A fire is one of the most devastating things that can affect your premises. Serious incidents do happen and the dangers and consequences are all too real. There were over 7,600 workplace fires in 2022/23, most of which were entirely preventable.
Fire hazards come in many forms, so it’s important to be methodical. As well as being a legal obligation, a fire risk assessment is the best way to evaluate these dangers and to respond appropriately.
What causes workplace fires?
Over 80% of workplace fires are classed as accidental. The most common causes are:
- Faulty electrical appliances, electrical sockets and power leads
- Faulty boilers and fuel tanks
- The incorrect storage of flammable liquids
- Misuse of electrical equipment
- Placing flammable materials too close to heat sources
These dangers can never be eliminated entirely but, with a few simple precautions, they can be reduced considerably. This is where a fire risk assessment comes in.
What does the law say about fire risk assessments?
The Fire Act 2005 and The Fire Safety (Scotland) Regs 2006 requires every employer to carry out a fire risk assessment and keep it up to date. This can be done as part of a general risk assessment or as a separate exercise. If your workplace has five or more employees, the risk assessment must be written down.
Four reasons why you’ll want to ensure you have an up-to-date fire risk assessment
A legal requirement
Let’s pause on the previous point for a moment: you have a legal requirement to perform up-to-date fire risk assessments.
Local fire and rescue authorities can perform checks on your fire risk assessment. If found lacking they may in a first instance provide advice on how to improve it. If there are more serious problems a formal response may include an alterations notice for the building itself; an enforcement notice ordering what improvements are needed by when; or if there is an imminent danger, a prohibition notice which may effectively shut down all or part of your business until the issues are resolved.
Punitive penalties can be issued too, ranging from a fine of up to £5,000 for minor infringements, and an unlimited fine and up to two years imprisonment for major infringements.
Reputational harm
If a fire breaks out and the investigation reveals poor practice this could well become public knowledge, for certain if there is a prosecution. This may lead to poor press, damage to your brand and a loss of custom.
Business interruption
Every year about 20% of businesses will suffer a business interruption – cybercrime grabs a lot of the headlines for this, but physical threats like flooding and fire account for a great many of these cases. A temporary interruption will hurt trading, but a stark fact is that 44% of businesses will fail to reopen at all after experiencing fire.
One of the great things about performing checks like a fire risk assessment is that it not only guides you in how to respond in the event of a fire, but also makes you think critically about all the things that could cause a fire. It then leads you into addressing these risks, drastically improving the safety of your workplace and reducing the chances of fire happening accordingly.
Keeping people safe
We’ve saved the most important reason for maintaining an up-to-date fire risk assessment until last: protecting your staff, customers, yourself and anyone else on site. This outweighs everything else and we are sure that you will want to be doing everything in your power to avoid any unnecessary risk to life caused by your business operations.
Help with fire risk assessments
There are multiple steps in preparing a fire risk assessment, and it’s extremely important this is carried out by a competent person. Mismanaging fire or underestimating the risks can cost lives – it’s not worth the risk. If you don’t have a person competent in preparing a fire risk assessment in your business, ask us at The Health & Safety Dept to help. We have years of experience in this area and will provide a pragmatic, cost-effective and compliant solution.
