As a business owner of a commercial building, it is essential to ensure that it is as safe as possible, and this means protecting your building from any kind of dangers or potential hazards to the health of its staff.
When talking about the risks fire dangers also are a prominent cause that can put employers and their staff in danger.
By law, every block, building, or workplace’s premises must be secured from any dangers of fire. And so, employers are required to conduct adequate and sufficient risk assessments to integrate effective fire protection measures at their work.
This blog will explain what is a fire risk assessment and why is it needed to ensure employers are meeting their legal duties in providing a safe and secure workplace for all to work.
What is a Fire Risk Assessment?
A fire risk assessment is a thorough review conducted of a building, workplace or organization to identify and assess any fire risks and hazards and recommends making the work premises safe by implementing control measures.
It is about a careful examination of the workplace from a fire perspective to understand the potential risks and then make improvements to keep people safe.
Why Is a Fire Risk Assessment Needed?
Fire risk is an essential step in creating a quality fire safety policy within the building or the workplace. A fire risk assessment is needed to identify any fire risks or hazards, considering the existing fire safety measures and controls in place.
There were nearly 15,368 fires every year on non-domestic premises over the recent years. These fires results in damage to property, impact daily work operations and cause severe injuries, or death.
Therefore, employers of the staff must have adequate procedures to prevent them from any hazards containing fires.
Are There Any Legal Requirements Regarding Fire Risk Assessment?
A Fire risk assessment do have some specific guidelines. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) 2005 requires business owners, employers, or any person who has control and duty of care on work premises must take reasonable practical steps to mitigate the fire hazards and risks in the workplace.
Therefore, employers must regularly review their fire risk assessments and so, it is recommended to include the following things in the review:
- Every 12 months after the original assessment
- Every 5 years a news assessment must be conducted
- If there is any alteration in the premises
How to Conduct a Fire Risk Assessment?
Following are the steps to conduct a fire risk assessment:
- Identify the fire hazards
The first step in the process is to identify any kind of fire hazards that may have the possibility to cause a fire within the workplace. This will help prevent fires to occur.
- Identify the People at Risk
The next step is to identify those who are at risk or those who might become severely injured as a result of any fire risk or hazards.
- Evaluate, Remove & Minimize the Risks
This step is more focused on evaluating the risk and deciding on effective strategies to remove or minimize the risks of fires. This may include implementing effective steps and approaches that help control the issue.
- Record Your Findings, Prepare an Emergency Plan & Provide Sufficient Training
Recording any of your findings is one of the essential steps to analyzing any kind of fire hazard within the workplace and then preparing an action plan accordingly to implement essential control measures to eradicate the risk.
Employers can also provide adequate fire risk assessment training to their workforce that help them understand the nature of the risk and help them act proficiently in case of emergency.
- Review & Update the Risk Assessment Regularly
The last step is to review the risk assessments regularly and update them if needed to comply with the fire legislation and keep everyone safe at work.
Who is Responsible for Conducting a Fire Risk Assessment?
According to the law, every business, workplace, and organization must have individuals specifically designated to ensure adequate fire risk assessments are conducted within the workplace, also known as ‘appointed person’.
They are responsible that risk assessment procedures are implemented within the workplace so that health safety legislation is fulfilled and employees feel safe while at work.
Summary
This blog post is a detailed explanation of what fire risk assessments are and how to undertake an effective risk assessment to ensure any workplace, business, or organization is safe from the risks and dangers of any fire hazards.
Undertaking proper risk assessment help analyze employers the areas that need close attention and steps that can control the issue. Adequate training for the staff is also a helpful and effective way to make them equipped and knowledgeable to undertake their work operations safely and act competently in case of any fire hazard.
