The Fire Precautions (Sub-surface Railway Stations) Regulations 1989

UK Statutory Instrument 1989 No. 1401 — creates 1 criminal offence.

1offences created

0recorded in force

1revoked

Made: 4 August 1989
In force from: 18 September 1989
Extent: Not stated
Subject: Transport: maritime, aviation, rail and harbours
Made under: Fire Precautions Act 1971

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

These Regulations provide for fire precautions to be taken in certain underground and low level railway stations used by members of the public. The railway stations to which the Regulations apply are described in regulation 3 by reference to the station having a railway platform which is wholly or mainly enclosed in a tunnel or building at a level below ground level. Regulation 4 specifies the precautions to be taken in the station premises in relation to the means of escape from the premises in case of fire. It imposes requirements as to keeping the premises free from obstruction and clear of combustible refuse, opening doors and barriers in case of fire, marking exits and providing adequate lighting. Regulation 5 requires the premises to be provided with means for fighting fire, including a water sprinkler system for every escalator and travolator and an automatic system for fighting fire in other parts of the premises where there is a risk of fire. Provision is also made for the fire brigade to be called in the event of fire in the premises and for facilitating fire fighting by the fire brigade. Regulation 6 requires the premises to be provided with means for detecting fire and for giving warning in case of fire, including heat detectors in escalators and travolators, smoke detectors in escalator and travolator machine rooms, an automatic system for detecting fire in other parts of the premises where there is a risk of fire, a fire alarm system and a public address system. Regulation 7 requires some parts of the premises, such as machine rooms and storage areas, to be separated from other parts of the premises by fire-resisting construction. Regulation 8 prescribes certain qualities of resistance to fire for materials used in or on internal walls and ceilings in the premises and for materials of which specified parts of escalators and travolators are constructed. Regulation 9 provides for persons working in the premises to receive instruction in fire precautions and for fire drills to be held there. Regulation 10 makes provision for additional precautions to be taken in the premises relating to the preparation of a plan for action in a fire emergency, the prevention of smoking, the supervision of construction and maintenance work and the attendance of staff. Regulation 11 requires records to be kept of maintenance work done on certain fire doors, fire-fighting equipment and fire alarm systems, and of the instruction given and fire drills held in the premises. Under regulation 12 a fire authority may grant exemption from specified provisions of the Regulations and may impose conditions on the grant of an exemption. Subject to any such exemption, regulation 13 makes the occupier of the station premises responsible for any contravention of the requirements imposed and makes it an offence for him to contravene the relevant provisions of the Regulations. Regulation 13 also provides for some requirements to be treated as satisfied in station premises in Scotland by compliance with provisions of the building standards regulations which, unlike building regulations in England and Wales, apply to station premises. The Regulations come into force generally on 18th September 1989 but some provisions of regulations 5, 6, 7 and 8 come into force on the later dates specified in regulation 1(3). Copies of the British Standards referred to in regulation 8(4) may be obtained from any of the sales outlets of the British Standards Institution or by post from the British Standards Institution, Linford Wood, Milton Keynes MK14 6LE.

Offences created by this instrument

Contravention of requirements regulation 13(3) · Revoked · Strict liability

What Parliament said about it

Contributions, debates and written statements mentioning this instrument by name. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

Fire Safety Commons · Westminster Hall · 27 January 2005 · Mr. Pike
A firefighter present at a fire is a relevant person, because a relevant person is any person who is lawfully on the premises or any person in the vicinity who is at risk from a fire. Therefore, if the firefighter is there fighting a fire, he is a relevant person; if he is there at any other time, doing fire prevention work or any other work, he is not covered. We believed that that was a loophole and that the protection should be extended. Certainly fire officers go into premises on many occasions when there is no fire. We do not want there to be a fire every time they are on a premises. We…
Fire Safety Regulations Commons · Westminster Hall · 25 January 2006 · Ms Barlow
I agree that there are concerns, although I would not say that they are as desperate as my hon. Friend suggests. In the present climate, however, every rail and underground safety issue is of desperate interest. Perhaps it would be useful at this point to remind ourselves of the history of the debate. The Fire Precautions (Sub-surface Railway Stations) Regulations 1989, to which I shall simply refer as "the regulations" for the purposes of this debate, were introduced under section 12 of the Fire Precautions Act 1971. The regulations were added on the recommendation of the Fennell report…
Fire Safety Regulations Commons · Westminster Hall · 25 January 2006 · Jim Fitzpatrick
If my hon. Friends will allow me to develop my answer we will get to an explanation, at least partly, if not in full. Some confusion seems to have arisen about what was meant by the statement that I have just quoted. It is our view that the fire safety order maintains all necessary protections, particularly when taken with other safety legislation, which will continue to apply. However, it is essential not only that these protections should exist, but that they can clearly be seen to exist. We are producing guidance to do that. I want to make it absolutely clear that we have no intention of…
Fire Safety Regulations Commons · Westminster Hall · 25 January 2006 · The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Jim Fitzpatrick)
Mr. Gale, it is a pleasure to see you in the Chair this morning, sir. We have had an interesting, useful debate and many points have been raised. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hove (Ms Barlow) on successfully securing this debate, and I congratulate all hon. Members on their contributions. I will try to address as many of the points raised as I can, but it is important to say clearly, from the outset, that we have a fundamental disagreement about the impact of the new orders. I hope to reassure hon. Members that we are not weakening the degree of public protection, but are…
Fire Precautions (Sub-surface Railway stations) (England) Regulations 2009 Lords · Written Statements · 31 March 2009 · The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews)
My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Sadiq Khan) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement. During 2004-05, the Select Committee on Regulatory Reform (9th Report) considered that the draft Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order should be amended to allow the Fire Precautions (Sub-surface Railway Stations) Regulations 1989 to remain in force. The 1989 regulations were brought into force as a result of the Fennell report into the tragic King’s Cross Underground fire in 1987. These apply in four fire and rescue authority areas: London, Merseyside, Tyne and…
Fire Safety (Sub-surface Railway Stations) Commons · Written Statements · 31 March 2009 · The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr. Sadiq Khan)
During 2004-05, the ninth report of the Select Committee on Regulatory Reform considered that the draft Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order should be amended to allow the Fire Precautions (Sub-surface Railway Stations) Regulations 1989 to remain in force. The 1989 regulations were brought into force as a result of the Fennell report into the tragic King’s Cross underground fire in 1987. These apply in four fire and rescue authority areas: London, Merseyside, Tyne and Wear and West Midlands. The then Office of the Deputy Prime Minister agreed to retain these regulations until it published…

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