Fire Safety Matters Podcast - Episode 36

Episode 36 of the Fire Safety Matters Podcast features exclusive interviews with regular contributor Warren Spencer (managing director at Blackhurst Budd Solicitors), Terry Edge (independent expert and consultant on furniture fire safety) and David Fitzpatrick, general manager in the UK for SMAY Ventilation Systems.

In conversation with Mark Sennett (the CEO of Western Business Media and the founder of Fire Safety Matters), Warren Spencer references a News story published online by Fire Safety Matters last December in which a prosecution case launched against a fire risk assessor and his company collapsed after it was discovered that the fire risk assessment upon which the prosecution was based was not in fact the original document.

Brian hears from former civil servant Terry Edge who, between 2004 and 2016, served as the lead official on the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 at what is now the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Terry offers his thought-provoking views on what needs to happen next in the domain of furniture fire safety.

Since November 2023, David Fitzpatrick has served Poland-based SMAY Ventilation Systems as general manager of UK operations. David is tasked with leading on project design and systems implementation for both HVAC and smoke protection solutions, driving business growth through new UK approaches to keeping evacuation routes safe thanks to pressure differential systems.

During the interview with Brian, David looks at changes brought forward by the Building Safety Act 2022 and also outlines the company’s participation in this year’s edition of The Fire Safety Event at the NEC in April.

As always, Brian and Mark analyse some of the latest major industry news stories. There’s comment on the Building Engineering Services Association’s views relating to high-risk buildings, repeated concerns expressed by Local Authority Building Control over building control capacity, the second fire remediation report on fire safety in English social housing and developments ahead of both Fire Safety Matters Live (Coventry) and the Fire and Security Matters Awards 2024.