment !
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Click image to enlarge.

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Building Accessibility encompasses the complete cycle of Independent Use, in a dignified manner and on an equal basis with others … and includes the approach, entry and use of a building, its facilities and information systems … Egress during normal / ambient conditions and removal from the vicinity of the building … and most importantly, safe Evacuation during a fire emergency to a Place of Safety which is remote from the building and reached by way of an accessible route.

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Colour image illustrating the difference between Equality and Equity.  Everybody is equal, and must be treated equally … but the measures necessary to achieve this in real life must, in many cases, be equitable.
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Human Ability and Behaviour is a continuum … a gentle gradient on which every person functions and acts at different levels due to Environmental and Personal Factors.
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Click image to enlarge.

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To be Accessible, a building must meet a long and complex list of inter-related Accessibility & Usability Design Criteria sufficiently well, i.e. the building must work properly for building occupants and users.  The design target is Effective Accessibility … not half-baked accessibility, partial accessibility, the minimal accessibility required by building codes, or token accessibility.

On the other hand, and taking additional account of the current CoronaVirus / CoVID-19 Pandemic … the construction and operation target must be Successful Implementation, i.e. the finished building design, as constructed and operated, must provide a consistently high degree of safety, convenience and comfort for potential occupants and users during the lifetime of the building.

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Colour photograph showing the post-fire scene of a devastated Lift Lobby with an abandoned Manual Wheelchair.  25 people died and 123 were injured in a Jazan Hospital Fire, Saudi Arabia, which occurred on 24 December 2015.  The fire broke out in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit and Maternity Ward.  Click photograph to enlarge.

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People with Activity Limitations … those people, of all ages, who are unable to perform, independently and without assistance, basic human activities or tasks – because of a health condition or physical / mental / cognitive / psychological impairment of a permanent or temporary nature … are a significant vulnerable group in every community, in every society, and include people with disabilities, children under the age of 5 years, frail older people, women in the later stages of pregnancy, and people with health conditions, etc.

Fire Safety Codes and Standards for healthy, able-bodied, agile adults using buildings exist in almost every country ;  these people can take for granted that buildings are fire safe for them !

However, guidelines concerning Fire Safety for People with Activity Limitations / Fire Safety for ALL (if those guidelines exist at all) are usually technically inadequate, entirely tokenistic and/or blatantly discriminatory ;  these people must assume that there is a serious risk to their safety every time they enter a building.  For them, this is a very significant barrier to their personal development, participation and social inclusion ;  it is a clear and present violation of their human rights !

Forcefully mandated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted on 13 December 2006 … the UN CRPD’s Principal Aim is to ensure that the Human Environment (social, built, economic, virtual, and institutional) is sufficiently accessible to facilitate the safe exercise and enjoyment of those rights, protections and freedoms set down in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and subsequent International Rights Instruments, by a vulnerable and major section of the population in all of our communities.

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Colour photograph showing the scene of a raging fire in London, on 14 June 2017.  72 people died and many more were injured in this 24 Storey, 120 Apartment Residential Building.  Vulnerable People, including people with activity limitations, refugees, and immigrants with a poor grasp of the English language lived at various heights throughout the Tower.
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A serious design flaw in this building (among many, many others), i.e. a lack of Effective Accessibility … only one narrow, atrociously detailed staircase serving the entire building, lifts/elevators which were useless in a fire emergency, and no areas of rescue assistance adjoining the staircase … had a profoundly negative impact on Firefighter Operations and Safety on the night of 14 June and the following day.
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Click photograph to enlarge.

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It is time to Entirely Eradicate current obsolete, professionally negligent, incompetent and ridiculous approaches to Building Design which result in …

Fire Safety for SOME but not for ALL

Accessibility for SOME but not for ALL

Intricately inter-related … ‘Fire Safety for All’ is a vital component of ‘Accessibility for All’.

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Colour image / Presentation overhead showing how building designers face a critical choice in everyday practice … Legal or Ethical … Beyond Codes ?!?!?
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Legal Compliance is Never Enough.
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Click image to enlarge.

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Fire Safety for All – Nobody Left Behind !

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#Twitter … @firesafety4all …

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2004 Rio de Janeiro Declaration on Sustainable Social Development, Disability & Ageing

2020-04-28:  A look back at a Benchmark Document, and an Introduction written nearly 16 years ago.  So many years, so much valuable time has been wasted …

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2004 Rio de Janeiro Declaration on Sustainable Social Development, Disability & Ageing  (Download PDF File, 306 Kb)

The words ‘green’, ‘environmental’, ‘ecological’ and ‘sustainable’ are becoming part of everyday language in the Developed World, but are frequently interchanged without understanding.  To date, however, the concept of Sustainable Development has been hijacked by Environmentalists.  For example, no connection at all may be seen between a ‘sustainable’ building and ensuring that it can be safely and conveniently entered and used by ordinary people.

In other parts of the World, the ambiguous WCED / Brundtland Definition of Sustainable Development is being systematically rejected ;  the concept is viewed as an unaffordable luxury and/or as a means of continued domination and control by the ‘North’.  Yet, sustainability must be a global compact.

In this intolerant and more fundamentalist 21st Century, the United Nations System, International Law, and Social Justice continue to come under sustained attack.  And the Beslan School Tragedy* demonstrates that it is far more hazardous for disadvantaged, vulnerable and indigenous peoples in every society.

[ * The 2004 Beslan School Massacre … https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beslan_school_siege … and its commemoration 10 years later … https://www.rt.com/news/183964-beslan-school-hostage-crisis/ ]

Some specific objectives for the 2004 Rio Declaration were as follows …

  • To present a 2nd Generation Definition of Sustainable Development which is more acceptable to the Developing World ;
  • To restore primacy to the Social Aspects of Sustainable Development … and particularly the ethical values of Social Justice, Solidarity and Inclusion-for-All ;
  • To embed the concept of the ‘Person’ in Sustainable Development … rather than the fleeting reference to ‘People’ which too often results in Disadvantaged, Vulnerable and Indigenous Groups being left behind ;
  • To signal one of the main challenges of Sustainable Development ahead – which will be to establish a framework of horizontal co-ordination at the many institutional levels … and between the many actors and end users … in the human environment.

Adopted in December 2004, at the Brazil Designing for the 21st Century III Conference, the Rio Declaration consists of a Preamble, 10 Principles and 5 Appendices ;  its central concern involves People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF).

This Declaration extols implementation, and the targeting and monitoring of ‘real’ performance – as opposed to ‘imagined’ or ‘paper’ performance.

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#Sustainability #SocialDevelopment #WCED #Brundtland #UN #SocialInclusion #InternationalLaw #SocialJustice #BeslanSchoolTragedy #VulnerablePeople #Disability #FrailOlderPeople #PwAL #2001whoICF #2004rioDeclaration #Brazil #RioDeJaneiro #SIA #GlobalPartnership #Design #SpatialPlanning #Engineering #IndustrialDesign #Accessibility4ALL