About European Fire Safety Action Plan

European Fire Safety Action Plan:
10 actions to improve European Fire Safety
The European Fire Safety Alliance is a project to reduce the risk from fire in the home and is delivered by an Alliance of Professionals from within the European Fire Sector. The European Fire Safety Alliance believes the vast majority of fire deaths that occur following an accidental fire in the home are preventable. It is also true that fire discriminates in as much as it affects the most vulnerable people (particularly the elderly) in the most vulnerable areas of society.

Open the European Fire Safety Action Plan

The growing vulnerable community
1. Establish a European approach of improving the fire safety of the vulnerable community and the most vulnerable groups – elderly people (65+), children and people with a mental or physical disability (and focus on those living independently).

Improve the reduced escape time of people during a fire
2. Improve and increase the use of fire-safe upholstered furniture and mattresses through the introduction of an EU-standard for end-use products.
3. Ensure that smoke detectors have a much broader application in European homes. If people are not able to escape quickly enough or cannot escape at all, install domestic sprinklers as they are an indispensable solution in these circumstances.
4. Evaluate and improve the functioning of Lower Ignition Propensity (LIP) cigarettes.

Fire safety must be an inseparable part of the energy transition
5. Develop knowledge and competency to ensure fire safety adequately accompanies the energy transition. Address the fire risks associated with the new forms of energy and ensure regular inspections.

Raise the awareness of fire safety
6. Encourage and support the activities of the Fire Rescue Services regarding Community Fire Safety projects, both at a national and international level, and change the mentality from ‘nice to have’ to ‘need to have’.
7. Stimulate (or foster) scientific research on improving the fire safe behaviour of people and the effectiveness of interventions in the field of Community Fire Safety.

Realise EU-wide data on residential fires
8. As soon as the results of the EU pilot project on fire statistics are known, a start needs to be made with the actual data collection of (at least) residential fires at a European level and the integration of them within Eurostat.

Improve EU-wide communication and collaboration
9. Give more room to other actors within the FIEP (such as the Fire Rescue Services and other DirectoratesGeneral) and focus the FIEP on the exchange of knowledge and innovation in fire safety, with vulnerable citizens as its most important target group.
10. Realise better cooperation between the Member States and industry on market surveillance.