Having a fire risk assessment is one thing. Knowing what it says – and acting on it – is another.
Here’s a simple question.
When did you last actually read your fire risk assessment?
Not when was it completed.
Not when did somebody come out to your premises and carry one out.
Not whether you can find the PDF if somebody asks for it.
When did you last sit down, read it and check that the actions and fire safety arrangements identified within it are actually happening?
If you’re struggling to remember, you probably aren’t alone.
At Prohas Group, we carry out fire risk assessments for businesses and organisations across a wide range of premises.
And one thing we regularly see is businesses treating the fire risk assessment as the end of the process.
Someone visits.
The assessment is completed.
The report arrives.
It gets saved into a folder.
Job done.
Except it isn’t.
In many ways, receiving your fire risk assessment is where the work starts.
What is a fire risk assessment actually for?
A fire risk assessment isn’t simply a document you need to have.
Its purpose is to help you understand the fire risks within your premises and determine whether the fire precautions you have in place are suitable.
A good fire risk assessment should consider areas such as:
- potential sources of ignition;
- combustible and flammable materials;
- people who may be at risk;
- means of escape;
- fire detection and warning arrangements;
- emergency lighting;
- fire-fighting equipment;
- fire doors and compartmentation;
- fire safety signage;
- emergency procedures;
- staff information and training;
- testing and maintenance arrangements; and
- how fire safety is managed within the premises.
But identifying those things on paper doesn’t make the building safer.
What happens afterwards does.
Your fire risk assessment has arrived. What happens next?
Imagine your fire risk assessment identifies five actions.
Perhaps a fire door needs attention.
An escape route isn’t being kept completely clear.
Emergency lighting records aren’t available.
Staff fire safety training needs refreshing.
A fire drill is overdue.
The report is sent to the business and filed away.
Six months later, none of those actions have been completed.
Does having the fire risk assessment mean the business has dealt with its fire risks?
Clearly not.
That’s why one of the most important parts of a fire risk assessment is the action plan.
It gives the responsible person a clear picture of what needs attention and should help the business prioritise what needs to happen next.
Someone within the organisation needs to take ownership of those actions.
Because:
Identifying a fire safety problem doesn’t fix it.
Who is responsible for fire safety?
For most non-domestic premises in England and Wales, responsibility sits with the Responsible Person under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Depending on the premises, that could include an employer, owner, landlord, occupier or somebody with control of the premises.
There can also be more than one Responsible Person, meaning cooperation and coordination may be required.
This is important because outsourcing your fire risk assessment to a competent assessor doesn’t mean you’ve outsourced responsibility for fire safety.
The assessor can identify risks, evaluate existing arrangements and recommend actions.
But the organisation still needs to make sure its fire safety arrangements are properly managed.
That includes making sure actions don’t simply remain on a report indefinitely.
When should a fire risk assessment be reviewed?
Another common misconception is that a fire risk assessment is something you complete once and then forget about until somebody asks for another one.
Fire risk assessments need to be kept under review.
A review may be particularly important when there have been changes such as:
- alterations to the building or workplace layout;
- changes to how the premises are used;
- significant changes in the number or type of people using the premises;
- new equipment, processes or materials;
- changes to escape routes;
- changes to fire detection or other fire precautions;
- a fire or significant fire-related incident;
- evidence that existing fire precautions may no longer be effective; or
- other significant changes that could affect fire safety.
The key point is simple:
Your fire risk assessment should reflect the premises as they are today – not how they looked several years ago.
Five questions to ask about your fire risk assessment today
You don’t need to wait for something to go wrong before looking at your fire arrangements.
Start with these five questions:
1. Can you actually find your current fire risk assessment?
If somebody responsible for the business can’t easily locate it, that’s worth addressing straight away.
2. When was it last reviewed?
Look at when the assessment was completed and whether anything significant has changed since then.
3. Are there outstanding actions?
Don’t just look at the overall risk rating.
Look at the recommendations and action plan.
Which actions have been completed?
Which are outstanding?
Who is responsible for each one?
4. Does it still reflect your premises?
Walk around the building with the assessment.
Have rooms changed use?
Has the layout changed?
Have staffing levels changed?
Have you introduced new equipment or processes?
Does the report still describe the building you are standing in?
5. Would your employees know what to do if there was a fire today?
Fire safety isn’t only about buildings and equipment.
People need to understand the emergency arrangements.
If the alarm sounded right now, would everyone know what to do?
Would they know the escape routes?
Would they know the assembly point?
Would anyone know whether somebody needed assistance evacuating?
Those are the questions that matter in the real world.
A fire extinguisher service isn’t a fire risk assessment
This is another area where businesses can become confused.
Having your fire extinguishers serviced doesn’t mean you’ve had a fire risk assessment.
Having your fire alarm maintained doesn’t mean you’ve had a fire risk assessment.
Having emergency lighting tested doesn’t mean you’ve had a fire risk assessment.
These are all important parts of fire safety, but they don’t replace the need to assess the overall fire risk within the premises where a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment is required.
A fire risk assessment looks at the bigger picture.
How could a fire start?
Who could be harmed?
How would people escape?
Are the existing precautions appropriate?
What needs improving?
And how is all of that being managed?
The fire risk assessment shouldn’t live in a drawer
One of the worst things you can do with a fire risk assessment is receive it, save it and forget about it.
It should be a working document.
Managers should know what it says.
Actions should be allocated and monitored.
Relevant findings should be communicated.
Changes within the premises should trigger consideration of whether it needs reviewing.
And the assessment should form part of your wider fire safety management arrangements.
Because ultimately:
A PDF doesn’t stop a fire.
A folder doesn’t evacuate a building.
And an action sitting on a report doesn’t make anybody safer until somebody does something about it.
Try this five-minute Fire Safety Friday check
Before you finish reading this article, find your current fire risk assessment.
Go straight to the action section.
Pick the first outstanding action.
Then ask:
Has it been completed?
If yes, has the report or action tracker been updated to show that?
If not, who is responsible for getting it done?
That five-minute check could tell you far more about how your organisation is managing fire safety than simply knowing you’ve got an FRA somewhere.
Not sure whether your fire risk assessment is up to date?
If you haven’t had a fire risk assessment completed, can’t remember when yours was last reviewed, or aren’t confident that it still reflects your premises, Prohas Group can help.
We carry out fire risk assessments for a wide range of businesses and organisations, providing practical reports that clearly identify findings, priorities and recommended actions.
And we don’t want your fire risk assessment to become another document that simply sits in a folder.
We want it to help you understand your fire risks and what you need to do about them.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR FIRE SAFETY
Tell us a little about your premises and what you need help with, and one of the Prohas Group team will get back to you.
Prohas Group – practical fire safety and health & safety support for businesses that want to go beyond compliance.
