Fire is a very real risk for businesses, with the most common cause being misuse of equipment, closely followed by faulty appliances. That means the majority of fires could have been prevented with effective fire safety training.
Of the fires broken down in the primary fire category, misuse of equipment or appliances’ accounted for 8,636 incidents last year. Then faulty appliances at 3,863, then articles too close to heat at 3,301. These far surpass the 2,892 deliberate fires. Of the 64,066 fire incidents, there were 210 fatalities.
Each business must have fire safety procedures in place, as well as fire management systems and escape points. The duty of regulating and updating the fire management systems lies with the Responsible Person. Every business, charity, voluntary organisation and contractor requires a Responsible Person, named and documented.
The purpose of a fire risk assessment is to:
Article 9 (1) of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 states that: “The responsible person must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed for the purpose of identifying the general fire precautions he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed on him by or under this Order.”
The Fire Safety Order requires that you give effect to arrangements for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of the preventative measures.
The Fire Risk Assessment should be reviewed at least annually by the responsible person to ensure that it remains up to date, or earlier if there is reason to suspect that it is no longer valid such as, but not limited to the following:
Each year, around 22,000 fires occur in workplaces around the UK. Common causes include:
At Sentient, our fire risk assessors are NEBOSH Qualified and hold a Fire Risk Assessment Qualification from the Fire Protection Association. We can carry out fire risk assessments in a wide range of premises; including manufacturing premises, shops, warehouses, industrial units, workshops, food manufacturers, church halls, and shops.
See our variety of training course available. We can instruct on fire safety online, on-site or via a webinar. Contact us today to get your fire safety management systems sorted.
Sentient,
8 Airport West, Lancaster Way,
Leeds, LS19 7ZA