Fire Risk Assessment

The Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations were introduced in 1997 and later amended in 1999. These regulations introduced the concept of "self-compliance" for fire safety, and placed a responsibility on employers to carry out fire risk assessments of workplaces.

The fire risk assessment process helps to identify fire hazards that exist within the workplace. However, fire risk assessments should not only consider physical fire hazards, but also the behaviours of people in the event of a fire. Fire evacuation procedures, fire awareness training and the use of firefighting equipment, together with the physical condition of buildings, are all aspects of the fire risk assessment process.

To comply with the above regulations, organisations must carry out sufficient fire risk assessments. From there, suitable control measures should be developed and implemented. Staff need to be trained in the hazards and on any control measures that exist to reduce risk from those hazards.

At NGT Safety Management, we have developed a fire risk assessment process that complies with legislation and meets the requirements of the local fire authority (the enforcing agency for the regulations).

Our fire risk assessment process covers the following:

• Comprehensive checklist - to be used to assess present and potential risk from fire.
• Risk assessment methodology - for assessing any hazards identified in the checklist.
• Action plan - for planning remedial action, prioritised according to risk.

The above risk assessment process has been designed to allow organisations to carry out their own fire risk assessments. With a basic level of training, assessors will be able to use the process to identify fire hazards, assess the risk from those hazards and plan remedial action.

Alternatively, we can provide experienced fire risk assessors to conduct the assessment process.

Our fire risk assessment process was developed by the author of the book, "Fire Hazards in Industry", which was published by Butterworth Heinemann in 2001.

If you would like further information about fire risk assessments, please contact us.