The Modern Building Alliance believes that efforts to prevent development and consequences of fires can only be truly successful if building occupants understand which safety precautions or emergency actions need to be taken.

For this reason, we fully support education and training initiatives taken by public authorities or fire safety professionals in fire prevention.

In the instance of a fire, smoke detectors can act as a vital early warning for occupants, aiding their escape. One of the major aspects is the importance of maintaining a building’s fire alarm system. When people move into a new home, it is common for them to forget to check for the presence of fire alarms or and to test them regularly to ensure that they are still in working order.

Additionally, people often neglect to carry out other simple safety measures, such as not smoking in bed or leaving hot devices unattended.

Similarly, it is critically important that all occupants are familiar with the appropriate behavior in case of a fire, in particular when and how to evacuate. They must be aware of the optimal escape route, the importance of closing doors and windows using stairs instead of lifts, and where to assemble outside the building. Occupants should also be familiar with the emergency number 112. The implementation of safety measures and advanced planning can save lives.

For information in English, a full list of recommendations and general fire safety advice can be found on the London Fire Brigade website for example. The site also offers helpful information on how to avoid and prevent fires, and what to do if one arises.

The Modern Building Alliance encourages the promotion of education programmes on how best to avoid, prevent and correctly react in the event of a fire. Only a joint proactive effort can help to make our buildings, and the people inside them, as safe as possible.

During our roundtable event ‘Fire safety: setting the scene for fire safe European buildings’ organised on 28 November 2018 in the European Parliament, Karim Peltonen from the Finnish National Rescue Association SPEK brought to the debate a national view on fire prevention with an example coming from Finland and presented the activities of the Finnish Fire Safety Week. Read more about the event on here.