Info zone – fire risk assessment
The problem
Following new European regulations, the current fire certification system will be repealed in the autumn of 2004 and sweeping new policing powers will be bestowed upon fire authorities. The impact of this will be a far greater responsibility on businesses themselves for fire-safety procedures and risk assessment.
European Community legislation on health and safety at work was reflected in the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997, which were designed to implement outstanding fire-safety aspects of the EC framework and workplace directives. New legislation means the law will soon be changed under a regulatory reform order.
The new Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order will be goal-based and not prescriptive as previously set by the Fire Precautions Act 1971. This will mean that the employer (or the building's owner, should the employer have no power over the building) - known as the "responsible person" - will be free to choose the way fire-safety procedures and risk assessment should be carried out in a way that suits their particular circumstances. This contrasts with the fire-certification system, where the local fire authorities prescribe what exactly needs to be done.
The definition of the person responsible for premises is currently described in the Fire Safety Bill as "that person, company or body having overall responsibility for the premises". It also says that, for corporate bodies, the company secretary will be responsible.
Expert advice
The responsible person now has a duty to carry out a risk assessment for fire safety on his premises. From this assessment he must make provisions to ensure that fire-safety standards are adequate.
Instead of a prescriptive fire certificate issued by the fire authority, the responsibility for fire precautions is placed on the employer or other persons responsible for the premises.
On the up side, this lends the employer much more control over the fire-safety solutions appropriate for his business. If a fire door isn't workable, for example, alternative measures such as fire alarms could now be an option.
However, it also means that instead of feeling under little or no obligation to focus on fire precautions after a certificate has been issued, the responsible person will be required to maintain adequate fire precautions via the risk-assessment document and keep them under review.
The fire authority will be liable to carry out spot checks and question staff about the procedures put in place. Should your assessment be inadequate, prosecution may follow.
Any business that employs more than five people must have a written risk assessment on the premises. If you have fewer than five employees, a verbal assessment is all that is necessary - but staff in both cases must be fully briefed and trained.
It is also worth noting that despite the Government's claims that no new costs would come out of this change in legislation, guidance information for implementing your own risk assessment costs almost £200 from Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
Check list
A risk assessment should include:
An assessment of the risk of fire.
Whether anyone is likely to be hurt if there is a fire.
Whether current fire safety arrangements are satisfactory.
If not, what solutions need to be implemented to make it satisfactory?
Significant findings and solutions to these findings must be formally recorded in the risk assessment.
Risk assessments should be reviewed, especially if there are significant changes to the workplace, working practices or staff.
Beware!
Breaches of the legislation could result in the ultimate offence of corporate manslaughter for those found negligent. This can only reinforce the need to "get it right" for your business and staff.
Contacts
Blackdove Safety, 01243 783376, www.blackdove-safety.co.uk
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, www.odpm.gov.uk
