Fire Safety Requirements
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order requires businesses to comply with a significant number of duties when looking at fire safety issues ;
Duty to take general fire precautions
This general duty is similar to that found in other Health and Safety legislation and care must be taken to try and ensure the safety of employees as far as is reasonably practicable.
Risk assessment
One of the important cornerstones of fire safety is risk assessment. This process involves identifying the hazards that are posed by fire and implementing control measures to try and reduce the risk of a fire starting or spreading.
Principles of prevention to be applied
The legislation helpfully spells out the general ways in which fire prevention should be undertaken, such as by avoiding risks, dealing with risks at source and adapting technical processes.
Fire safety arrangements
Whilst Fire Certificates are no longer valid, some of the information that they used to contain is nevertheless valuable in recording the arrangements for fire safety that are in place. The law requires that arrangements must be made for effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of the preventive and protective measures that are in place
Elimination or reduction of risks from dangerous substances
If certain dangerous substances are present, then it is important to either eliminate the risk or to reduce it as far as it reasonably possible.
Fire-fighting and fire detection
Emergency routes and exits
Procedures for serious and imminent
danger and for danger areas
Additional emergency measures in respect of dangerous substances
Maintenance
Safety assistance
Provision of information to employees
Provision of information to employers and the self-employed from outside undertakings
Training
Co-operation and co-ordination
The above is not intended to be a definitive statement of the law, but a summary of the general principles. Please contact one of our solicitors if you need advice on a particular aspect of the law or its enforcement.
