The horrific fire at Grenfell Tower this summer has placed fire safety very much under the spotlight, and it is not only domestic premises that need to comply with the law.
From 1st October 2006, The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the “Responsible Person” of any non-domestic premises to carry out a Fire Risk Assessment.
Recently a major company had an inspection from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and it was discovered that the actions /recommendations identified in the Fire Risk Assessment were not complied with, and no effort had been made to comply. This resulted in the company having to stop work in the areas where improvements were needed until those improvements were carried out.
It goes without saying that fire is life critical, and as such the HSE take any recommendations made in a Fire Risk Assessments very seriously, and so should companies. Therefore, any actions / recommendations from Fire Risk Assessments must be complied with, immediately.
All too often completed Fire Risk Assessments are just filed away without reading. Companies feel that they have complied with the law once they have had somebody carryout a Fire Risk Assessment. Many are not reviewed at regular intervals or when changes are made that might affect the assessment.
It is not just the HSE that can carry out spot checks on Fire Risk Assessments. The fire brigade and the local authority also have the power the inspect assessments.
Although it is often accepted that some recommendations cannot be carried out immediately, for a variety of reasons, there is no excuse for not carrying out the actions that can be done, and having a sensible plan for those that cannot be done immediately, including actions that can be taken to reduce any risk identified.
Don’t put your employees lives at risk. Be honest with yourself and ask: “when did I last look at our Fire Risk Assessment?”, “is it up-to-date?” and “do we actually have one?”.
If you need help and support, pick up the phone and our health and safety advisers Mandy and Dave.
