Fire Legislation and Risk Assessment

Fire Safety Legislation

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to England and Wales and is referred to as the as the Fire Safety Order 2005.

The Fire Safety Order applies to virtually all buildings other than domestic dwellings and consolidates all previous fire safety legislation, with the emphasis on self-regulation through risk assessment.

Legal responsibility for complying with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 rests with the 'responsible person'. In the workplace, this will be the employer and any other person who may have control of part of the premises. In all other premises it will be the person or persons in control of the premises. Where there is more than one ‘responsible person’ in any type of premises they must take all reasonable steps to work with each other.

The legislation imposes a duty to take general fire precautions to ensure the safety of both employees and other relevant persons using the premises and includes:

Eliminating or reducing the risk and spread of fire as far as reasonably practical
Ensuring adequate provision of escape routes and exits and that they are maintained in good order
Providing appropriate firefighting equipment taking into account the size of the premises and the nature of the activities and risks.
Ensuring an adequate means for detecting fire and giving warning.
Arrangements for action in the event of fire including instruction and training of employees and measures to mitigate the effects of fire.

Risk Assessment

IMPORTANT INFORMATION - Register of Fire Risk Assessors

The Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) has created a Register of Fire Risk Assessors and Auditors. As the leading professional body in the field of fire, the IFE created the register to ensure that anyone that requires the services of a fire risk assessor can refer to the Register and thereby verify the credentials of their choice of assessor.

The 'responsible person' is required to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for the safety of ALL persons on the premises and persons adjacent the premises that may be affected.

The significant findings of the assessment must be recorded if:

Five or more persons are employed
A license is in force relating to the premises
An alterations notice (issued by the enforcing authority) is in force relating to the premises

In order to comply with the requirements of the regulation the 'responsible person' must appoint one or more competent persons* to assist in undertaking preventative and protective measures. With regard to risk assessment and training, the level of competence required will be determined by a number of factors relating to the premises to be assessed including:

Use
Size
Construction
Occupancy

Firesure UK Ltd recommends that certain types of buildings should only be assessed by a competent consultant*. These include:

Nursing and care homes
Hospitals
Hotels
Office buildings (large and/or high-rise)
Shops (large and/or high rise)
Factories (medium/large)
Schools, Colleges and Universities

Review/Audit

Any risk assessment should be reviewed by a competent person* if it is no longer valid or there are any significant changes made. In addition fire authorities would expect a risk assessment to be periodically audited. A reasonable period for audit would be annually although in some cases this may be reduced or extended depending on circumstances.

Enforcement

Local fire authorities will enforce the regulation through inspection The general approach to inspection will be to sample. This reflects the shift in responsibility for setting standards under the regulations from the fire authority to the person(s) responsible as defined under the regulation. Authorities will have the power to issue notices of deficiencies, enforcement, restriction or prohibition, and if necessary take legal action.

To give further advice on risk assessments, the government have produced 13 guidance documents which can be purchased or downloaded free from http://www.communities.gov.uk/fire/firesafety/firesafetylaw.

If you need further advice or assistance with current fire legislation, please contact us.

*Competent Person - someone who has sufficient training, experience, knowledge and understanding of the principles of fire, fire safety standards, related guidance and regulations.