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Inspecting and installing chutes can be a pretty dirty job but Managing Director of Chute Fire Certification UK®, Avene Furness-Monks is taking dirt to another level to compete in her 5th Tough Mudder event on 12th September 2019. Avene’s daughter was born with Trachea-Oesophageal Fistula (TOF), a rare congenital condition that affects one in every 3,500 babies and meant that she had a conjoined windpipe and oesophagus. Many children born with this condition also have other deformities, such as limbs and organs that are not fully formed, and her daughter also had a left Microphthalmia (micro eye) with no sight.  As soon as she was born, she was transferred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and within 24 hours had undergone major surgery. She spent four days in intensive care and was eventually allowed home after two weeks in the neonatal unit. Avene is pushing herself through 12 gruelling miles of mud and obstacles to raise money and awareness for the charity MACS (Microphthalmia, Anophthalmia and Coloboma Support) the UK’s national charity for children born without eyes or with underdeveloped eyes. If you want to show your support to provide confidence-building activities for these children and emotional support for their families, you can donate via Avene’s JustGiving page below.

To complete its Refuse Chute Safe System, Chute Fire Certification UK® now offers hopper doorsets, providing a one-stop refuse chute solution for owners of multiple occupancy buildings.  The five new models of hopper doorsets easily passed the required 2.5 hours fire test and are now certified to BS476: Part 22: 1987. Existing customers of Chute Fire Certification are delighted that the new hopper doorsets are now available, having pre-ordered with confidence that they would achieve the British Safety Standard.  Managing Director Avene Furness-Monks was at the test and said, “We have incorporated within our design products supplied by industry leaders, Pyroplex Systems and Quelfire and It was fabulous to see that even after the test was complete, the hopper doorset maintained its full integrity.” One of the first customers is Steve O’Neill, Facility Manager at First Ark, responsible for the facilities management at Knowsley Housing Trust.  He said “We have full trust in the Chute Fire Certification UK® team to inspect, manufacture and install chutes to the highest standards required in the industry.  We ordered the new hopper doorsets in all the refurbishments where they were required.  Not only do they look smart, the inspection date and relevant safety information is clear for everyone to see.” Refuse chutes need to be inspected regularly by a Certified Fire Technician.  Depending on what is found during the inspection, the dedicated Chute Fire Certification UK® Fire Technician will advise on the best course of action to ensure that the refuse chute will not be a fire risk in any building.  This may include minor or major refurbishments to the chutes, but customers are left safe in the knowledge that the highest possible standards have been used to keep people and assets safe from fire. Click here for more information about our comprehensive chute refurbishment systems.

Jigsaw Homes (part of the Jigsaw Group) is one of the largest housing association groups within England, providing more than 34,000 homes across the North West and East Midlands. Chute Fire Certification UK® has inspected, serviced and repaired refuse chutes in several of Jigsaw Homes’ tower blocks, and are now focussing on the hopper door replacement on each floor. Ron Devine, Electrical & Service Contracts Manager, Jigsaw Group has worked with Avene Furness, Director of Chute Fire Certification UK® for the last 12 months in order to ensure that FRA regulations are adhered to in their properties.  “Previously, we repaired the chute fire plates when they were broken. However, the FRA recommendations require us to have a more structured and proactive approach, and this is what Chute Fire Certification UK® has been able to introduce to Jigsaw Homes. We now have all the relevant paperwork giving evidence of the chute’s bi-annual certification to ensure compliance. But what really adds value is the report that they provide. Before we started working with Chute Fire Certification UK®, we didn’t have a clear picture of what the contractor had done. Now we have written and photographic evidence, and you can really tell from the before and after photos exactly what they have done” summarised Devine. One of the findings that Furness and her team bought to Devine’s notice was the fusible links in some of the fire plates that had been installed when the building property was built. These play a vital role in passive fire protection, and need to be inspected, tested and replaced regularly, especially in the environment of a bin room. After working with Chute Fire Certification UK®, Devine has developed a deep understanding of all the elements required to be in place to ensure that any fire is contained until the emergency services arrive. They are now working on a programme to ensure that the hopper doors inside the tower block provide the same level of protection as the E120 Chute Fire Safe Protection System installed by Chute Fire Certification UK® at the bottom of the chute. “Avene is extremely passionate about chutes and won’t let anything slip through the net.  If they say they’ll be there, they are there. We’ve set up a maintenance agreement to make sure we provide the highest level of passive fire safety for all the refuse chutes throughout our estate, and ultimately, our residents” Devine concludes. Furness adds “When we first presented Jigsaw Homes with our Chute Inspection Reports they were quick to take action and chute refurbishment works began immediately. It is clear that the safety of their residents is of paramount importance. I’m not the only member of Chute Fire Certification UK® to be passionate about chutes, our passion is what drives myself and my dedicated team to provide the very best in installation and service every day.”

When Avene Furness-Monks, Director of Chute Fire Certification UK® arrived at the site of the 100th chute she has refurbished this year, she was disappointed and angered to see yet another serious fire risk to the people that lived and worked in the building. The manual shut-off plate had been rigged with metal wires and weights, and the fusible link was broken.  Years of accumulated dirt also meant that the door was not able to operate as designed.  Not only was this a danger to Maintenance staff during bin changeover, but without a fusible link, the blades would have not shut off automatically in the case of a fire. But what angered Furness-Monks the most was the fact that only 6 months earlier, the chute had been certified as fire safe. “Unfortunately, this is a situation we see time and time again.  It really concerns me that unscrupulous contractors can walk into a building and sign off a chute without adhering to British Standards or following the correct procedures” adds Furness-Monks. Chute Fire Certification UK® ensure that all chutes they inspect are signed off by Certified Fire Technicians and refurbished by Qualified Engineers.  For their 100th chute refurbishment, they replaced the bottom of the chute systems with a bespoke Chute Safe Protection System that also enables the safe changeover of bins, as well as complying with all relevant legislation. Furness-Monks has a message for all building owners and their procurement departments. “Please check that the person inspecting and certifying your chute is a Certified Fire Technician.  And make sure they give you a written report and photographic record of their work; as well as evidence of their qualifications before you sign off the job. Because if the worst happens, the final legal responsibility is yours.”

The government’s response to The Hackitt review has shown that ‘in too many cases people who should be accountable for fire safety have failed in their duties’. And this was a key theme in the lecture by Chris Auger from BAFE at Fire Safety North yesterday, who asked the question ‘Is your Contractor compliant?’  This is an issue very close to my heart, and one of the key reasons that I set up Chute Fire Certification UK®.  I am shocked and angered at the levels of incompetence that I encounter on a daily basis when inspecting and servicing laundry and refuse chutes that have been left unsafe by other contracting companies. The full recommendations of the +Hackitt review will take some time to fully implement, but immediate actions can be taken by individuals.  One of BAFE’s key points was to ensure that fire risks were assessed with specialists in their field.  This was also repeated in the Institute of Fire Safety Managers (IFSM) AGM that I attended later in the afternoon. Laundry and refuse chutes aren’t glamorous, but they are what motivate me every morning, and what I work late into the night for; to ensure that our team of Certified Fire Technicians are applying the highest levels of professionalism in this field.  We already work side-by-side with the construction and maintenance industry to share our specialist knowledge of chutes, even before it becomes written in law. Our focus in this area means that we can look in the mirror and know that we are leaving every site with a chute that is fire safe – to help residents and staff be safe and feel safe in their homes or places of work in high-rise buildings.

We have just been informed by a customer that a competitor has recently inspected their laundry chute without authorisation; implying that they were a Chute Fire Certification UK® employee.  We have taken the decision to make all of our customers aware of this, because  unfortunately this is an industry where such practices are not unusual.  However, this is where Chute Fire Certification UK® stands apart, as we live by our corporate values of honesty and integrity. It’s easy to check if the technician that arrives on site is one of our Certified Fire Technician or Engineers, because they will show you their Chute Fire Certification UK® documentation, certificates and be in our uniform.  Each chute that we certify is awarded the Chute Fire Certification UK® certificate (shown).  Any other certificate will not signed by one of our Certified Technicians. We thank our customers for their continued loyalty, and look forward to returning it with exceptional customer service, professionalism and full accountability