When Must A Fire Risk Assessment Be Carried Out In A Workplace?

Workplace safety is the responsibility of the owner or landlord of the property. The most critical safety aspect is the risk of fire. Many incidents of fire occur in commercial and business places, almost everywhere in the world, including the UK. Fire may erupt anytime, anywhere, and most importantly, without any apparent reason.

Workplaces are more vulnerable to fire risks. A workplace often has items such as paper, trash, and wood that may instantly catch fire. Additionally, several electrical equipment are installed in such places, which is also a significant fire risk. Another serious threat is smoking. The heating system is yet another possible fire risk at most workplaces.

So, the safety of occupants of workplaces becomes a pretty serious matter for the landlords and the property managers. The severity of the issue has also compelled the regulatory authorities to formulate rules and regulations to streamline the process of fire safety at workplaces.

Fire Safety Order 2005

Fire risks at workplaces and increasing fire accidents compelled the authorities to regulate the affairs by making rules and regulations. The basic law that came into force in October 2006 is known as “The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005”, more commonly referred to as “The Fire Safety Order.”

This law applies to all buildings or places other than private homes. It also applies to the HMOs (houses of multiple occupations) and buildings comprising blocks of Flats. In other words, all the properties and buildings except the individual and private homes are covered under this law. One of the basic requirements of this law is the fire risk assessment, which has to be conducted for all such buildings.

Here are some other features of the fire safety order:

• The owners, Employers, landlords, building managers, and any other person assigned the property's duties will be called the “responsible person.”
• This person is responsible for maintaining the building up to the desired fire safety standards.
• He will ensure that the employees working on the premises are adequately trained for fire safety. The employees should be given general training against fire risks. Additionally, periodical refresher training sessions should also be conducted, especially when significant changes are made in the business's operations.
• He is legally responsible for inspecting the property for Fire Risk Assessment and reviewing it regularly.

What is Fire Risk Assessment?

Under the provisions of the fire safety order, the responsible person must get the property assessed for fire risk regularly to identify the fire risks and fire hazards. Fire risk assessment is a careful survey of the entire building to ascertain what can harm the occupants and how it can be prevented. A fire risk assessment would essentially aim at:

• To identify what and where the fire hazards are.
• Identify which employees are at risk and how to ensure their safety against fire risk.
• To evaluate how the risks can be removed or reduced.
• To record and document the findings and recommendations.
• To suggest and make a workable emergency exit plan.

Apart from the above, the fire risk assessment also includes suggestions and recommendations for employee training.

Who Can Conduct Fire Risk Assessment in a Workplace?

Under the Fire Safety Order 2005 provisions, the responsible person is responsible for arranging fire risk assessment in the workplace as a "competent person." But the law is silent about the term "competent person." However, one can assume that a competent person can have the basic knowledge of fire hazards, fire safety, and risk assessment. Moreover, he must be aware of the requirements of fire safety law.

So, the responsible person may do it himself, assign this duty to any of the employees, or hire the services of any professional risk assessor. It largely depends on the size of the workplace and the number of employees. Employees can do a fire risk assessment for smaller workplaces, but you may have to hire a professional risk assessor for larger organizations. More importantly, one must remember that the fire risk assessment is not a one-time activity. It needs to be reviewed regularly.

When Must A Fire Risk Assessment Be Carried Out In A Workplace?

The relevant law, “The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005", is again silent on this important question. There's no definite period in the law when you must conduct a fire risk assessment in your workplace. However, section 9(3) of the law provides a guideline as under:

• Fire risk assessment needs to be updated and reviewed regularly.
• It must be reviewed when it is presumed that the current assessment has lost its validity.
• If the responsible person or any employees suspects that the current fire risk assessment is no longer practical, a review should be conducted.
• Fire risk assessment should be reviewed when there is a considerable change in the building's layout, operations, technologies, equipment, or structure; you need to review the fire risk assessment.

It means the onus of when to review the fire risk assessment is on the responsible person. So, suppose you are a landlord or a responsible person in the workplace. In that case, you are responsible for updating the fire risk assessment by conducting a review whenever required, per the above guidelines.

Additional Tips on When You Need To Do a Fire Risk Assessment

The law requires every small or large workplace to be surveyed for fire risk assessment. It further requires that the assessment must be reviewed regularly. The review needs to be conducted whenever required, as discussed above.

Here are some essential points that must be kept in mind while conducting or reviewing fire risk assessment at your workplace:

• The first fire risk assessment must be done when starting a new business at a workplace.
• If you change the premises of your business, you need to conduct a fire risk assessment of the new premises.
• Whenever there is a significant change in the employees or a change of role and responsibilities of the current employees, the fire risk assessment should be reviewed.
• A fire risk assessment may remain valid for 12 months if there is no significant change in the layout, number of employees, equipment, technologies, and operations at your workplace. However, it is advisable to review it periodically, even if there is no considerable change in your workplace. This is important to maintain the desired level of safety.
• Irrespective of the number of reviews done, a completely fresh fire risk assessment should be carried out after five years of initial such assessment.
• Though you can assign the task to any of your employees, it is recommended that you should get it done by a professional assessor at least once every five years.
• After every review, the employees must be briefed about the assessment. It will even be better if you can arrange training sessions for them. They must be trained to react in case of a fire incident. They must be guided on evacuating the workplace in case of such an incident. But above all, they must be trained to avoid or minimize the chances of such happening.

Conclusion

Protecting people and properties against fire risks is essential, especially in the workplace. Workplaces are exposed to fire risks more than any other place for diverse reasons. A workplace may have many such electrical equipment that can cause unexpected fire eruptions at any time. A workplace may also have different items and substances that may catch fire or cause a fire.

Considering these risk factors, fire safety law was enforced in the UK, which binds commercial property owners or landlords to inspect their premises for fire risk assessment. A fire risk assessment needs to be conducted to ensure the safety of those working on that property.

Though not specifically mentioned in the relevant law, you must review this assessment regularly, especially when there is a reasonable change in the business setup or the operational processes. This is important to maintain the desired level of safety at your workplace. It doesn't cost you much. So, make sure to do it regularly to avoid any mishaps.