Risk Assessment Legislation

The assessment of fire risk is now a legal requirement for all companies in the United Kingdom. The law changed in 2006 and all employers are now required to assess fire hazards in the workplace and implement measures to minimize and manage any risks identified. This is an important change that sends a clear message to employers that they are the ones responsible for the safety of their employees in terms of fire hazards. Part of the functions of local authorities the fire is now to check and ensure that all employers have complied with this legislation. This generally ask to see a copy of the assessment of fire risk.

The legislation is already in place on the need to conduct risk assessments in general in the workplace and fire risk assessment is based on the same principles. There is a process recommended to pass, but the goal, as with all risk assessments is to identify all possible risks to people and take steps to reduce the risks of these things are happening.

No formal education or qualification is required to conduct an assessment of fire risks, the legislation states that they must be undertaken by a "competent person". It is perfectly reasonable to make your own assessment, provided they have a reasonable knowledge of fire safety and workplace relatively simple. It is not recommended to evaluate a very large complex premises or specialist unless the person making the actually have a sound knowledge of fire safety requirements.

For smaller environments such as office, most people make their assessments of fire risks internally. The system is relatively simple to follow five steps. The steps are the identification of potential hazards, identify those at risk of these hazards, risk assessment, then record your findings. The fifth step is to review the assessment of fire risks at regular intervals.

There is clearly much more involved in the details of each step of this process, but free advice and guidance is available online to help with this. The important thing is to act on the findings of the evaluation. If the process identifies a risk with potentially serious consequences and a relatively high probability of this happening, you clearly need to take steps to manage risk. and recording the results of your FRA, you are also bound by law to pass on the details of these results to your staff. You must also ensure that all your employees are well trained in what to do in an emergency, the use of fire-fighting equipment, etc.

For many firms, the work necessary to achieve the fire risk assessments and implementation of action points may be associated with a daunting prospect. Sometimes this is simply due to lack of time and is often due to not having the appropriate expertise within the company to make sure you undertake the job competently.

Fire Safety Consultants are frequently used by employers to carry out all or part of their responsibilities for fire safety. This may include carrying out risk assessments of fire, staff training and even writing the health and safety manuals and emergency plans. There are many specialized companies such now works in the United Kingdom, which are best managed by highly experienced personnel services ex-fire.