M
any
people die or are seriously injured
every year
as a result of fires at work.
These catastrophes
along with
millions of pounds
worth of d
amage to property,
disruption to business,
compensation
claims and
increased
insurance premiums
could
be avoided
or the effects minimised if
effective fire
precautions
,
controls and procedures
were in place.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 came into effect in October 2006 and replaced over
70 pieces of
existing
fire safety law.
Fire certificates are
no longer required, and the emphasis is on
preventing fires and reducing risk.
The regulations app
ly to all non
-
domestic premises.
A
"responsible person"
must be identified
who
has control, or a degree of control, over premises or
fire
-
prevention systems
within premises
.
This is frequently the facility manager who
must carry out a fire
-
risk assessment and iden
tify possible
dangers and risks.
The responsible person can
appoint some other competent person to do the
actual assessment, but
they
are still res
ponsible in law.
The
findings
must be recorded and reviewed
as and when necessary.
The objective is to remove the
risk from fire, as far as reasonably possible
and to
put in place fire
precautions to deal with any risks that remain
.
The risk assessment sh
ould consider those
who might
be particularly at risk
such as
disabled
staff
, or people who work with
chemicals. The plan must also
make sure there is protection
for the use or storage of
flammable or explosive materials
and there
must be
a plan to deal wi
th
fire related
emergencies
.
The responsible person must
make sure that everyone who
might be on
the
premises
can escape if
there is a fire
including employees, visitors or members of the public.
P
articular attention
must be
paid
to those who may need spec
ial help, such as elderly
or disabled people or children.
In many premises achieving fire safety is likely to be a matter of common sense providing the
responsible person makes enough time available to go through all the necessary steps.
The enforcing
auth
ority, which is usually the local fire authority, must be satisfied with
the
safety measures
developed
. If they find major problems they can restrict the use of
the
premises or close them
altogether until
the issues identified are resolved.
Fire Gateway is
a web portal which has been funded by Communities and Local Government
and developed with the involvement of English Fire and Rescue Services to provide a wide
range of fire
-
related advice and links to useful sites