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A Council Recommendation defines minimum safety standards in hotels and serves as a basis for common safety rules throughout the EU.
Council Recommendation - scope
On 22 December
1986 the Council adopted a
Recommendation on fire safety
in hotels. Its purpose was to
define minimum safety standards
for all hotels in the
Community. People staying in
hotels in other EU countries
are entitled to adequate
protection and to be informed
of the extent of that
protection.
Where existing
laws had not been sufficient,
Member States were recommended
to take all appropriate
measures to guarantee the
safety standards set out in the
Recommendation. This could be
done by implementing the
appropriate technical
guidelines set out in the Annex
to the Recommendation.
In existing
hotels, the main objectives are
to:
- reduce the
risk of fire breaking
out,
-
- prevent the
spread of flames and
smoke,
-
- ensure that
the occupants can be
evacuated safely and
-
- enable the
emergency services to take
action.
The
Recommendation spells out the
requirements for meeting these
objectives. These include
available and accessible escape
routes, structural stability of
the building, the use of
non-flammable materials, the
safe operation of technical
equipment and appliances,
alarms, safety instructions and
plans of the premises,
emergency fire-fighting
equipment and staff
training.
The
Recommendation also specifies
that compliance with the
minimum recommended safety
standards is essential for
continued operation and that
hotels must be subject to
regular inspection.
Commission report on the
application of the
Recommendation
In 2001, the
Commission has presented a
report
(+/-50KB)
on the application of the
Recommendation.
It evaluates
the impact the Recommendation
has had on measures taken by
Member States to upgrade the
safety standards in hotels, and
the further activities they
have planned in this field.
The report
presents the broad lines of
further EU initiatives and
activity on the issue, and in
particular the need to:
- make more
precise provision for
alternative solutions where
the recommended technical
guidelines in the
Recommendation cannot be
implemented;
-
- improve
supervision and
monitoring;
-
- update and
improve technical guidelines
for future activities;
-
- identify
and disseminate best
practices in fire safety
management and
monitoring.
Consultation on the
Commission Report on Fire
Safety in Hotels and revision
of technical guidelines
attached to the
Recommendation
A
working
group of national technical
experts on fire safety in
hotels, coordinated by an
external independent
rapporteur, was set up to
assess the need to update the
technical guidelines for
Recommendation 86/666/EEC. The
conclusions are presented in
Section
19 of the Report.
Based on these
conclusions, the Commission
held consultations with all
interested parties. Other
activities envisaged in the
Commission report will be
gradually implemented and the
Commission will provide
information about their
development in due
course.
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