A workplace fire risk assessment should be carried out and reviewed regularly in order to identify what actions are required to prevent fire and keep people safe.
By carefully examining you premises and the people within them, you should be able to understand potential risks and use this information to improve your fire safety precautions.
Is it a legal requirement to have a fire risk assessment?
A fire risk assessment is a legal requirement under ‘The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005’. Under the reform, a responsible person must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks. This assessment has to be regularly reviewed and kept up to date, especially if there has been a significant change to the premises.
How do you carry out a fire risk assessment?
The five key steps for carrying out the risk assessment are:
- Identify the fire hazards
- Identify people at risk
- Evaluate, remove or reduce the risks
- Record your findings, prepare an emergency plan and provide training
- Review and update the fire risk assessment regularly.
When assessing your premises, you’ll have to consider:
- Emergency routes and exits – Are they clear? Is the travel distance within guidelines?
- Fire detection and warning systems – Does the fire alarm system cover the entire premises?
- Maintenance and inspections of any systems or equipment – has servicing and inspections taken place for the extinguishers, emergency lighting and fire alarm?
- Firefighting equipment – do you have enough extinguishers? Are they the right type for the materials present?
- Removal or safe storage of any COSHH products – do you need a COSHH cabinet? Are any fuel containers leaking?
- The needs of any of your employees – Do any employees need a personal emergency evacuation plan?
- Staff fire safety training – are there enough fire marshals and do they cover all areas of the business?
- Providing information to employees – do your employees know what to do in the event of a fire? Is there signage up telling people where the fire exits are?
All these things need to be considered as they are controls for the fire risk of your premises. For instance, a fire detection system suitable for your works needs to be in place so that if a fire does occur, people are warned immediately.
Can you get help with a fire risk assessment?
A fire risk assessment gets trickier to handle with more complex works or premises. If you don’t feel that you have the expertise or time, the business is too large or in a listed building then hiring a competent person to complete the risk assessment may be the best course of action.
WA consultants are happy to help with this. When we carry out a fire risk assessment, we look at your premises and needs and cross-reference what you do with what you have in place.
How can WA Management help?
WA Management can carry out a comprehensive fire risk assessment at your workplace, complete with suggested actions, responsibilities and timeframes. We also offer both Fire Safety and Fire Warden online training to help you ensure your staff are prepared in the event of a fire.
Fire Safety and Fire Wardens training courses are essential tools in protecting your workers from the risk of fire. Make sure you don’t miss out on our 10% off deal on these courses, available until the end of November. Simply enter the code ‘fire10’ at checkout to save!
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