A fire risk assessment helps you identify all the fire hazards and risks in your premises. You can then decide whether any risks identified are acceptable or whether you need to do something to reduce or control them. A risk assessment should be carried out by someone who has sufficient training, and has good experience or knowledge of fire safety. There are five steps to carrying out a risk assessment: 1) Identify the Fire Hazards For fire to occur there must be a source of ignition, fuel and oxygen. If all three are present and in close proximity, then the fire risk could increase as a result. In the average premises fire hazards will fall into the first two categories, while the oxygen will be present in the air in the surrounding space. Potential sources of ignition could include:
Potential sources of fuel: anything that burns is a potential fuel, examples include:
Your risk assessment should list the potential sources of ignition and fuels that are present in your premises. 2) Identifying People at Risk If there is a fire, the greatest danger is the spread of the fire, heat and smoke through the premises. If this happens, the main risk to people is from the smoke and products of combustion, which can very quickly incapacitate those escaping. If a premises does not have adequate means of escape or if a fire can grow to an appreciable size before it is noticed, then people may become trapped or overcome by heat and smoke before they can evacuate. Your assessment of risk to people should include:
3) Evaluating the Risks Once the hazards and the people at risk have been identified, you must assess the effect of any particular hazards, taking account of any existing control measures that are already in place. Once this has been done, you must decide if any further control measures are needed in order to reduce the risk to an acceptable level. Further control measures may:
They may fall into a number of different categories, such as:
Different control measures can be applied to reduce the risk to an acceptable level.
For example, if the risk is the possibility of a fast growing fire, potential control measures could include one or any combination of the following:
While this list is not exhaustive and applies to one area of risk only, it can be seen that there may be a number of different solutions depending on the nature of the situation. If any areas of inadequacy are identified, an action plan must be included to show how the problem is being addressed. This should include timescales for achieving the required level of control and specify who is responsible for the action. If your premises are situated in a relatively modern building it should already incorporate important control measures that were installed to meet the requirements of the building regulations, for example: fire escape staircases, fire lobbies, fire doors, emergency lighting etc. Many of these measures will also be found in older buildings. If your building was issued with a fire certificate under the Fire Precautions Act, details of existing control measures will be detailed in that document. You should include details of these existing control measures in your fire risk assessment. Remember, a full understanding and evaluation of the existing control measures is essential - it is your starting point for deciding if any further action is necessary. You should plan, control, monitor and review all the fire safety arrangements. 4) Recording your Findings You must record the significant findings of your risk assessment, together with details of any people that are at particular risk, where:
More importantly, the record must show whether the existing control measures are adequate and, if not, what further action is required to reduce the risk to an acceptable level. Remember to make sure any control measures identified or introduced remain effective by testing and maintaining them regularly. For larger premises you are encouraged to include a simple floor plan in your risk assessment. You can use the plan to record fire hazards and control measures in a simple format that is easily understood. 5) Reviewing and revising the Risk Assessment It is important to remember that fire risk assessment is a continuous process and as such must be monitored and audited. New and existing control measures should be maintained to make sure they are still working effectively. However, if you introduce changes into your premises your original risk assessment may not address any new hazards or risk arising from them. For this reason it is also important to review and revise your assessment regularly. This doesn't mean that it is necessary to amend your assessment for every trivial change that occurs, but the impact of any significant change should be considered. For example:
The above list is not exhaustive and any change that could lead to new hazards or risks should be considered.
Download and print the attached log book pages that are appropriate to your type of premises and fire safety equipment. This record of maintenance and training is to be used in conjunction with your Fire Safety Risk Assessment.
Click to Download the Log Book
To help with the process of writing a fire risk assessment the following resources are provided:
Risk Assessment with Guidance
Risk Assessment Worked Example with Guidance
Blank Risk Assessment
Fire Safety Risk Assessment (Small Premises)
Fire Safety Risk Assessment (Large Premises)
Fire Safety Advice and Guidance for Licensed Premises
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