Risk Assessments (Fire Safety Order)

Fire protection experts covering London and the South East

How can Fireout help you?

Making sure that your company complies to all responsibilities required when it comes to fire safety can be an extremely daunting task, however, Fireout are here to help. We have well over 25 years of experience working within a large variety of properties, ranging from all forms of domestic premises to large commercial properties.

We offer consultation services and Fire Risk Assessments to make sure you are adherent to current laws and legislation. Give us a call on: 01322 445408 to find out more ways that we can help you.

What is the Fire Safety Order?

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, sometimes shortened to the Fire Safety Order is the legislation that covers general fire safety in England and Wales.

Scotland has different requirements on general file safety and these are enforced in the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and supported by the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

In most locations, local fire and rescue personnel are responsible for enforcing this legislation.

Why is the Fire Safety Order important?

The majority of fires are preventable; this legislation is designed to provide a minimum fire safety standard across all non domestic premises. It places the employer (if it is a workplace) in the position of Responsible Person (RP), if not a workplace then any person who has control to some extent can be designated as the RP.

Fire Risk Assessments

The RP is required to adhere to certain fire safety duties; this may include making sure that the general fire precautions are satisfactory and carrying out a Fire Risk Assessment. If more than 5 people are employed at the workplace, the Risk Assessment must be written.

It must be reviewed regularly. Our recommendations:

• You must be reviewed once every 6-12 months
• A full assessment must be completed every 5 years
• If the building has changed for example after construction work or an extension.
• If the occupational hazards in the building change

Record all findings and take appropriate actions.

The legislation requires employers to take action to prevent fires and protect against death and injury of employers or relevant persons in case of fire.

In support, the Department of Communities and Local Governments (DCLC) have produced guidance documents to employers and RP’s to meet their responsibilities:

So who is actually responsible?

It is required by law that every business/company has a designated individual that is accountable for the communal fire safety of the area/property.

It is the said responsible individuals job to ensure that all of the fire safety duties are found and marked out in a risk assessment are carried out within a designated/defined time-frame. Furthermore, they must ensure that appropriate action is carried out in order to prevent any fires starting and also taking step to reduce the chance of injury or death if a fire was to occur.

Learn more here: https://www.firesafe.org.uk/regulatory-reform-fire-safety-order-2005/