Focus on fire safety

The European Fire Safety Action Plan: ’10 actions that will improve Fire Safety in Europe’, focusses on fire safety in the residential environment. Because fire safety is a co-production. Only through (multidisciplinary) cooperation the fire safety of Europe’s citizens can be improved. Within this co-production, the EuroFSA will take a leading role to include the actors and partners that should be most involved in the follow-up of these action points.

Download the full version of the European Fire Safety Action Plan (38p)

Our 10-step action plan

The growing vulnerable community

Each year in the European Union fire deaths total around 5,000 with ten times that many injuries, according to conservative estimates. When it comes to fire, special attention needs to be paid to Europe’s growing vulnerable community. The measures taken must include a combination of influencing fire-safe behaviour, initiating the application of technical provisions such as early detection and automatic extinguishing, and implementing building regulations that fit the requirements of the (vulnerable) risk groups.

Action 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

The time to escape in case of a fire is decreasing while more and more people need more time to escape. Measures need to be taken to improve the available time to escape in case of a fire. These measures must include the introduction of a EU-wide standard for fire-safe upholstered furniture and mattresses, the broad application of smoke detectors and the evaluation and improvement of the functioning of Lower Ignition Propensity (LIP) cigarettes.

Action 2

Improve and increase the use of fire-safe upholstered furniture and mattresses through the introduction of an EU-standard for end-use products.

Action 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.

Action 4

Evaluate and improve the functioning of Lower Ignition Propensity (LIP) cigarettes.

Fire safety must be an inseparable part of the energy transition

Fire safety needs to be seen as an essential aspect of the energy transition. To achieve this, more awareness must be created and more investments need to be made in knowledge, tools and competencies to ensure the fi re safety of the new forms of energy, the new forms of transportation
and circular construction.

Action 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

More awareness of fi re safety is needed. This needs to be established primarily through Community Fire Safety projects, such as awareness campaigns. To make these projects more effective, research has to be done on how to positively influence fire-safe behaviour.

Action 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’.

Action 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

Although data is collected on almost everything, there is no EU-wide data on residential fi res. As such data forms the foundation of a more fire safe Europe, the pilot project launched by the EU should be followed-up as soon as possible and eventually, the data must be integrated within Eurostat.

Action 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

Essential to a more fire safe Europe is EU-wide communication and collaboration. This must include sharing (and connecting) good initiatives and best practices with each other and realising a broad application of innovations. Doing so must involve giving more room to other actors within the FIEP (such as the Fire Rescue Services) and focussing the FIEP on the exchange of knowledge and innovation in fire safety, with vulnerable citizens as its most important target group.

Action 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.

Action 10

Realise better cooperation between the Member States and industry on market surveillance.