Completing a fire risk assessment ensures the safety of the people in the building and also to protect the building from damage but, who is responsible for completing a fire risk assessment? What are the duties of the person who is deemed responsible for doing the assessment? Find out the answers to those questions in this article.
Who Is Responsible For Completing A Fire Risk Assessment?
The UK Government Fire safety in the workplace website states you’re responsible for fire safety in business or other non-domestic premises if you’re:
- an employer
- the owner
- the landlord
- an occupier
- anyone else with control of the premises, for example a facilities manager, building manager, managing agent or risk assessor
A person can be responsible for fire safety in either a business or a premise that is used for non-domestic purposes.
For example, an employer is the one that’s responsible for fire safety. An owner of the company is responsible for completing a fire risk assessment, too. Others who are responsible include landlords, as well as an occupier.
If a person has control of the premise, then they are the ones responsible for carrying out an assessment. This can be the manager of a facility or the building manager.
A risk assessor can also be responsible, and so can a managing agent. Furthermore, if you have shared premises, there can be multiple people responsible for completing a fire risk assessment.
Also, those who run a business that has paying guests have to complete a fire risk assessment. For example, this would include owners of a guesthouse or bed & breakfast. It also goes for other types of self-catering properties.
Also, it’s important to note that if the responsible party doesn’t feel confident about carrying out a fire risk assessment to be “suitable and sufficient” as per the requirements of the Fire Safety Order, then they can use an experienced fire risk assessor.
Using a fire risk assessor does cost money, but there are several benefits of using a professional to perform the assessment, such as the responsible party can relax and have peace of mind knowing the assessment will be as thorough as possible.
How it works when hiring a professional fire risk assessor is they will show up on the scheduled date and complete the assessment. The assessment can take some time, the time it takes depends on several factors, for example, the number and size of buildings, the number of occupants, number of floors and the risk level. Upon completion of the assessment, the professional will produce a report.
What Must You Do As The Responsible Person?
The responsible person must carry out assessments of the building, as well as review it on a regular basis. Staff members and representatives must be told about the risks, and fire safety measures have to be in place. As the responsible person, these safety measures must be maintained.
Furthermore, a plan for an emergency must be kept in place. Besides that, staff should receive fire safety training. The bottom line is staff members should be trained appropriately and aware of the risks that were found during the assessment.
What Is Included in a Fire Risk Assessment?
There are five key steps when carrying out the assessment:
- Identify the fire hazards
- Identify people at risk
- Evaluate, remove or reduce the risks
- Record your findings, prepare an emergency plan and provide training
- Review and update the fire risk assessment regularly
Generally speaking, there are five steps involved in a fire risk assessment, with the first one being identifying any potential fire hazards. This can include flammable chemicals and substances. The second step is to determine what people are at risk, such as those who work directly with those potential fire hazards.
Another thing that needs to be included in the assessment is an emergency plan, as previously mentioned. The emergency plan should consist of where staff members should exit in the event of a fire. The plan should include a meeting point, exit door locations and what to do if those doors are blocked due to the fire or obstructed in another way.
Completing a fire risk assessment is essential, and the person responsible must do it the right way, and within the guidelines set forth by the government.
