CPD Module 4: Fire Safety Compliance

Fire poses a constant threat to lives and businesses. During 2010 and 2011, there were 278,000 fires in the UK and 388 fire-related deaths, statistics from Communities and Local Government show, while fire costs UK businesses millions of pounds every year.

It is thought that 70% of small businesses never recover from a serious fire. Arson is a growing problem in the UK, responsible for 45% of serious fires. Each week, there are 2,213 arson attacks, costing the economy an estimated £53.8m. Serious fire disasters often share many common aspects.

• Inappropriate fire procedures or preparedness
• Delay in the operation of a fire system, such as a fire alarm
• Delay in summoning the fire and rescue service
• Inappropriate response by occupants
• Failure of any staff member to take proper charge of the incident
• Failure to properly manage the evacuation process.

Over the past three decades, many pieces of legislation have been brought in to address fire safety, particularly in the wake of such disasters as the fires at Bradford City Football Club and King’s Cross station in the 1980s. In October 2006, fire safety legislation was consolidated when the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) came into effect.

The FSO replaces more than 70 pieces of fire safety law among them the Fire Precautions Act 1971 and the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 (as amended) with a single, simple order. It requires any person who exercises some level of control within a premises to take reasonable steps to reduce the risk from fire, and ensure occupants can escape safely if a fire does occur.

The FSO applies to all non-domestic premises in England and Wales, but also includes the common parts of blocks of flats and houses in multiple occupation. It is primarily enforced by the fire authorities, and similar legislation is in force in Scotland.

The role of the “responsible person
Under the FSO, all non-domestic premises should now have a legally designated “responsible person” who must arrange for a fire risk assessment, identify any possible fire risks and deal with them. In most cases, it will be obvious who the responsible person is, as it will be someone who has control over the premises, or some areas, departments or systems. For example, it could be:

• The owner, employer or manager of a business (which may be the corporate body or an individual)
• The landlord, owner or managing agent for the common parts of premises or common fire safety equipment (such as sprinklers or fire alarms)
• Individuals within a multiple occupancy building (which may include self-employed people)
• Any other person who has some control over a part of a premises.

It is important that all parties concerned are clear who the responsible person is, and that tasks and roles are clearly defined in cases where more than one person has responsibility. In multiple occupancy buildings, where there are many responsible persons, all parties have a duty to cooperate.

The responsible person has several duties and must record and review findings on a regular basis. The responsible person must:

• Carry out a fire risk assessment and identify possible dangers and risks
• Think about who might be particularly at risk
• Take actions to remove the risk from fire, as far as is reasonable
• Put in place precautionary measures to deal with any risks that remain
• Ensure protection in any areas where flammable or explosive materials are stored or used
• Put in place an emergency evacuation plan
• Inform and train staff
• Test and maintain systems and equipment.

If you are the responsible person, you can appoint another “competent person” to carry out the fire risk assessment, but you are still responsible in law. The competent person appointed must have sufficient training, experience and knowledge of fire safety. The responsible person should evaluate this individual’s competency using such criteria as third-party accreditation, experience and qualifications.

Fire risk assessment
There are five key steps to the fire risk assessment.

1 Identify the fire hazards
These may include any sources of ignition, such as naked flames, electrical sources’ heaters or some commercial processes; sources of fuel, such as accumulated waste, textiles or stock; or sources of additional oxygen, such as forced air circulation or medicinal oxygen supplies.

2 Identify people at risk
These include people in the building and those in its close proximity. People who are sleeping; who are working alone or in isolated areas and those who may be more vulnerable and need assistance (such as children, the elderly or disabled) are likely to be considered at higher risk. You should also consider the overall number of people within the building.

3 Evaluate, remove and reduce risk.
You should, as far as is reasonably practicable, remove or reduce any identified hazards and risks. For example, you may be able to replace highly combustible materials with less combustible ones, ensure adequate separation between combustibles and ignition sources, or remove ignition sources. When you have reduced the risk as far as possible, you must assess the residual risk and decide whether there are any further measures and precautions you need to put in place to ensure a reasonable level of fire safety (measures and precautions, below).

4 Record, plan and train
You will need to record the hazards and people you have identified as especially at risk, as well as the actions you took to evaluate, remove and reduce the risk. You will also need to make a suitable emergency plan. This should include the actions that need to be taken in the event of a fire at your premises. All employees should receive adequate information and training about fire safety and the particular risks at the premises. Fire marshals will require more thorough training. Other relevant individuals, such as paying guests in a hotel, will also need to be provided with instructions — these are invariably provided on the back of each bedroom door.

5 Review
You should make sure your fire risk assessment remains up to date, and you will need to re-examine it every time there is a significant change to the level of risk in your premises. This could include physical changes to your premises, an increase in the storage of combustible materials, a change to working patterns, such as the introduction of a night shift, or a change in the type of people using your premises.

Nicholas Coombe, head of fire safety at the London Fire Brigade, says: “The time between reviews is dependent on the nature of the risks and the degree of change likely in the work activity. It is difficult to set a standard time, but annually would be a starting point and this becomes shorter or longer, depending on the risk.”

Measures and precautions
Suitable fire prevention and protection measures will differ depending on the premises, and need to be assessed by a competent person. However, requirements are likely to include:

• Fire detection and warning system Various systems may be acceptable, ranging from a shouted warning to a comprehensive detection and warning system. The system must provide adequate warning to people in all circumstances. There are several measures that can help to reduce disruption from false alarms, such as introducing a two-stage alarm system, which would give staff members time to investigate the problem before the alarm sounds throughout the building; modifying the fire alarm system to suit your particular organisation’s ways of working; and carrying out regular maintenance
• Means for fighting fire typically for the Class A fire risk — fires involving solid materials such as wood, paper or textiles you should have one fire extinguisher for every 200 sq m of floor space, and a minimum of two per floor. Where there are other classes of fire risk, additional appropriate extinguishers should also be provided.
• Safe exit routes The ideal situation is to have alternative escape routes from all parts of the premises, although in practice, this might not always be possible. Where only one route is available, other compensatory features may be necessary — for example, making corridors fire-resisting routes or installing automatic fire detection. Escape routes hould lead to a final exit.
• Personal emergency evacuation plan (PEEP) The responsible person must produce a PEEP for users who need help exiting the building. This may determine the exit route they will take, the support they need to leave the building and, in the case of deafness, how they are alerted to the need to leave the premises.
• Suitable fire exit doors These should be easy to open without a key and without specialist knowledge. In public buildings or, where large numbers of people are accommodated, push, or panic, bars or pads may well be required.

Adequate lighting and signage You may have to consider emergency lighting, and must provide suitable fire safety signs.