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Did you know that there are more than 60,000 fires in residential and business premises every year in England alone?

This is huge!

Fire safety is a big deal, and it’s often a matter of life and death, which is why it is subject to strict government regulations.

And, as you’d expect, fire doors and fire door safety play a crucial role in preventing the unchecked spread of fire in a building and allowing people sufficient time to leave the burning property quickly and safely.

Just how crucial? And are people fully aware of the implications?

Alarmingly, that’s not often the case.

Enter Fire Door Safety Week

Launched in 2013 and managed by the British Woodworking Federation, the annual event is supported by the Home Office’s National Fire Safety campaign, the National Fire Chief’s Council and London and Regional Fire Brigades.

Its aim is to educate the public and raise people’s awareness of the vital role of fire doors by drawing attention to specific issues like poor installation and lack of maintenance.

Read on to find out all the facts and figures about the latest event.

Source: Fire Door Safety Week & BWF

All you need to know about Fire Door Safety Week 2022

Fire Door Safety Week 2022 was originally scheduled to take place between 19 September and 25 September. However, it was postponed indefinitely due to the sudden passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and ultimately rescheduled for 31 October – 4 November 2022.

In spite of this unfortunate postponement, Fire Door Safety Week 2022 was a massive success, picking up where Fire Door Safety Week 2021 left off by launching the Close the Door on Fire campaign. The campaign focused on individual responsibility for reporting fire security door problems and urged people to take action to help save lives.

Here’s the scoop:

The campaign had an impressive total reach of 7.8 million people and enjoyed impressive coverage in the national and local media as well as on social media, with a massive 13,904 impressions on Twitter alone.

What’s more:

As many as 6,913 people visited the Fire Door Safety Week official website during the event, with 319 new supporters signing up to receive regular updates.

Check out all the key facts and figures:

Source: Fire Door Safety Week & BWF

But that’s not all:

Research undertaken as part of this year’s campaign reveals that as many as 32% of Brits would not report an issue with a fire door, with an expected lack of personal repercussions being one of the main reasons for this.

What’s more:

Nearly half (49%) of the British public don’t believe it’s their place to report problems with fire safety doors.

Key takeaway:

In spite of the huge success of Fire Door Safety Week 2022, there’s clearly a long way to go before the British public is fully educated about the role of personal responsibility for the correct operation of fire doors.

So, where does that leave us?

Luckily, it’s not all doom and gloom. As many as three-quarters or 75% of Brits are aware that propping a fire door open doesn’t allow it to perform its vital role in case a fire breaks out, which is good news.

Nevertheless, the campaign’s research indicates that greater education is needed to close the door on fire and actively report fire door issues. Currently, such issues are under-reported, which puts people’s lives at risk both in their homes and at work.

“We ask if people see a fire door propped open, they close it,” emphasised Gavin Tomlinson, National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) Chair for Protection and Business Safety, adding that this is “a simple ask that could save a life”.

The same goes for reporting a fire door issue – if you see something, say something.

Here are the rest of the key takeaways:

Source: Fire Door Safety Week & BWF

The bottom line

So, as the curtain fell on Fire Door Safety Week 2022, we learnt a lot about the current state of fire door safety awareness – and, crucially, the pressing need to raise it further to help save lives.

We can’t wait until next year’s event when Fire Door Safety Week will duly celebrate its tenth anniversary! Long may this worthy initiative continue to thrive.