Fire Risk Assessments 
Compliance is  a must

Fire Risk Assessments are a tailored document for your company and its’ status in relation to Fire Safety should be recorded for inspection by Fire Officers and Insurance companies as well as being your own tool for preventative and improvement measures going forward. This complies with the obligations under the 'Fire Safety Order 2005' which became law in 2006. The law requires a ‘competent person’ to carry out the Fire Risk Assessment. The ‘competent Person’ should possess the necessary skills to compile such a report.

Fire Risk Assessments are a methodical approach to analysing your working practices. The main areas to concern yourself with are the following:

1.       Fire Prevention (House Keeping, Storage, Smoking, Heating and Electrical apparatus, Flammable, and combustible substances)
2.       Communication (detectors, alarms, signs, emergency lighting)
3.       Escape (Escape routes, Escape plans, Drills, Vulnerable occupants)
4.       Confinement (Fire Doors, Fire stopping devices, Smoke dampers, Compartmentation)
5.       Fire suppression (Portable and fixed fire fighting equipment and training)
6.       Training, Drills, Testing, Routine Maintenance (Current status and required improvements)

These main categories are very much interlinked and questions should be asked about the satisfactory standard of what is in place (in regards to endangerment of the building and human life) and how any particular system might be improved. A record of each category/system should be recorded in relation to its existing risk, it should be rated as to the level of its risk, and then a plan going forward on how to reduce the risk. In a summary plan, an improvement programme should be formulated time scaling the changes to occur as well as the chronological testing and maintenance of the existing systems. Training of staff/wardens may be recommended as additional measures.