Fire Risk Assessment

What is a Fire Risk Assessment?

A fire risk assessment is a systematic evaluation of your premises and the activities carried out within it in order to identify potential fire hazards, those who may be affected by a fire and the consequences if a fire were to occur. It provides a snapshot of how protected any given property is to ensure the safety of its occupants in the event of a fire.

A fire risk assessment is an essential part of managing a property and the first step to safeguarding your premises from a fire.

Do I Need A Fire Risk Assessment?

Like a lot of things similar to this, you may be sitting there thinking “I know the risks, it’s not that big of a deal!”. But you’d be wrong. A fire safety risk assessment shouldn’t be considered an optional thing. If the worst were to happen an already existing hazard that you weren’t aware of causes a devastating fire you’ll wish you’d thought about an appropriate assessment sooner so that you fire safety provisions put in place quicker, to avoid this.

In addition to thinking you should have one, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 makes it compulsory by law for every business to carry out a Fire Risk Assessment overview. If you employ 5 people or more, you’re required to be able to produce a written Fire Risk Assessment immediately.

All business premises and residential flats require appropriate Fire Risk Assessment overviews if you employ less than 5 people the assessment doesn’t require it to be written down unless the property is a licensed premise (like a pub) or has been notified that there will be a visit from a local fire authority.

Why Do You Need a Fire Risk Assessment?

A fire risk assessment is a legal requirement for all business premises. In compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which came into effect in October 2006, a fire risk assessment is necessary for all non-domestic buildings in England and Wales.

Benefits Of A Fire Risk Assessment

There are plenty of benefits to having a professional fire risk assessor visit your premises. Here are just a few:

Improve Safety Within Your Buildings And Its Relevant Structural Features – Safety should be paramount in any building and with a competent fire risk assessment in place you can assure that as much as possible.
Remain Compliant With Fire Safety Measures – By getting the risk assessment done sooner rather than later you can spend your time focusing on your business instead of worrying about fire safety regulations
Reduce The Risk Of Potential Litigation – Having good fire safety provisions will make your life much easier because it reduces the chances of people trying to sue you. You’ll have sufficient evidence to show you mitigate significant risks as much as possible.
A Proper Fire Safety Risk Assessment Can Lead To A Thorough Fire Safety Policy – Inform your own fire safety regulations after undergoing a risk assessment. This will give you relevant information to help you identify areas that you need to focus on.
Empower Employees By Appointing a ‘Responsible’ or ‘Competent’ Person – Choosing employers as Responsible Persons or Competent Persons can empower them to make a difference in their own workplace.
Limit Potential Risks And Prevent Future Incidents – It may seem obvious but it bears repeating, a thorough fire risk assessment can help you keep things running smoothly and avoid potential fire risks in the future, saving you time and lots of money.
Look Like A Business That Takes Fire Safety Precautions Seriously – Image is important and you want to look like a business that takes fire procedures and emergency plans seriously right? A fire risk assessment is the first step to achieving this.

When Do You Need a Fire Risk Assessment?

Fire safety risk assessments are intended to be dynamic and take into account change. However, fire risk assessments should still be reviewed from time to time, especially in the following scenarios:

If a significant change has occurred, such as an increase in the number of people in the building or changes to floor layouts.
If there is reason to suspect that your fire risk assessment is no longer valid. Since the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 came into effect in October 2006, fire certificates are now a thing of the past and will need to be replaced with an up-to-date fire risk assessment.
After a fire, no matter how small or serious.

It’s always good practice to review your fire risk assessments frequently to make sure your business (and employees) remain safe and compliant.

What Happens If I Don’t Have Fire Risk Assessment?

The overall purpose of a Fire Risk Assessment is to make you aware of fire safety measures that you need to take to ensure that people on your premises are going to be safe and that they’re going to comply.

If you don’t fully comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 the Fire Brigade can give you one of three different notices.

Enforcement notice

This is a notice that is sent to the Responsible or Competent Person. The notice informs this person that the relevant local Fire Authority has deemed that they have failed to comply with the provisions of the Fire Safety Order 2005.

Alterations notice

This is more of a document and it states that the local Fire Authority is of the opinion that a potential change to premises may cause a fire risk. The notice must state the specific matter which constitutes such a risk. The responsible person must notify the enforcing authority of the proposed changes.

Prohibition notice

If an authority believes that this use of a premise may cause potential harm to people in such a serious way that they believe the building has to be restricted in use or closed entirely.

Who Is A Competent Person Or Responsible Person?

A competent person is defined as someone who has sufficient training, experience and or knowledge that will allow them to carry out health and safety duties properly. A key trait of this role is that it usually comes from within the organisation, rather than recruiting someone specifically for that role. This role is usually subsidiary to the role that they are paid to do.

During a fire risk assessment, you should pay mind to the competence of relevant employees, this will help you determine the kind of info and training you’ll need to provide. When we talk about competence, it should only be thought of in proportion to the job they do. For example, someone who works in an office does not need the same level of competence as someone who works on a construction site.

What Are The Responsibilities Of A Competent Person Or Responsible Person?

There are no defined criteria of responsibilities, a competent person must be capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in their workplace, they are then given the authority to ensure corrective measures are put in place to prevent that. For instance, if they saw an area of an office that had a lot of plugs that had extension leads and was full of wires etc, this could be considered a fire hazard (overuse of sockets can cause dangerous electrical fires), they could take action to distribute the cables and wires more efficiently, thus reducing the risk.

In a practical sense, ask the following questions to yourself when considering if someone if ‘competent’ or ‘responsible’:

Has this person had relevant training?
Do they have applied knowledge that they can use in the real world?
Do they have the sufficient skills and technical ability required to develop solutions?
Do they have prior practical experience?
Are they familiar with the organisation and its ongoing activities?
Do they have authority in their main role and could this be translated to this new role?

Could My Insurance Be Affected?

In short, yes. If you’re not seen to have sufficient fire safety measures, fire safety equipment and relevant fire safety features then it stands to reason that insurers will be hesitant to pay out should the worst happen to your premises. Furthermore, you can expect extremely high fines and even imprisonment if you fail to comply at all with the Regulatory Reform Order. Insurance on office premises, construction sites or any other commercial building will likely only be paid if you have documented evidence that you had appropriate fire safety measures in place to mitigate any risk.

No one expects you to be completely fireproof, not all risk can be prevented. Sometimes accidents do just happen and they’re of nobody’s fault. What is important is showing that you had all the appropriate physical and legal measures in place to reduce the risk of a fire as much as physically possible. Did you have fire doors appropriately placed, were smoke alarms fitted and regularly tested, we’re the communal areas outside that people could go to in the event of a fire to be registered, where vulnerable people were protected. All these things are there to ensure that if fire risk was done properly and the fire did still occur, you’d receive financial remuneration.

What Types of Buildings Can We Fire Risk Assess?

Our fire safety specialists have conducted countless fire risk assessments on a wide range of buildings, including:

High-rise, multi-storey buildings
Factories
Schools
Offices
Care homes
Hotels
Colleges of further education
Entertainment premises
Shops
Warehouses
Garages
Landlord premises

What Does a Fire Risk Assessment Involve?

A fire risk assessment involves a physical inspection of the building to determine the adequacy of the existing fire precautions and the need for any additional fire prevention measures.

Another important aspect of a fire risk assessment is a review of fire safety management within your organisation and consideration of the human factors, such as how people will respond to an emergency and whether they will take appropriate action.

We also visually identify existing fire detection systems, electrical equipment and emergency escape lighting. Where appropriate, we would identify the need for any further engineering evaluation on these systems, which we would be able to carry out if required.

A fire risk assessment covers:

Compliance with existing legislation
Ignition sources
Emergency procedures
Layout and capacity of the premises
Structural fire issues
Means of giving warning
Escape plan
Suitability of fire fighting equipment
Fire detection systems
Signage and notices
Testing and maintenance of appliances and electrical equipment
Suitability of existing fire training

Step 1

Our fire risk assessor will gather all the information they need, including plans and schematic diagrams. Any existing plans which are available will aid the fire risk assessment process, including written records of any existing fire precautions such as weekly fire alarm tests, emergency lighting and portable appliance tests. Our fire risk assessor will also conduct interviews with your staff who are responsible for the management of fire safety.

Step 2

Our fire risk assessor will then compile the fire risk assessment management report. The report covers all aspects required under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and is put together in a smart bound report with colour illustrations. Where appropriate, the report will be provided with full site schematics (showing all existing fire precautions), a full fire risk evaluation guide, a clear colour-coded prioritised action plan and suggested timescales.

All of our fire risk assessment reports are clear, easy to understand and unambiguous while providing practical solutions to reduce the risk of a fire in your workplace. The report will also assess and audit the suitability of existing measures and make recommendations on any actions identified. Where appropriate, the report will follow the PAS79:2007 format.