What is a Fire Risk Assessment?
A fire risk assessment is a systematic review of your premises to identify fire hazards, assess the risk to people, and ensure suitable fire safety measures are in place. It looks at how a fire could start, who may be at risk, and whether existing controls such as detection, alarms, escape routes, and fire protection systems are adequate. A thorough fire risk assessment helps prevent fires, protects lives, and ensures your business meets its legal fire safety obligations.
Why does my business need a Fire Risk Assessment?
There are a few clear reasons for having a Fire Risk Assessment completed professionally. If you operate a business in the UK you must complete a Fire Risk Assessment. This is a legal requirement under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Legal requirement, Insurance & Accreditations, Workplace safety - All employees should be safe in their work place, alongside legal obligations, safety should morally be at the top of a responsible employer's list of jobs.
What does that mean for my business?
Legal Requirement - To remain compliant with current legislation you need a Fire Risk Assessment to be carried out by a competent person. Failure to do this can result in enforcement action being taken by the local Fire & Rescue Service or Local Authority.
Insurance & Accreditations - Your business insurance for your site will require you to have a Fire Risk Assessment in place. Some sites such as schools or medical facilities require an assessment to satisfy other bodies such as Ofsted or the CQC.
Workplace safety - Employees, visitors, and anyone else on site should always be protected in the event of a fire.
We've gone into more detail about this on our helpful insights page...
Why choose Ocelot Fire Consultancy
Remove the headaches! Running a business is tough and there are many competing priorities, let us do the heavy lifting in Fire Safety Compliance, don't tie up your already busy staff in doing something that we can do for you.
Ocelot Fire Consultancy are experts in Fire Risk Assessments, fully accredited to deliver Life Safety Fire Risk Assessments under the BAFE SP205-1 Scheme. Every assessor that carries out assessments is also on the National Fire Risk Assessors Register.
With Ocelot you are in safe hands, working with your business we help ensure Fire Safety Compliance.
What you'll get from a professional service
Once appointing Ocelot, we will make contact with you and guide you through the next steps.
Our straight forward onboarding process ensures that you as the client understand what to expect of our team when they visit your site.
There are six steps to carrying out a Fire Risk Assessment, check these out below.
Step 1.
Identifying Fire Hazards
The first step in conducting a fire risk assessment is to identify potential fire hazards within your site. This involves a comprehensive assessment of the premises, considering various factors such as building materials, electrical systems, heating equipment, flammable substances, and sources of ignition. By identifying these hazards, fire safety professionals can determine potential vulnerabilities and prioritise their management efforts accordingly.
Step 2.
Identifying People at Risk
Once the fire hazards have been recorded it is essential to understand the use and occupancy of the site. The site may have a range of occupants with staff members, visitors, contractors and/or persons that may have sensory or physical impairments. The arrangements to protect people in your site must be suitable and sufficient and be in line with the relevant standards.
Step 3.
Evaluate, Remove & Reduce the Risks
The combination of the identified Fire Hazards & People at Risk then must be evaluated. Where there are issues identified, these are recorded as significant findings and the next step is to eliminate the issue entirely or reduce it with effective control measures. This may include introducing new equipment or mean new systems have to be installed.
Step 4.
Recording Your Findings, Prepare an Emergency Plan & Training.
A Fire Safety professional will record your fire risk assessment and associated actions into a format which is easy to access and understand.
This plan will allow you to create, or potentially supplement your existing emergency plan should it be required. Fire Safety training for staff can range from fire response teams to fire wardens and general fire awareness
Step 5.
Review & Update Fire Risk Assessment Regularly
A Fire Risk Assessment should be treated as a live document. The significant findings that are created should be noted & subsequent actions detailed with the assessment. If the site has a material change, a new process is introduced, there is a change of use or an incident occurs the fire risk assessment should be reviewed or reviewed as is appropriate (you fire safety professional will advise you on this). The fire risk assessment should be reviewed regularly with an annual review being the industry accepted standard.
Compliance with Regulations and Standards
Fire risk assessments play a crucial role in ensuring compliance with fire safety regulations and standards. Some regulatory bodies can require businesses and organisations to conduct regular fire risk assessments to meet legal obligations. By adhering to these regulations, businesses not only protect themselves from potential fines and legal consequences but also demonstrate their commitment to the safety and well-being of their employees, customers, and the community.
What Ocelot can do for your workplace
