FIRE RISK ASSESSMENT

Fire Risk Assessments

What exactly is a Fire Risk Assessment?

Well, it’s certainly not an ‘off – the – shelf’ document that you can order over the telephone having paid your fee!

The RRO (Fire Safety Order) states that:
“The responsible person must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed for the purpose of identifying the general fire precautions he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed on him by or under this Order.”

In practice, this means that the business owner (usually but not always) must ensure that all aspects of fire risk are considered. Whilst not being an exhaustive list this would include the layout of the building, the normal business processes carried out, members of staff carrying out their daily duties, the impact, and additional risk caused by non-employees entering the building (perhaps to a restaurant), should all be considered.

It may be that in extreme cases alterations to the building may be required to reduce the risk to an acceptable level, but this would not normally occur.

One of the main considerations though when preparing a Fire Risk Assessment is the type of building. Busy retail premises where members of the public with no knowledge of the premises are going to be attending will present an entirely different set of problems to an industrial office building where staff have intimate knowledge of their workplace, and have been notified of the Fire Action Plan and know exactly what is expected of them in the event of a fire, and where visitors are closely monitored at all times. Similarly, a hotel and a residential student apartment block, whilst both include the addition of ‘Sleeping Risk’ are substantially different in the problems they present.

A suitable Fire Risk Assessment then is not a ‘standard’ document and will differ greatly from one building (business) to another – perhaps even between two very similar business premises.

The BS PAS 079 methodology promotes a structured approach to the preparation of a Fire Risk Assessment with clear steps in the ongoing fire risk assessment process:

  • Obtain information on the building, the processes carried out in the building and the people present, or likely to be present, in the building.
  • Identify the fire hazards and means for their elimination or control.
  • Assess the likelihood of fire, at least in subjective terms, and determine the fire protection measures in the building.
  • Obtain relative information about fire safety management.
  • Make an assessment of the likely consequences to people in the event of a fire, at least in subjective terms.
  • Make an assessment of the fire risk.
  • Formulate and document an action plan with prioritization if appropriate.
  • Define the date by which the fire risk assessment should be reviewed.

What Does A Fire Rick Assessment Include?

The process will usually begin with a ‘Site Visit’ to the business premises at which point we would ask for Fire Safety Plans, showing the layout of the building, the fire zones and compartments and any fire protection devices and systems installed in the building. If not available, the preparation of Fire Safety Plans is an additional service that can be provided.

After we have gone through the various steps, gathered the required information and assessed the building ‘up close’ preparation would then begin on the actual FRA.

The end result being a document that allows the Responsible Person to demonstrate full compliance with the RRO and effectively assist in managing the ‘Fire Safety’ aspect of the business.

Remember there is no such thing as a standard Fire Risk Assessment. Each one will be different and unique to your business premises.

You are legally responsible for the safety of everybody in your building. This includes taking action to prevent fire and the spread of smoke. Don’t take risks. Make sure you are fully compliant by booking an inspector today.

A Fire Risk Assessment must consider all aspects of fire safety in the building, the specials risks that are present and likely and the most suitable measures that can be taken to limit the effect of any fire-related event’ primarily to protect lives, but also the fabric of the building where possible – but should also be easily understood by those who have to act on its findings and recommendations. We have structured our FRA then to be as concise as possible whilst ensuring that all relevant information is included hopefully making for a more user-friendly document.