Each year people die or are seriously injured as a result of fires at work. Besides the loss of life, fire costs UK business millions of pounds, from damage to property, loss of business, fines, compensation claims and insurance premiums. Many fires can be avoided by taking fire precautions. Sphere Risk Health and Safety Management conducts fire safety and risk assessments. If a fire does break out, the effects can be minimised by having effective controls and procedures in place.
In England, Scotland and Wales, The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 replaced most existing fire safety legislation. The emphasis is on preventing fires and reducing risk. Anyone who has some control over premises must take reasonable steps to reduce the risk from fire and make sure people can safely escape if there is a fire. The regulations apply to all non-domestic premises.
Each non-domestic premise now has a legally designated ‘responsible person‘ who must arrange for a risk assessment, identify any possible fire risks and deal with them. Sphere Risk Health and Safety Management will work with you to draw up the assessment. Several people will share the responsibility – for example in shared premises or larger businesses. It could be the owner, employer or manager, managing agent or individuals within a multiple-occupancy building. Where there is more than one person responsible for the premises, they are expected to co-operate with the other responsible persons and to share information with each other. The responsible person must make certain that everyone who uses the premises can escape if there is a fire.
Sphere Risk Health and Safety Management will work with the responsible person to carry out a fire-risk assessment and identify possible dangers and risks. Typically, dangers and risks will consist of the following main areas: Detection, Access and Egress, Emergency Lighting, Fire Protection Procedures, Travel Distance, Training and appointment of Fire Marshalls. Fire Protection Procedures will include all areas concerned with Fire Extinguishers, Fire Blankets and Sprinklers and will check for correct placement, servicing, correct types, etc.
As well as the areas outlined already, the survey will identify who might be particularly at risk, how to get rid of the risk from fire and to put in place fire precautions to deal with any remaining risk. It must make sure there is protection if you use or store flammable or explosive materials and have a plan to deal with emergencies. The findings must be recorded and reviewed as and when necessary. If you are the responsible person, you must make sure that the fire-risk assessment is carried out. You can appoint some other competent person to do the actual assessment, but you are still responsible in law. Sphere Risk Health and Safety Management will work with you to help overcome any problems.
The hazards must be identified and often include anything that can start a fire, such as naked flames, heaters or commercial processes such as cookers or hot-air dryers; anything that can burn in a fire, including piles of waste, display materials, textiles or other flammable products and oxygen sources such as air conditioning, medical products or commercial oxygen supplies which might intensify a fire. The people at risk must be identified. These include people who work close to or with fire hazards; people who work alone, or in isolated areas such as storerooms; children or parents with babies; elderly people and disabled people.
Having identified the hazards, it should then be possible to remove the fire hazards you identified, typically these will be removal of waste build-up and reduction of any hazards you can’t remove entirely. It is beneficial to have a safe-smoking policy for employees or customers who want to smoke in a designated area away from your premises. Once you have reduced the risk as is far as practical, you need to look at any risk that can’t be removed and decide what fire safety measures to provide.
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