It Has To Be Safe

COSHH and Fire Residues

Safety required by law

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) apply to fire residues. All persons carrying out decontamination following fire damage or smoke damage must conform to COSHH, control these fire residues and protect all occupants.

The hazard

Poisonous chemicals produced by fire:
• Stick to all surfaces from which they are slowly released for weeks - often noticed as a strong smell
• Are absorbed into tiny airborne particles of carbon and float in the air for days/weeks.

The risk

Chemicals - you don't want these chemicals inside your lungs or absorbed through your skin. You are breathing in what you smell, and you may absorb what you touch.

Particles - these can be harmful if you breath them in, especially for those with asthma or poor respiration.

Richfords solution - making safe

Richfords can make properties that suffer from smoke damage or fire damage safer whilst conforming to COSHH. Safe for the owners to visit and plan repair work - safe for the building trades to visit and prepare their estimates.

We start each project by reducing the amount of exposure to harmful chemicals - though lungs or skin.

We do this by:

• Using air scrubbers to remove harmful particles from the air
• Vacuuming to stop re-contamination of air and cleaned items
• Decontamination cleaning to remove the source of chemicals and prevent further air contamination

A clean building is a safe building and safety is paramount to Richfords