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Produced 27/06/05
Seeing the Future First
Tom WellandFire Services Manager
The guide does not set prescriptive standards, but provides recommendations and guidance for use when assessing the adequacy of fire precautions in premises providing residential care.
Your existing fire safety arrangements may not be the same as the recommendations used in this guide but, as long as you can demonstrate that they meet an equivalent standard of fire safety, they are likely to be acceptable.
If you decide that your existing arrangements are not satisfactory there may be other ways to comply with fire safety law. This means there is no obligation to adopt any particular solution in this guide if you prefer to meet the relevant requirement in some other way.
Responsible Person: Must implement Preventive and
Protective measures “General Fire precautions”
Carry out Fire Risk Assessment Record “Prescribed Information” Written Emergency Plan Appoint Competent Persons to assist in
the implementation of preventive and protective measures and emergency plan
Give preference to employees over outsiders
Train staff Communicate and co-operate
The Fire Safety Order 2005
In 2006 there were 33,200 cases of fire in non-domestic buildings in the UK, that is 91 fires every day!
The average cost of a fire in a commercial building is estimated at £43,800; a figure that is often not covered completely by insurance.
A Fire Risk Assessment is an organised and methodical look at your premises, the
activities carried on there and the likelihood that a fire could start and cause harm to those in and around the premises.
The aims of the fire risk Assessment
• To identify the fire hazards.
• To reduce the risk of those hazards causing harm to as low as reasonably practicable.
• To decide what physical fire precautions and management arrangements are necessary to ensure the safety of people in your building if a fire does start.
The risk assessment will help you ensure that your fire safety procedures, fire prevention measures, and fire precautions (plans, systems and equipment) are all in place and working properly.
The risk assessment should identify
any issues that need attention.
• Identify Sources of Ignition• Identify Sources of Fuel• Identify Sources of Oxygen • Identify Persons at Risk• Evaluate and Record
• REDUCE REMOVE RESOLVE
Produced 27/06/05
Fire Hazards?
Building make-up?
People at Risk?
Fire Risk Assessment
Dangerous substances?
Dangerous acts?
Vulnerable people?
Fire Precautions?
Emergency plan?
Recovery plan?
Fire evacuation?
Arson prevention?
Staff training?
Action plan?
Nominated people?Means of escape?
Security?
Maintenance?
Review?
“As Low as is reasonably practicable”
•In other words the degree of risk needs to be balanced against the time, trouble, cost and physical difficulty of taking further measures to avoid or reduce the risk
Produced 27/06/05
Terminology
• Suitable and Sufficient
• As far as Reasonably Practicable
• Reasonable in the Circumstances of the Case
Good management of fire safety is essential to ensure that fires are unlikely to
occur; that if they do occur they are likely to be controlled or contained effectively.
If a fire does occur and grow, your staff should be able to ensure that everyone in your premises is able to escape to safety easily and quickly, or remain in safety.
You therefore need to have robust and well kept procedures to avoid fires occurring.
• Maintain the fire safety systems installed in your premises
• Keep escape routes usable.• Keep your staff up to date and well trained.• Have emergency plans in place so everyone
knows how to respond to a fire
From time to time a formal review should be carried out- say once per year, and also:
• When significant changes are made to layout, use, structure, processes, contents or equipment
• Following an accident or near miss
• When the needs or characteristics of relevant persons change
• Changes to the number of relevant persons
REVIEW THE RISK ASSESSMENT AS NECESSARY:
Fire & Rescue Service now:
• ‘Police’/enforce the new Fire Safety Legislation
• Ask to see and check ‘your’ Fire Risk Assessment
• No FREE advice
How does this affect you?
• Failure to produce a suitable and sufficient Fire Risk Assessment - ILLEGAL
• Lost Fire Risk Assessment – ILLEGAL• Responsibility of ‘Responsible Person’ -
liable for prosecution
Produced 27/06/05
- Care Home in London prosecuted for
endangering residents
-Serious fire, 9 people rescued
- 13 summonses for contraventions of Fire Regulations
- No 1 contravention– the risk assessment was not suitable or sufficient
- Fined £200,000
Case Study
Up to 80% of businesses that experience a serious fire close down within 3 years
For further details of all Fireco’s products and services please come and see me!
