Employers (and / or building owners or occupiers) must carry out a fire safety risk assessment and keep it up to date. This shares the same approach as health and safety risk assessments and can be carried out either as part of an overall risk assessment or as a separate exercise.
Based on the findings of the assessment, you as employers need to ensure that adequate and appropriate fire safety measures are in place to minimise the risk of injury or loss of life in the event of a fire.
To help prevent fire in the workplace, we at ETR H&S Services can assist by carrying out your fire risk assessment making sure it identifies what could cause a fire to start, i.e. sources of ignition (heat or sparks) substances that burn and the people who may be at risk.
Once the risks have been identified through the assessment, we can help you and advise how to take the appropriate action to control them. You need to consider whether you can avoid them altogether or, if this is not possible, how you can reduce the risks and manage them. You also need to consider how you will protect people if there is a fire.
- Carry out a fire safety risk assessment
- Keep sources of ignition and flammable substances apart
- Avoid accidental fires, e.g. make sure heaters cannot be knocked over
- Ensure good housekeeping at all times, e.g. avoid build-up of rubbish that could burn
- Consider how to detect fires and how to warn people quickly if they start, e.g. installing smoke alarms and fire alarms or bells
- Have the correct fire-fighting equipment for putting a fire out quickly
- Keep fire exits and escape routes clearly marked and unobstructed at all times
- Ensure your workers receive appropriate training on procedures they need to follow, including fire drills
- Review and update your risk assessment regularly.
Fires need three things to start – a source of ignition (heat), a source of fuel (something that burns) and oxygen:
- Sources of ignition include heaters, lighting, naked flames, electrical equipment, smokers' materials (cigarettes, matches etc), and anything else that can get very hot or cause sparks
- Sources of fuel include wood, paper, plastic, rubber or foam, loose packaging materials, waste rubbish and furniture
- Sources of oxygen include the air around us.
If you need a new Fire Risk Assessment for your premises or you need an existing one reviewed, which should be carried out annually or sooner if you carry out structural alterations that could affect the health and safety of employees and visitors to the premises, call us for a chat and a quote.
We will attend your premises and advise you what is required by law and then if you are in agreement we can complete the assessment complete with any recommendations. We are always on the end of the phone or email to answer questions and queries you may have and to help out in any way we can.