Governing documents regarding fire safety at OsloMet

No personal injury or major loss of material assets should occur as a result of fire.

OsloMet shall prevent fire, explosions and accidents and limit the consequences of any fires to life, health, environment and property through continuous systematic work.

• Preventive fire safety must – as an integral part of the systematic HSE work – be characterised by a clear line responsibility and based on the principle of continuous improvement.
• All who spend time in the buildings must be given adequate information about how to prevent fire and conduct themselves in the event of a fire.
• OsloMet shall have
  • coordination agreements with all property owners with clearly defined division of responsibilities and labour
  • well organised preventive fire safety work that satisfies the applicable fire safety requirements and limits the consequences of any fires

The governing document was approved by the rector of OsloMet on 9 October 2018.

Applies to all members of staff, students, external parties and visitors in the university's buildings.

• Key terms from the fire safety legislation
  • Owners and users can be natural and legal persons
  • The owner is the person that has registered title to a structure
  • The user is either the owner or the person who uses a structure by agreement with the owner. If the person who has an agreement with the owner for use of the structure sublets the right of use, the new user becomes the party with the right to use the structure.
  • The term 'structure' comprises buildings, constructions and installations.
• Non-conformity: Breaches of laws and regulations and internal provisions in addition to errors and shortcomings discovered in the course of day-to-day operations or during internal audits. Inadequate fire safety, ‘false’ fire alarms and a lack of training are considered non-conformities.
• Unit: Faculties, departments and centres at OsloMet.
• Risk assessment: Tool for the systematic identification of challenges related to the systematic HSE work. It consists of a mapping part and an analysis part, and is to result in an action plan. The risk assessment must determine the following: What can go wrong? What can be done to prevent something undesirable from happening? What can be done to reduce the consequences if something does happen, and are there alternative solutions?
• Coordination agreement: When employees from several enterprises work in the same workplace, written coordination agreements must be entered into that show which of the enterprises are to be responsible for common activities or for common areas, and how responsibility for individual tasks is divided between the enterprises. The Department of Facility Management is responsible for the coordination agreements with the owner of the structure.

6.1 Owner (property owner)

The owner is responsible for familiarising him/herself with and convey information regarding fire safety in the building and the conditions that apply to the structure. The owner is to coordinate the use of the building, so that the requirements and the procedures that apply to the structure are maintained. The owner is also responsible for control and maintenance of building parts, installations and equipment in the structure that are intended to detect or limit the consequences of a fire.

The owner must enter into a cooperation agreement with OsloMet that clarifies where the division of responsibility and labour between the parties. Variation in the agreements may occur because OsloMet has entered into agreements with different owners.

The owner is to assist OsloMet in planning, organising and executing fire safety work and fire drills.

6.2 Users

Users at OsloMet are all who use the university's building. Everyone has a duty to exercise common caution and act in a manner that prevents fire, explosion and other accidents, and to use the structure in a way that complies with the fire safety requirements.

• The Rector is the responsible user for all the university buildings under laws and regulations. The Rector can delegate tasks, but not the overall responsibility. The Rector is to ensure that goals are set and plans and measures to reduce the risk of fire in the buildings are implemented, as well as ensure control of users' equipment and installations.
• Line managers must follow up fire safety work in their own unit and appoint zone coordinators. Line managers must assess the need for adapted evacuation routines for people with disabilities and ensure risk assessment of all activities in their own area in relation to fire risks. Necessary procedures are prepared in cooperation with the fire safety organisation.

Line managers are responsible for ensuring that the unit’s lecturers/teaching staff are familiar with the content of the governing document for fire safety, and in particular fire instructions for teaching, course and conference premises.

The responsibilities and tasks are described in more detail in the descriptions of the functions.

• Zone coordinators are to function as a support for the management and contribute to the enterprise’s fire prevention and fire-fighting tasks. Zone coordinators report to their superior and report non-conformities in the non-conformity system. The responsibilities and tasks are described in more detail in the description of the zone coordinator function.
• Individual members of staff and students have a duty to keep informed about relevant procedures and instructions, and follow the instructions of the appointed personnel at OsloMet (security guards, technicians, technical fire advisers etc.) in the event of an evacuation.
• External parties and visitors must follow the instructions of the appointed personnel at OsloMet in the event of an evacuation.

6.3 Fire safety organisation

The fire safety organisation at OsloMet is to follow up the fire safety work on behalf of the Rector.

The Rector has delegated the responsibility for the fire safety organisation to the Department of Facility Management. The department for Human Resources have overall system responsibility in the HSE area.

• The administrative fire safety adviser has overall system responsibility for the university's fire safety work and is to support OsloMet’s management and units, and ensure cooperation with HSE and the other safety areas.
• The technical fire adviser helps in the systematic work to protect the buildings and the enterprise against fire. The technical fire adviser is to provide technical and professional advisory assistance to the administrative fire protection adviser, the university management and the units.
• The fire zone coordinators are to be a connecting link between the fire safety organisation and the zone coordinators in the ongoing fire safety work, and ensure information and training in the work on fire prevention.
• Technicians are to assist the technical fire adviser in the ongoing fire safety work, follow up that buildings are used in accordance with the fire safety requirements and carry out day-to-day tasks.

The responsibilities and tasks are described in more detail in the description of functions

7.1 Principles

OsloMet is to have a well organised preventive fire safety work that satisfies the applicable fire safety requirements and limits the consequences of any fires. The work is to be comprehensive, targeted, coordinated, systematic, planned and documented.

7.2 Risk assessments and other mapping measures

The systematic preventive fire safety work is to be based on risk assessments and be dimensioned in accordance with the challenges of the different buildings. Together with risk assessments, mapping measures in the form of fire drills and ongoing fire safety rounds shall constitute the basis for annual goals and plans.

7.3 Goals and plans

Annual goals with pertaining concrete action plans are to be prepared on the basis of risk assessments, non-conformity analyses, ongoing fire safety rounds and evaluations.

7.4 Training, adaptation and communication

All OsloMet employees are to go through fire safety training and take part in regular fire drills. The training must be documented. Students, external parties and visitors in the university's buildings must be given adequate information about how to prevent fire and conduct themselves in the event of a fire. Concrete training plans must be developed for the different groups and adequate information must be provided online and via relevant channels.

7.5 Handling non-conformity and incidents

Non-conformities and undesirable incidents must be reported via the applicable non-conformity system. Non-conformities must be categorised and followed up with appropriate measures. Annual analyses and assessments are to be included in the systematic fire safety work and be used in the work on the development of annual goals and plans.

7.6 Documentation, evaluation and reporting

Documentation must take place in accordance with the requirements set out in the Internal Control Regulations and follow the university's procedures.

The status of the preventive fire safety work must be evaluated annually. The evaluation must, as a minimum, contain the following:

• Coordination agreements and cooperation with building owners
• Goals achieved
• Structure and organisation of the fire safety work
• Non-conformities

Reporting must take place in accordance with the internal control procedures.

• Instructions/descriptions of functions
  • Fire instructions
  • Fire instructions for zone coordinators
  • Fire instructions for teaching, courses and conference premises
  • Description of functions for administrative fire protection adviser
  • Description of functions for technical fire adviser
  • Description of functions for fire zone coordinator
  • Description of functions for zone coordinator
  • Description of functions for line manager

References are made to the working environment management system.

• Fire and Explosion Prevention Act (lovdata.no, in Norwegian)
• Fire Prevention Regulations (lovdata.no, in Norwegian)
• Guide to the Fire Prevention Regulations (dsb.no, in Norwegian)
• The Internal Control Regulations (lovdata.no)