Karissa Thomas Email & Phone Number

I didn’t know a career in fire safety existed, or even that this was what would interest me, when I was at school. Believe it or not, I was going to go to college to study and work with horses. A gap year in Australia showed me the path I may like to follow was in construction or mining. A peruse through the UCAS website, starting at subjects starting with ‘A’, opened my eyes to the variety of subjects and careers available, until I got to ‘F’ and fire safety management, which sounded rather interesting, and here I am!As a graduate in my first job, I realised I had a lot to learn, and through mentoring and being exposed to a huge range of buildings, politics, and people, I learnt a lot. I’m still learning. I believe my strengths lie in being able to consider scenarios that may be overlooked, whilst still basing my advice and recommendations on the basic things that can and do go wrong, and what can be achieved easily and cost effectively. A client called me pragmatic before I knew what the word meant.I now have an interest in roles internal to organisations as a fire safety manager / officer, rather than external fire consultancy. To call the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew my workplace as Fire Safety Officer though is part of the dream – to work at such an important, beautiful and prestigious place ‘on the inside’ and put in place my own ideas just reaffirms that I still have plenty to learn.I have 16+ years’ experience in undertaking fire risk assessments, as well as technical peer review and auditing of FRAs. Other fire safety work I have completed is below, some I enjoyed more than others…Fire risk assessments, including HRRBs and Type 4s, with a speciality in heritage buildingsPre-occupation fire risk assessmentFire safety policy and procedures developmentFire strategiesConstruction phase fire safety inspections and auditsFire equipment asset surveysCompartmentation surveys and strategic compartmentation drawing productionManagement fire safety procedure auditsFire evacuation strategies and plansSpecification of firefighting equipment, signage etcWork schedulingGap analysis…and just a few of the buildings and organisations I am proud to have completed work for include:The British MuseumThe Parliamentary EstateWindsor CastleSotheby’sSelfridgesGoodwood HouseThe Honourable Society of the Inner TempleNational TheatreBlythe House – Joint Museums’ StoreBrighton PavilionI wonder what I could have been doing had I started at ‘Z’. Sometimes I wish I could be a farmer though.

Listed skills include Fire Management, Fire Safety, Fire Alarm, Fire Protection, and 19 others.