Fire risk assessments are a requirement from several legal standpoints in the UK, whether you’re looking after a business property, work facilities or residential building. Any structure which has occupants must be properly assessed by approved contractors and fire safety experts to ensure its safety.
Any business or organisation must conduct regular fire risk assessments if the properties are not single private dwellings. If your business has five or more employees, or if your enterprises is not regulated by a particular industry body, you are responsible for attaining a fire risk assessment.
Moreover, any other non-domestic properties must conduct fire risk assessments. This includes all workplaces and commercial premises, all premises the public have access to and all common areas of multi-occupied residential buildings.
The responsible personnel can be prosecuted by the fire and rescue authority and fined up to £5,000 if they fail to carry out a fire risk assessment.
In addition to legal duties, there is a moral responsibility to ensuring all facilities and properties have the fire safety features required to prevent fires, and loss of life or property damage.
An Introduction To Fire Risk Assessments
A fire risk assessment is a scrupulous and uncompromising examination of a building or structure to identify any fire hazards or anything which could impede evacuations. This usually including checking fire exits, fire hazards, existing fire safety measures and more.
UK legislation dictates that there is a fire point checklist for buildings and properties.
- Identify fire hazards and potential sources
- Identify people at risk
- Evaluate, remove or reduce the identified risks
- Recorded findings, an emergency plan, and required training
- Review and update the fire risk assessment regularly
A Melwood Facilities fire risk assessment will identify any potentially hazardous materials, such as flammable liquids, chemicals or gasses and examine how they’re stored. We will then assess the people who could be at risk, ensure the fire doors are functional and there is a safety emergency exit plan.
Fire Risk Assessment: Who is responsible and what must they do?
There is always personnel responsible for fire safety, whether it be a designated member of staff, building manager, occupant, owner or landlord. It’s crucial that the responsible person regularly conducts fire risk assessment to prevent fires as much as possible and ensure the premises is equipped to deal with fire situations if necessary.
Depending on your property or business type, the level of risk can vary and there can be different fire classifications to examine.
According to the UK Government, you are responsible for fire safety and fire risk assessments if you are the following:
- Employer
- Owner
- Landlord
- Occupier
- anyone else with control of the premises, for example a facilities manager, building manager, managing agent or risk assessor
If you fall into these categories, you are the ‘responsible person’. The UK Government asserts that as the responsible person, you must carry out a “fire risk assessment and review it regularly”, tell staff and their representatives about the risks identified, establish and maintain fire safety measures, plan for an emergency and provide staff with information, fire safety instruction and training.
*Please note, Scotland and Northern Ireland use different fire safety rules.
