From our Northern Ireland branch
Join us for this paid, in-person event providing some invaluable learning and earning 5 CPD hours. Over the course of the day, delegates will have the chance to hear from six expert speakers covering topics such as safe evacuation and Martyn's Law.
Agenda
- 08:30 - Registration
- 09:00 - Dr Karen Boyce: Save Evacuation for All - How Far Have We Come and How Far are we Prepared to Go?
- This presentation will examine current design guidance set against the realities of accessible building design and changing demographics. Drawing on evidence from real-world incidents and research undertaken at Ulster University and beyond, the presentation explores our evolving understanding of the behavioural characteristics and evacuation dynamics within today’s increasingly diverse building populations—and the significant management challenges this presents. The session will provide a candid and thought-provoking reflection on the appropriateness of the assumptions which underpin current design guidance, the choice of evacuation scenarios in an engineering design context, and the attainability of expectations regarding how evacuation will be managed. Ultimately, the presentation will explore the adequacy of current means-of-escape provision, asking how far the profession has progressed - and how far it is willing to go - to provide an accessible means of escape that optimises safety for all.
- 10:15 - Elspeth Grant: Equitable Fire Safety and Building Safety: Designing, Assessing and Managing Residential Buildings for Disabled People
- Disabled and neurodivergent people are often the most exposed when a building has to be evacuated, yet standard designs and “stay put” assumptions do not always account for them. This 60-minute session looks at how impairment and neurodiversity affect fire safety and evacuation, which inclusive design principles make a practical difference, and what evidence a fire risk assessor or an enforcer should look for to show that arrangements work in occupied buildings. It opens with lessons learnt from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry the behaviour of disabled and non-disabled residents during the fire, covers PAS 6463 Design for the Mind and what suitable and sufficient training looks like for people with fire safety responsibilities.
- 11:15 - Russ Timpson: Intelligent Buildings – Intelligent Outcomes
- This presentation will explore the reasons behind why we improve fire safety in our buildings, why are new cars safer than new buildings, where do we get the data to make buildings safer, what incentives do we have to look at this and what could this look like.
- 12:30 - Lunch
- 13:15 - Andy Corry: whistlestop tour of fire stopping
- 14:15 - Patrick Jeffries: Changing Regulation in the Security and Safety industry, with respect to Fire and Escape doors.
- For many years, the Fire and Security Industry has been closely related but all too often the requirements for both disciplines did not fully dovetail together. Thankfully with the advent of Martyn’s Law and changes in legislation relating to Dynamic Lockdown, Building Regulations, the Building Safety Act, as well as the appointment of the Safety Regulator all these disciplines are becoming harmonised with a singular message. The changes in BS 7273 making this possible, are gradually filtering into the Fire and Security sectors. The session will discuss how Security and safety can now be easily aligned providing compliant life safety applications for all eventualities.
- 15:15 - Angela Bennett: Martyn’s Law - A New Era of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
- This presentation will provide an overview of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, commonly known as Martyn’s Law, including its background, scope, requirements and implications for premises and events.
The session will explore the differences between Standard and Enhanced Tier requirements, the four public protection procedures - evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication, and the practical steps organisations can take to prepare for the legislation. The relationship with existing fire safety arrangements will also be considered.
- 16:15 - Closing remarks
About the speakers
Dr. Karen Boyce
Dr. Karen Boyce is a Senior Lecturer at Ulster University and a key member of the Fire Safety Engineering Research and Technology (FireSERT) centre. Over her 38-year career, her research has specialized in human behaviour and movement during evacuations. Her particular interests lie in understanding the capabilities and requirements of disabled individuals and she has contributed to UK government-funded research related to inclusive evacuation needs. High profile research investigations have included research into the evacuee behaviour following the World Trade Centre attacks on 9/11. She has served as member and Chair of the international Human Behaviour in Fire Symposium series (1999–2015) and is a member of the Advisory Board for Fire and Materials. From 2000 until recently she directed the MSc Fire Safety Engineering program at Ulster. She has authored over 80 research publications and co-authored the "Engineering Data" chapter in the 5th Edition of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers Handbook. She was recently honoured with the 2026 IFE Rasbash Award.
Elspeth Grant
Elspeth Grant is Founding Director of Triple A Solutions, which she has led since 2003. Since 2009, she has personally delivered programmes on fire safety, fire risk assessment and equality & diversity. She has worked with architects and fire engineers on social housing portfolio renovation, developing evacuation strategies for disabled and vulnerable people in complex buildings, including high-rise residential social housing.
She advised Bhatt Murphy, solicitors acting for survivors and bereaved families at the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, analysing expert reports and is a member of the Building Safety Regulator’s Building Advisory Committee. Her earlier contributions include the Home Office Evacuation and Fire Safety Working Group, BSI PAS 79-2, the B/559 Committee, and reviews of BS 9991 and the NFCC Simultaneous Evacuation Guidance.
A qualified trainer, Elspeth is an integral part of the team that develops Triple A Solutions’ IFE-accredited eLearning courses on personal emergency evacuation planning.
Russ Timpson
Russ is the founder and organiser of the Tall Building Fire Safety Network (TBFSN), established in 2009 to improve fire safety within the tall building environment.
A former Royal Navy submariner and firefighter, he is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the IFE. After his fire service career, Russ became Head of Safety at Virgin Atlantic Airways, leading a multidisciplinary team of safety, health, and environmental specialists and contributing to the response to the 1999 Heathrow crash-landing incident.
In 2000, he was recruited to lead the Heathrow Terminal 1 fire response and went on to play a key in major airport infrastructure projects, including Gatwick’s skyway and Heathrow Terminal 5.
Russ has received multiple industry awards and was named among the UK’s top 10 fire safety influencers in 2020. He now works as a consulting resilience engineer and expert witness, is a member of the CONIAC Group on Construction Fire Safety and created the internationally adopted Crisisboardroom™ concept.
Angela Bennett
Angela Bennett is CEO of Diamond Systems, a Belfast-based fire and security specialist with almost 40 years’ experience protecting people, premises and assets across Northern Ireland and beyond.
An award-winning business leader, Angela has a particular interest in the integration of fire safety, protective security and counter-terrorism preparedness. Having recently undertaken specialist Level 3 training in Counter-Terrorism Protective Security and Preparedness, she is passionate about helping organisations understand Martyn’s Law and develop practical, proportionate approaches to protecting people.
Through her work, Angela advocates a joined-up approach to life safety, bringing together fire protection, security systems, emergency planning and organisational preparedness.
Patrick Jeffries
Pat joined Abloy UK in 1994 and has built a distinguished career spanning more than 30 years, progressing from a regional sales role to Commercial Director. Combining his background in electronics engineering with expertise in mechanical locking, he helped drive the growth of electric locking and access control solutions. Pat also founded the Abloy Academy, shaping industry education and standards, and continues to influence best practice through his work with BSI and European standardisation bodies.