Do I Need a Fire Risk Assessment?

Paul SmithFire Safety

Question

Do I need a fire risk assessment?

Answer

Yes if you are business with 5 or more employees. The Fire Safety Order requires all businesses with 5 or more employees to have a documented fire safety risk assessment.

Additional Information

Fire Safety Law

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 covers general fire safety in England and Wales.

In Scotland, requirements on general fire safety are covered in Part 3 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, supported by the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

In most premises, local fire and rescue authorities are responsible for enforcing the fire safety legislation. HSE has enforcement responsibility on construction sites, for nuclear premises, and on ships under construction or undergoing repair.

The following information is courtesy of the Health & Safety Executive’s website.

General fire safety hazards

General fire safety hazards

Fires need three things to start – a source of ignition (heat), a source of fuel (something that burns) and oxygen:

  • sources of ignition include heaters, lighting, naked flames, electrical equipment, smokers’ materials (cigarettes, matches etc), and anything else that can get very hot or cause sparks
  • sources of fuel include wood, paper, plastic, rubber or foam, loose packaging materials, waste rubbish and furniture
  • sources of oxygen include the air around us.

What do you have to do?

Employers (and/or building owners or occupiers) must carry out a fire safety risk assessment and keep it up to date. This shares the same approach as health and safety risk assessments and can be carried out either as part of an overall risk assessment or as a separate exercise.

Based on the findings of the assessment, employers need to ensure that adequate and appropriate fire safety measures are in place to minimise the risk of injury or loss of life in the event of a fire.

To help prevent fire in the workplace, your risk assessment should identify what could cause a fire to start, ie sources of ignition (heat or sparks) and substances that burn, and the people who may be at risk.

Once you have identified the risks, you can take appropriate action to control them. Consider whether you can avoid them altogether or, if this is not possible, how you can reduce the risks and manage them. Also consider how you will protect people if there is a fire.