Fire safety is critical in any building, whether domestic or commercial, but one big difference between the two is that on commercial premises there are certain legal requirements that must be followed. One of these is that the responsible person in a building, which could be an employer, the owner, a building manager, occupier, or the landlord, must carry out a fire safety assessment, and if there are more than five employees must keep a written record of it. This is governed by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
The problem for most people who are the “responsible person” is that they simply do not have sufficient knowledge to carry out a building fire risk assessment themselves. This ishardly surprising because there is a lot to learn and a lot to take into consideration. No two buildings are exactly the same or in the same position, and even if two are similar they may be put to different uses. For example, an engineering workshop will have all sorts of equipment and stock that you wouldn’t find in a dairy, and there is a big difference between a farm shop and a petrol station.
This is why many people who are the responsible person choose to have us at UK-FireRisk Assessments carry out their fire safety assessment for them. As the responsible person, you can delegate the job to a “competent person” to do it for you. This means that you are compliant with the law, and it also means that your fire risk assessment will be accurate, and it will advise you of any steps that you need to take. Being compliant keeps you safe, because it is actually possible to receive heavy fines and even a jail sentence if you are not compliant.
Some Things Would Never Occur To The Average Man
There are just so many things that need to be covered within a fire risk assessment. Some of them are obvious, but many of them would never even occur to the average man in the street. For instance, do you know what type of fire extinguishers you should have, and where they should be placed? Are you aware that your electrical system should be tested annually? Do you get your electrical equipment PAT tested? Do you carry out training and fire drills? Those are just a few of the things that need to be covered and/or that you should do.
At UK-FireRisk Assessments we can cover all of this for you, advise you of any steps that you need to take, and provide you with the written report that you need, all for a one-off fee with no hidden extras.