Why You Should Have A Fire Risk Assessment?

A Fire Risk Assessment is now a legal requirement for any business in the UK according to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. It helps in evaluating risks and minimising them in a given business premise. Read on to find out why you should conduct one in your premise.



Fire is one of the most critical of accidents. Whether it is at home or office or even out in the open such as forests, there is hardly anything that can survive fire. Therefore, the count of things you lose in fire accidents usually surpasses most of other accidents. Loss of life and irretrievable property damages are common to major fire accidents. Therefore, fire laws and safety measures should never be taken for granted at home or business.



If you own a business and run it in an office building that fails to conform to the current fire law or regulations, you could be a candidate for double trouble – from the fire and also from the law. In the UK, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 or the Fire Safety Order 2005 or more commonly known as the Fire Safety Order (FSO), which was enforced on the 1st of October 2006, has replaced more than a 100 existing areas of the fire safety legislation. Therefore, employers are required to conform to the new rules and act duly.



According to the FSO, if you own or control some part of a premise (this virtually covers all types of premises), meaning you are an employer or owner or a managing agent or a landlord or an occupant etc., of a given premise, you are a "responsible person" in and around the premise. If you fit the designation of a "responsible person," the FSO requires you to carry out a fire risk assessment of your premise and take necessary actions according to the result of the assessment. If you own a business that employs 5 or more persons, FSO states that the significant findings 'must' be recorded. In case you own a smaller business and employ less than 5 persons, you are still recommended to run the assessment and record the findings so that due diligence can be demonstrated in the event of a fire.



A fire risk assessment is a systematic evaluation of a given premise that involves identifying hazards, or potential hazards and determining the likelihood (risk) that such hazards will cause harm. FSO also states that the assessment should be reviewed on a regular basis. Although there is no specified time scale given for the regular basis review, FSO states that it should be "reviewed regularly and kept up to date...particularly if there is reason to suspect that it is no longer valid or there have been significant changes in the matters to which it relates" (Article 9 (3) of the Fire safety Order).



There are two basic reasons why you should have a fire risk assessment conducted in your premise. The first is that ignorance of the Fire Safety Law will be seen as a defiance of the law. Secondly, as an employer, you are unconditionally responsible for your employees' and guests' safety within your premise. It should also be kept in mind that fire certificates and the Fire Precautions Act 1971 have no legal status any more since their annulment in 2006, although, the information they provide could assist the assessment.



While looking for a fire safety consultancy services provider to conduct a fire risk assessment, it is advised that you find a service provider that has had suitable training and possess sufficient knowledge to do it. Experts also recommend that a review, of the findings of the assessment, is conducted and updated at least every 12 months. Charges for a review is generally a small percentage of the fees charged for the original assessment. It's true that accidents happen without a notice, but many factors that contribute to causing them can be averted by taking precautionary steps. The same is true to fire accidents.



The writer is associated with Total Fire Services Ltd, a company of expert fire safety consultants that provides Fire Risk Assessment and Fire Safety Assessment services throughout the UK.