What is a Fire Risk Safety Assessment?

In October of 2006, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) went into effect and replaced over 70 separate fire safety laws. These laws apply to all non-domestic premises in England and Wales, including the common parts of blocks of flats and houses in multiple occupations. The responsible individual in connection with the facility in question must carry out a Fire Risk Safety Assessment. The profile of a responsible individual extends beyond that of a business owner and includes those responsible for a business’ premises, or any area that qualifies as a non-domicile, or if you are a contractor with some control over such premises. To understand the law, you must look at some considerations.   

The actual Fire Safety Risk Assessment is a 5-step risk assessment process. The essence of this is available as a handy, itemized checklist. There is, of course, a more complex and detailed series of forms available online at the communities and local government website. Once the formal assessment is completed, you will have to identify any shortfalls and remediate them. The next step is to implement a Fire Risk Management plan. There is a simple version of the 5-step checklist and other related documents area all available for public consumption from the government. The first consideration, once you have familiarized yourself with the law, is to decide if you yourself can meet the requirements of the law or if you should seek professional guidance instead.

There is no strict set of guidelines as to whether or not you should attempt to handle the matter yourself. Studying the available documentation will take some time and you should have a better sense of your particular needs. An individual with a small block of flats might be within reason to manage the process themselves but a restaurant owner would be tempting fate if they tried it. You will need to decide this matter yourself before attempting to proceed or not. Naturally, the best practice would be to familiarize yourself with the need and then seek professional consultation to handle the matter.

While the Flats owner might not need to retain the services of the Health and Safety consultancy, the restaurant owner should. There are a number of different options available. You can learn more on the internet at the communities and local government page or you can contact your local fire rescue authority for information. There are firms that will contract to perform the inspection and the needed follow through as well as firms that will provide more generalized, on-going health and safety consulting services. If you are the owner of a larger scale business, you may already have used the services of such an agency.