• What does a fire risk assessment involve?
• Do you need a fire risk assessment every year?
• How much does a fire risk assessment cost?
• Can you fail a fire risk assessment?

A fire risk assessment is essentially a method or systematic approach to help determine the likelihood of a fire occurring in the workplace or a domestic property. This is achieved by assessing the factors in your work activities, property and workplace environment which could cause harm. 

From this evaluation, precautions can be determined to ensure that risks are reduced to prevent fire from occurring.

You are responsible for fire safety in a business or other non-domestic premises if you’re:

• an owner
• the employer
• the occupier
• the landlord
• or a person controlling the premises, for example, a building manager or managing agent.

Under the current UK Legislation [hyperlink to Legislation page], you are known as the ‘responsible person’. If there’s more than one responsible person, you must work together to meet your responsibilities about fire safety.

As part of our fire safety services, our fire risk assessor will conduct a fire risk assessment of your premises, considering all relevant elements of a fire risk assessment to ensure your property complies with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The assessment will cover the following areas:

1. Identify any fire hazards, including any sources of ignition, fuel and any work processes, which may be potential fire hazards. 

2. Decide who, (such as employees, contractors, visitors and members of the public) may be in danger during a fire in the building or while they are trying to escape.

3. Evaluate the risks from the identified hazards and decide whether the existing precautions are adequate. During this stage of evaluation, decisions will be made on whether action is required to remove the hazard completely, if practicable, or to control and manage the risks more effectively.

4. Record the findings and specify the actions taken and inform all relevant persons of these actions.

5. Review the risk assessment at regularly, is good practice to do it annually, or when any of the following has occurred:

• • Any fires or near misses have occurred.
  • There has been a visit by the Fire and Rescue Authority where an enforcement/prohibition/improvement notice has been issued.
  • Any significant changes have been made to the building, such as structural changes or new installations.
  • Any significant changes in the use (or work activity) have been made to the building.
  • Any significant changes in the occupation of the building have been made, such as introducing staff with disabilities that might affect their ability to self-evacuate.
  • There have been findings from a fire evacuation drill that identify the need for a change.
  • There have been changes made to the responsible persons.