How to write a fire risk assessment for company premises
So now that the Fire and Rescue Authority do not have to issue a fire certificate for your company premises what are you to do?
Well in October 2006 the law changed and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) 2005 was born. This basically means that fire certificates are now a thing of the past and are not valid.
This means you as a Business Owner or Director are responsible for safety of your employees and anyone who may be affected by fire and must carry out a fire risk assessment.
This is a legal requirement for all UK businesses.
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We supply a simple but powerful fire check list/risk assessment template that can be purchased below. The tick box system contains just three possible answers ” Yes, No and N/A”.
Your goal is to walk round your premises and answer either Yes or N/A to each question. If you do happen to answer “No” to any of the questions there is a guidance sheet that corresponds to each question and will give details of what systems you need to put in place to be safe and legal.
This template can be used for almost any type of company premises.
You will receive this editable word document by email.
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The best way to get yourself above-board is have a quick walk around your building and make sure first that all fire exits and walk ways are always clear and free from obstruction. I’m sure many of you have seen such things as files being scattered on the floor and so on. make a plan to check the escape routes once a week and make your staff aware of the dangers.
Also make sure that the exits themselves are not locked or chained up as this is illegal.
The next thing you may want to check is the fire extinguishers, check to see when the next inspection date is and see that they are fixed securely to a wall at the correct hight. A fire extinguisher holding a fire door open is a big no-no as you can imagine but happens all the time.
You need to work out what the fasted and shortest means of escape is from different areas in the building. Once you have marked out the best routs make a simple diagram showing this and display it in a prominent place where employees will be able to see it and make them aware of its presence.
You now need to find a suitable place outside and away from the building where you can have an assembly point. This needs to be a safe place preferably not crossing a road or near dangerous traffic.
Once you have establish the assembly point you must inform all employees and mark it on the diagrams you created for the escape routs.
This highlights just some of the main aspects you need to start thinking about to become safe and legal but as you can imagine there is a lot more involved we are just pointing you in the right direction.
For a more substantial understanding of your obligations can download various guidance notes from the HSE website or why not try our fire checklist/assessment template above.