Fire Risk Assessments

fire survey

Fire Safety Law:

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) came into effect in October 2006 and replaced over 70 pieces of fire safety law.

The FSO applies to all non-domestic premises in England and Wales, including the common parts of blocks of flats and houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). The law applies to you if you are:

responsible for business premises
an employer or self-employed with business premises
responsible for a part of a dwelling where that part is solely used for business purposes
a charity or voluntary organisation
a contractor with a degree of control over any premises
providing accommodation for paying guests

Summing up:

To comply with the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order 2005 it is a legal requirement to conduct a fire risk assessment.

Owners, Directors and Managing Agents could face imprisonment and/or personal prosecutions as a consequence of non-compliance.

You are also at risk of invalidating your insurance cover.

risk assessment

So what is a fire risk assessment?

A fire risk assessment is an organised and methodical look at your premises, the activities carried on there and the likelihood that a fire could start and cause harm to those in and around the premises.

The aims of the fire risk assessment are:

To identify the fire hazards.
To reduce the risk of those hazards causing harm to as low as reasonably practicable.
To decide what physical fire precautions and management arrangements are necessary to ensure the safety of people in your building if a fire does start.

If your organisation employs five or more people, or your premises are licensed or an alterations notice requiring it is in force, then the significant findings of the fire risk assessment, the actions to be taken as a result of the assessment and details of anyone especially at risk must be recorded. You will probably find it helpful to keep a record of the significant findings of your fire risk assessment even if you are not required to do so.

Fire

How we can help?

Fire safety legislation, codes of practice, British and European Standards can be a struggle for a lay person already faced with numerous tasks and references. Wrongly applied, money can be wasted and standards not achieved.

We can help by carrying out a dedicated fire risk assessment on your behalf, and providing a report and table of management actions for you to follow, that would satisfy your regulatory responsibilities.

Our professional consultants are from Fire Service backgrounds and are experienced in conducting fire risk assessments in a wide range of premises including: shopping centres, large industrial and commercial complexes, offices, factories, places of worship, care homes, schools, residential blocks of flats and shops.

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Fire Training

fire marshal

The Regulatory Reform (Fire safety) Order 2005 requires employers to train staff in the actions to be taken in the event of fire and basic fire awareness.

fire awareness

We currently provide two workplace fire training courses (Fire Awareness Course and Fire Marshal Course), which are both structured to meet the requirements of the FSO and can also be tailored to suit individual needs.

A Certificate will be issued to all persons completing the course.

NEW... LASER FIRE SIMULATOR

Indoor Fire Training now available

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HSE Approved First Aid Training

1st aid training

Legal Duties:

The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 require employers to provide adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel to enable first aid to be given to employees if they are injured or become ill at work. These Regulations apply to all workplaces including those with five or fewer employees and to the self-employed.

What is adequate will depend on the circumstances in the workplace. This includes whether trained first aiders are needed, what should be included in a first aid box and if a first aid room is needed. Employers should carry out an assessment of first aid needs to determine this.

The Regulations do not place a legal obligation on employers to make first aid provision for non-employees such as the public or children in schools. However, HSE strongly recommends that non-employees are included in a first aid needs assessment and that provision is made for them.

How many First Aiders do I need?

The relevant regulations are the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981. This guidance to the regulations sets out the difference between a 'first aider' and an 'appointed person':

In any company, the number and type of first aid personnel would be based on an assessment. In assessing need, employers need to consider:

workplace hazards and risks;
the size of the organisation;
the organisation's history of accidents;
the nature and distribution of the workforce;
the remoteness of the site from emergency medical services;
the needs of travelling, remote and lone workers;
employees working on shared or multi-occupied sites;
annual leave and other absences of first aiders and appointed persons.

Whilst the regulations do not give specific personnel numbers, the guidance does give suggested numbers of first aid personnel can be found on the HSE's website.

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