A good Fire Risk Assessment Form will help to guide you through the process and make it easier to ensure that you properly consider each stage that you need to go through. The other important function of the form is to provide a record of the fact that you have carried out the fire risk assessment and record the details of what you find and any action you need to take. Recording this information in writing is a legal requirement for any business employing five or more staff.
Every fire risk assessment form should provide certain basic information, including the name of your business or organisation, the specific workplace premises being assessed, the name of the person doing the assessment and the date it was carried out. It is also a good idea to include the date on which the next review will be due.
The main part of the form is very much governed by the stages of the assessment process itself. It should have at least six columns, so that you can record all potential fire hazards you identify, any people who are affected by the hazard and any existing control measures you have in place. In addition to these you will also need to record any further action you need to take to manage the risk, some indication of how urgent or high a priority this action is as well as a column for signatures by however signs to say that the required action is complete.
The need to carry out a fire risk assessment and record your findings is a requirement under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. This abolishes the use of fire certificates and puts a duty on the 'responsible person' in each workplace to ensure that an assessment of the risk of fire is carried out, and action is taken to reduce any risks identified. In practice it is what we should all have been doing anyway, but it puts this into a formal structure to help ensure it is done in a consistent way.
There are many professional fire safety experts happy to undertake your assessment for you, but unless you have a particularly complicated or specialised premises, you can probably carry out the assessment yourself. Free detailed help on how to do this is available online. The legislation does not define what level of experience you should have to carry out a fire risk assessment.
If you are unsure about whether your knowledge or experience is adequate for carrying out a fire risk assessment, you may be better using a consultant. If you are not sure, a good approach is to use a consultant for the first one, to ensure that it is done thoroughly and to confirm the proper process, then do the reviews and updates yourself after that.
As a rough guide, if your workplace is a relatively small, fairly typical office type environment, you are almost certainly fine to carry out your own fire risk assessment. Many small businesses will find that their assessment is actually very quick and simple, resulting in a brief sheet of notes of their findings. It is only with larger premises, which may involve manufacturing processes, machinery, storage and use of dangerous or flammable materials, etc, where you should think carefully about whether you have the appropriate level of knowledge. If you have a particularly hazardous workplace and you think an intumescent seal is something that balances a ball on its nose, you may wish to seek advice.
Download a free fire risk assessment form here. K Garrow has managed large public buildings for the last twenty years and has extensive experience of workplace safety issues and relevant legislation. His website offers free advice on a range of subjects, including PAT Testing, types of fire extinguishers, Staff Training, disaster recovery planning and emergency lighting.
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Sunday, 26 July 2009
Typical Fire Risk Assessment – Follow This Simple Step By Step Guide
A typical fire risk assessment will follow a straightforward five step process, as recommended by government guidance. All businesses in the UK are required to have carried out a fire risk assessment, and they must keep a record of it too if they have five or more staff. The legislation relating to this is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Depending on the size and nature of your business, you may not feel qualified to carry out your own assessment, but as long as your workplace is relatively straightforward, and you have a degree of common sense, there is no reason why you should not be able to do your own assessment. The alternative is to use a specialist consultant, which you may wish to anyway if you feel you do not have the time yourself.
Step one is to indentify all fire hazards. The easiest way to do this is to have a thorough inspection of all parts of your premises, thinking about the three things which are required for a fire to start. These are a source of ignition, fuel and oxygen. Sources of ignition are relatively easy to spot – think of smoking areas, heaters or anything that involves a naked flame. Also bear in mind anything which has the capacity to get hot, including lighting and electrical equipment if it develops a fault. Fuel is anything which will burn, so look for any storage of paper, wood or other combustible material, as well as flammable liquids or gases that you use, and any materials or soft furnishings. The main source of oxygen is of course in the air, so look at how air can move around your premises, paying particular attention to fire doors.
Step Two is to identify any people who are at risk. As well as the obvious employees who work there all the time, do not forget to consider visitors and contractors, and pay particular attention to anyone working in isolation, those less able to move quickly and anyone who may have a language difficulty.
Having identified how fires may start and who is at risk, you now need assess the risk levels and put in place measures to minimise the chances of anything happening which could cause harm to anyone. This is step three and in many ways the most important part of the fire risk assessment. You need to consider each risk and see if it can be eliminated, or whether there are measures you can put in place to reduce the likelihood of it happening to an acceptable level.
Step four is to record the findings of your fire risk assessment. You are required to do this by law if you have five or more employees, and your local fire authority may ask to inspect it. It does not need to be sophisticated, but must record what you have found and what you are doing to manage the risks. Free forms are available online to help you record your findings.
Your fire risk assessment is now complete, but the fifth stage in the process is to review it at regular intervals. How often you must do this is not specified in legislation and will depend on your situation, but annually is a good start. The things to look out for are any changes in your workplace which could have an impact on the risk of fire or the risk to people. If you change the layout of your premises or install new machinery or materials, that is the time to revisit your assessment to ensure it is still appropriate.
Read a detailed guide to carrying out Fire Risk Assessments here.
Depending on the size and nature of your business, you may not feel qualified to carry out your own assessment, but as long as your workplace is relatively straightforward, and you have a degree of common sense, there is no reason why you should not be able to do your own assessment. The alternative is to use a specialist consultant, which you may wish to anyway if you feel you do not have the time yourself.
Step one is to indentify all fire hazards. The easiest way to do this is to have a thorough inspection of all parts of your premises, thinking about the three things which are required for a fire to start. These are a source of ignition, fuel and oxygen. Sources of ignition are relatively easy to spot – think of smoking areas, heaters or anything that involves a naked flame. Also bear in mind anything which has the capacity to get hot, including lighting and electrical equipment if it develops a fault. Fuel is anything which will burn, so look for any storage of paper, wood or other combustible material, as well as flammable liquids or gases that you use, and any materials or soft furnishings. The main source of oxygen is of course in the air, so look at how air can move around your premises, paying particular attention to fire doors.
Step Two is to identify any people who are at risk. As well as the obvious employees who work there all the time, do not forget to consider visitors and contractors, and pay particular attention to anyone working in isolation, those less able to move quickly and anyone who may have a language difficulty.
Having identified how fires may start and who is at risk, you now need assess the risk levels and put in place measures to minimise the chances of anything happening which could cause harm to anyone. This is step three and in many ways the most important part of the fire risk assessment. You need to consider each risk and see if it can be eliminated, or whether there are measures you can put in place to reduce the likelihood of it happening to an acceptable level.
Step four is to record the findings of your fire risk assessment. You are required to do this by law if you have five or more employees, and your local fire authority may ask to inspect it. It does not need to be sophisticated, but must record what you have found and what you are doing to manage the risks. Free forms are available online to help you record your findings.
Your fire risk assessment is now complete, but the fifth stage in the process is to review it at regular intervals. How often you must do this is not specified in legislation and will depend on your situation, but annually is a good start. The things to look out for are any changes in your workplace which could have an impact on the risk of fire or the risk to people. If you change the layout of your premises or install new machinery or materials, that is the time to revisit your assessment to ensure it is still appropriate.
Read a detailed guide to carrying out Fire Risk Assessments here.
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Emergency Lighting Testing – How and When To Test Your Emergency Lights
All places of work are required to provide adequate means of escape, and these routes and exits need to be properly covered by emergency lighting, so that they are visible even in a power cut. In the UK these requirements come under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which places a duty on the ‘Responsible Person’ to ensure these measures are in place.
The nature and extent of emergency lighting will vary with different premises, and the time that the lighting is required to stay on for could be between one and three hours. The basic function of this is so that there is enough lighting to get everyone safely out of the building in an emergency, but the longer the lighting last the better. In order to ensure that the lighting is functioning properly and able to last as long as it needs to, the emergency lighting system must be tested regularly.
Some of the more modern systems will be capable of testing themselves, but the majority of buildings will have older emergency lighting which requires manual testing. How this is done will depend on the system in place, but the usual method is to use a special switch with a ‘fishtail key’ to trigger the lighting.
The best way to organise your testing is to be systematic about it and keep an accurate record in a logbook. You should carry out different tests at regular intervals, weekly, monthly, six monthly and annually. Daily checking is recommended for premises with maintained lighting (emergency lights which stay on all the time). This just needs to be a visual check to ensure they are all working, and deal with any which are not.
A monthly check should include cutting the power to all lighting, just to ensure that all non-maintained bulbs (ones which only come on in a power cut) are working. If you do not have a testing facility with a fish key, you can do this through your fuse box.
Every six months it is a good idea to cut the power for at least one hour to ensure the batteries last long enough. At least once every year you have to carry out a ‘full discharge test’ which involves cutting off the power and letting the entire system discharge. It is preferable to get a qualified electrical engineer to do this and check the whole system at the same time. When you carry out a full discharge test, you should time this so that your premises are not in use for the following 24 hours, as the batteries will all be drained and the emergency lighting therefore not working.
You should use a special form to record every time you carry out a test. There are forms available online free which you can download. The form should record the date of the test, the result of the test, any remedial action you have taken, and a signature of the person carrying out the test. Your local fire authority has the right to check whether you are properly testing and maintaining your emergency lighting system, so keeping a logbook with these records in can be very helpful when this happens.
Find out more about emergency lighting testing at Fire Risk Assessment.com
The nature and extent of emergency lighting will vary with different premises, and the time that the lighting is required to stay on for could be between one and three hours. The basic function of this is so that there is enough lighting to get everyone safely out of the building in an emergency, but the longer the lighting last the better. In order to ensure that the lighting is functioning properly and able to last as long as it needs to, the emergency lighting system must be tested regularly.
Some of the more modern systems will be capable of testing themselves, but the majority of buildings will have older emergency lighting which requires manual testing. How this is done will depend on the system in place, but the usual method is to use a special switch with a ‘fishtail key’ to trigger the lighting.
The best way to organise your testing is to be systematic about it and keep an accurate record in a logbook. You should carry out different tests at regular intervals, weekly, monthly, six monthly and annually. Daily checking is recommended for premises with maintained lighting (emergency lights which stay on all the time). This just needs to be a visual check to ensure they are all working, and deal with any which are not.
A monthly check should include cutting the power to all lighting, just to ensure that all non-maintained bulbs (ones which only come on in a power cut) are working. If you do not have a testing facility with a fish key, you can do this through your fuse box.
Every six months it is a good idea to cut the power for at least one hour to ensure the batteries last long enough. At least once every year you have to carry out a ‘full discharge test’ which involves cutting off the power and letting the entire system discharge. It is preferable to get a qualified electrical engineer to do this and check the whole system at the same time. When you carry out a full discharge test, you should time this so that your premises are not in use for the following 24 hours, as the batteries will all be drained and the emergency lighting therefore not working.
You should use a special form to record every time you carry out a test. There are forms available online free which you can download. The form should record the date of the test, the result of the test, any remedial action you have taken, and a signature of the person carrying out the test. Your local fire authority has the right to check whether you are properly testing and maintaining your emergency lighting system, so keeping a logbook with these records in can be very helpful when this happens.
Find out more about emergency lighting testing at Fire Risk Assessment.com
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