New fire safety and risk assessment rules affecting all non-domestic premises in England and Wales came into force on October 1, 2006. If you need additional information on how you can ensure you are meeting your obligations under the new fire safety/risk assessment rules, feel free to browse this site, or alternatively, you can call your local fire brigade.

Under the new rules, you must make sure you carry out a fire-risk assessment, although you can pass this task to some other competent person. As far as is reasonably practical, the responsible person, either on his or her own or with any other responsible person, must make sure that everyone on the premises, or nearby, can escape safely if there is a fire.

Risk assessment is perhaps the most essential component of health and safety since it allows you to learn what can cause harm to people in your office or place of work. Hazards are those things in and around the workplace that can cause harm to staff, volunteers, visitors and other members of the public. Look around the building to find those things you consider a significant hazard.

Keep in mind that sometimes it is easy to ignore some hazards because they are familiar. It is also useful to ask people who use the premises if they know of anything they consider to be a fire hazard. Consider the people that use the building and how the hazard might affect them. Even if they use your premises every day, customers and service personnel must be thought of as members of the public. It is also important to consider how the hazard might cause an injury.

Risk is the chance that someone could be harmed. As a guide, “low” risks do not need significant attention. “Medium” risks need some attention to bring them to a “low” level. Of course, “high” risks should be dealt with immediately. Risks assessments must be done in writing if you have five or more employees, and this includes volunteers. Assessments should be reviewed periodically to ensure that they remain valid.

The assessment might also need to be reviewed if there are major changes, and this should be seen as part of the planning process of any new project or change. The guidelines above can help you with the fire risk assessment but you may need added information, particularly if you have large or intricate premises.

With some level of proper training or experience, a responsible person should be able to do a fire risk assessment. More complex premises will probably need to be assessed by a person who has comprehensive training or experience in fire risk assessment.

The risk assessment will help you make a decision on the nature and the extent of the fire precautions you need to provide. There are six other legal duties you need to know:

• You must designate people to take on any special roles required under your emergency plan where it is necessary to preserve the safety of your employees.
• You must seek advice from your employees about the appointment of people to fulfil particular roles relating to fire safety and about suggestions for improving fire precautions.
• You must notify other employers who have workplaces in the building of any significant risks you found which might affect the safety of their employees – and co-operate with them about the measures proposed to reduce/control those risks.
• If you are not an employer but have any control of premises that contain more than one workplace, you are also responsible for ensuring that the requirements of the fire regulations are complied with in those parts you have control over.
• You must establish an appropriate means of calling emergency services, and make sure they can be contacted easily.
• The law requires your employees to cooperate with you to ensure the workplace is safe from fire and its effects, and not to do anything that will place themselves and other people at risk.

Teen workers can be assets to your workforce, but they are more vulnerable and you must ensure their health and safety at work. One way to look after teens’ and other workers’ health and safety at work is to provide training to ensure that each employee recognises hazards and is competent in safe work practices. Stress safety, particularly among first-line supervisors, since they have the greatest opportunity to influence teens and their work habits.

The basis of British health and safety law is the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The obligations employees have to themselves and each other as well as the general responsibilities that companies have toward workers and members of the public are all set out in the Act. To put it bluntly, health and safety is about preventing injury to people. There are lots of different ways in which someone can be harmed in the workplace, from accidents with people working at height to work-related illness or stress.

Companies have been dealing with Health and Safety for a number of years now because of the variety of regulations that exist. The main piece of legislation that covers health and safety is the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The Health and Safety at Work Act seeks to:

• Secure the health, safety and welfare of persons at work
• Protect other persons such as customers, service providers, etc. against risks to health and safety arising out of or in connection with the activities of people at work
• Controlling the keeping and use of explosive or highly flammable or otherwise dangerous substances, and generally preventing the unlawful acquisition, possession and use of such substances, and
• Controlling the emission into the atmosphere of noxious or offensive substances from premises of any class

Your duties under health and safety and fire law are compulsory, regardless of the size of the premises or workforce. The requirements of regulations can seem bewildering. Many people worry about their liability in case of accidents. The person suffering the injuries might wish to take legal action for compensation should there be an accident. In addition to the legal health and safety requirements, there is also a moral objective for ensuring people’s safety.

Acting safely means taking into consideration the possible hazardous consequences of actions and changing behaviour in order to avoid them. Improving safety behaviour helps everyone. There are numerous types of intervention to improve safety behaviour. They include:

• Training
• Performance
• Creating reward systems based on observed behaviour and/or outcomes
• Designing new instruction systems
• Influencing attitudes and beliefs
• Encouraging improved supervisor/manager behaviour
• Engineering or altering manufacturing systems

Ensuring the health and safety of everyone is clearly common sense and every workplace must take action. Most people now expect their safety to be considered as they enter a building. Any business with over 5 employees is legally required to have a complete health and safety at work strategy. The policy statement should have a general declaration of intent, outlining in broad terms the organisation’s overall viewpoint relative to the management of health and safety, including reference to the broad responsibilities of both managers and workforce.

There is a three-step procedure for dealing with workplace hazards. First they must be recognised, then they must be assessed, and finally, if necessary, they must be controlled. Most of the hazards you will find in your health and safety at work assessment will target a particular part of the body such as the lungs, skin or liver. Removing occupational hazards is one way of improving worker protection.

Any responsible person, even with limited formal instruction or experience, can do a simple fire risk assessment. More complex buildings will need to be assessed by a person with full training and experience in fire risk assessment. Mainly companies and building owners will be affected by the new legislation but it could be anyone who has some control over premises. Fire certificates will no longer be valid.

Under the new regulations it is the responsibility of employers to do a risk assessment of their places of work, which must contain provisions concerning fire safety measures in the workplace.

The responsible person must go over the risk assessment frequently to keep it current, particularly if:

• There is reason to believe that it is no longer valid; or
• There has been a major change in the matters to which it relates, or there have been expansions or substantial changes in the organisation of work

The risk assessment should be done to make sure that appropriate fire precautions, maintenance and management measures are in place to guarantee the safety of anyone who might use your premises. The Fire and Rescue Authority will now examine premises and undertake audits of fire risk assessments to put into effect the requirements of the Regulatory Reform Order.

The Five Steps To Fire Risk Assessment:

Step 1: Identify fire hazards. Is there a system for controlling the amounts of combustible materials and flammable liquids and gases, including cleaning fluids, stationery and waste, kept in the workplace? Is the system working correctly? Are all combustible materials and flammable liquids and gases stored safely? Are all items of portable electrical equipment checked frequently and fitted with the correct rated fuses?

Step 2: Identify the persons at significant risk in case of fire. Think about who might be in or near your premises that would need to know about your fire protection systems – including employees, people in adjoining buildings, visitors or contractors. Is there an adequate number of proper exits of suitable width for the persons present? Do the exits lead to a place of safety? Are passageways and escape routes free from obstacles and tripping hazards? Are steps and stairs in a good state of repair? Are final exits always unlocked when the premises are in use?

Step 3: Evaluate the risks. Control sources of ignition and the use and storage of flammable materials. Do procedures and practices avoid the use of combustible materials or processes that use heat? Has thought been given to all cost-effective measures that can be taken to prevent the incidence of arson? Have employees been taught how to call the fire brigade, the use of the fire extinguishers and basic fire prevention?

Step 4: Record your findings and action taken. This depends on the size of your workplace and the likelihood of fire. If you employ five or more people have you recorded the findings of the fire risk assessment? Have you told your employees or their representatives about your findings? If you have prepared a final report has it been shown to your employees? If you share the workplace with others do they know about the risks you have identified?

Step 5: Keep assessment under review. Has a procedure been set up to go over the fire risk assessment at regular intervals?

The task of complying with the Fire Safety Order rests with the “responsible person.” Under Article 9 of the Order the responsible person must ensure that a fire risk assessment is carried out to identify the general precautions required. Detailed advice on carrying out a fire risk assessment is contained in the Home Office/Scottish Executive/Northern Ireland DoE/HSE publication, Fire Safety: An Employer’s Guide.

New pieces of fire prevention equipment and methods for fire prevention seem to become available every day. Basic approaches to safety design recognize that fire prevention is a significant aspect of general safety. Every employer now has to do a fire risk assessment, which should include a complete evaluation of the causes of, impact from, and consequences of fire in a particular location.

Fire prevention and management deals with the avoidance, detection and putting out of fires, in addition to such secondary activities as studies on the causes of fire, instruction of employees about fire hazards, and the maintenance and improvement of fire-fighting equipment. Little official attention was given to fire prevention prior to World War II.
The solution to fire safety is essentially to prevent fire from starting in the first place, but an understanding of what causes fire is necessary to recognize how to avoid it.

The basic things required for fire include: some type of fuel, oxygen and heat. The seat of a fire can easily reach hundreds, if not thousands of degrees Celsius. However, the chief hazard with fire is not the high temperature or the flames, but the smoke. A potential fire source is anything that gets hot, gives off sparks or has naked flames, whether in the usual working situation or if a defect should develop. There is a greater risk of fire when these things are placed close to flammable materials than if they were separated.

The key to preventing fires in the workplace comes down to preparation and practice. Here’s where to start:

• Make a plan – get together with your staff and talk about how you might get out if the fire is in different places.
• Psychological preparation – you have to live and envisage the fire from every area of your workplace.
• Practice often – in a real fire, deadly smoke will obscure your path to safety, so you must know your way out by heart.

Fire Safety in the Workplace

The first “rule” of fire prevention – avoiding placing things that could catch fire close to the things that could ignite the fire or removing the ignition source completely – is at times difficult or impossible to put into practice, in which case we need to use a second method: fire proofing.

Preventing fire from starting mainly calls for you to be mindful of the things that could catch fire and those things that could start a fire and then taking action to reduce the possibilities as low as possible. Immediately follow these procedures if you notice a fire or see/smell smoke:

1. Notify the local fire brigade.
2. Trigger the building alarm.
3. If you can leave the building safely, do so, but first isolate the area by closing windows and doors.
4. If possible, shut down equipment in the immediate area.
5. Use a portable fire extinguisher if possible and if you have received the proper training, to:
(i) Assist yourself to evacuate
(ii) Assist others to evacuate
(iii) Control a small fire
6. Leave the area of the fire immediately and walk, do not run to the exit and designated gathering spot; do not collect personal or official items.
7. You should give the fire/police crews details of the problem upon their arrival.

Put your policies in writing and include the fire prevention and safety practices into your staff manual and training schedules. One way to recruit staff in the process of overseeing risk, to allocate tasks for fire prevention and safety, and at the same time to satisfy the requirements of the fire safety order is to set up a safety committee. Keep in mind, however, that these procedures will work best when they are practised and reviewed regularly with the staff.

Undeniably, equipment that can sense fire hazards, give alarm, and contain fires in buildings is a significant part of the fire protection plan for any facility, but it should not be regarded as the only or final solution to defend your workplace from the devastating effects of fire. A responsible person must be designated to carry out certain procedures, such as identifying and dealing with fire hazards, and this should be the person most closely involved with all operational features of the property, and who, day after day, can offer the highest level of fire protection possible.

This person should have sound analytical skills, should hold a position of responsibility within the organisation, and should have an understanding of the systems/procedures involved, an appreciation for fire safety, and knowledge of the fire evacuation strategy. He or she should also be provided with the opportunity to get help if matters arise that fall beyond his or her level of competence.

Copiers, coffee makers and hot plates and other heat producing equipment and electrical appliances are frequently overlooked as possible fire hazards. A fire in the workplace can be a shattering occurrence. However, the presence of fire alarms and smoke detectors will decrease your chances of fire. You’ll considerably improve your chances of getting out without injury by practicing your escape routes.

Keep extension cords clear of doorways and other areas where they can be stepped on or chafed, and never plug one extension cord into another. Be conscious of all potentially flammable materials and heated objects in your workplace. Urethane, which is often used in upholstery stuffing, can emit cyanide. Many synthetic materials can also emit toxic materials during a fire.

Modern open office designs allow fire to spread rapidly and the inclusion of much synthetic and other flammable material in office furniture often makes “smoky” fires. Breathing these materials can severely hinder an office worker’s chances of getting out of a fire in time.

Hazards can be found all over the workplace. Any type of object or situation that can cause harm, sickness or fatality can be classed as a workplace hazard. So bosses and floor supervisors need to build up the correct mindset to identify hazards. A lot of facilities have workplace health and safety issues that are specific to their own industry. Circumstances that lead to slips, trips and falls are the single biggest cause of injuries at any workplace.

Listed below are some common safety issues found in the workplace. Most of the tips are easy and free to put into place immediately. These items are not listed in any specific order.

• Store items below shoulder height to prevent things falling onto people.
• Chairs should not be stacked too high otherwise they might topple.
• Take care that trailing cables are not a trip hazard. Use ‘gaffer tape’ or cable protectors.
• Keep cleaning chemicals and other substances in a locked cupboard.
• Certain equipment that you might have needs to be maintained and stored securely, such as lawnmowers, ladders and other maintenance tools.
• Wet flooring can be slippery so display a sign when the floor is wet (such as the free standing ones used in supermarkets).
• Ensure that lighting is adequate, which might need to include emergency lighting in some areas of the building.

Search for Workplace Hazards

Do you know if your workplace has fire hazards? You can prevent careless fires with one or two precautionary suggestions:

• Look out for careless smokers
• Ensure heating appliances are working properly
• Take care of your smoke alarms
• Develop an escape plan and have everyone practice it