The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, came into effect in October 2006 in England, Scotland and Wales and 2008 in Northern Ireland. Effectively the order applies to all places of work, unless you work at home.
Good management of fire safety is essential to ensure the likelihood of fires occurring is reduced and that if they do occur they are likely to be controlled or contained quickly and safely or that if a fire does occur and grow, everyone in your premises is able to escape to a place of safety easily and quickly.
The "Responsible Person" under the order has to undertake the Fire Risk Assessment. The risk assessment will help ensure that your fire safety procedures, fire prevention measures and fire precautions are all in place and working properly. The risk assessment should identify any issues which require attention.
The risk assessment is an organised and methodical inspection of the premises, the activities carried out there and the likelihood that a fire could start and cause to harm to those in and/or around the premises.
The risk assessment should:
- Identify the fire hazard.
- Identify how the risk of the hazard can be reduced to as low as reasonably practicable.
- Decide what physical fire precautions and management arrangements are necessary to ensure the safety of people in the premises if a fire does start.