In 2022/23 alone, there were 7,649 workplace fires. Beyond the damage caused to the lives of employees and customers involved in work-related fires, 70% of businesses involved in a major fire either do not reopen, or fail within the three years following. With lives at stake and whole companies on the line, getting to grips with the legal intricacies and responsibilities of fire safety legislation isn’t simply important – it’s a necessity.
If you’re an employer wondering what your responsibilities are regarding fire safety in the workplace, or an employee wanting your management to take better action, keep reading for a run-down of how to handle fire safety at work.
Who is Responsible for Fire Safety in the Workplace?
When it comes to fire safety in the workplace, it is the responsibility of the manager, employer, or supervisor to keep a workforce both aware and protected at all times. This means both prevention and action in cases of emergency – everything is down to the one who is in charge.
What Are an Employer’s Legal Responsibilities for Fire Safety?
So what does fire safety legislation say that an employer should do? According to UK law, employers must ensure that:
- Fire risk assessments are regularly carried out and reviewed.
- Staff are informed of any identified risks.
- Fire safety measures are put in place in order to mitigate identified risks.
- Emergency plans are put in place.
- Staff are trained in fire safety.
What is a Fire Risk Assessment?
A fire risk assessment is a structured, organised approach to fire safety, allowing managers to take a look at what exactly has the potential to cause a fire, and therefore harm, in a workplace. With this analysis carried out, employers can then put the necessary steps in place to prevent and manage those fire risks in order to minimise the chances of a fire actually occurring at work.
Who is Responsible for Completing a Fire Risk Assessment?
As with all fire safety precautions, it is the employer who is ultimately responsible for conducting fire risk assessments. This means it’s down to employers to ensure fire risk assessments are carried out in all work-related premises, but it also requires employers to regularly review and repeat their assessments to ensure they’re kept current and up-to-date to keep up with changing environments and dynamics.
It’s also the employer who is responsible for ensuring that any safety measures mapped out in the risk assessment are actually implemented afterwards, with ongoing reviews as to how these measures are performing so that they can be changed and adapted if needed.
Step-By-Step Guide on Conducting a Fire Risk Assessment
Identify Fire Hazards
First things first – get all potential fire risks identified and noted down. This could be anything from electrical equipment to gas heaters, machines that use heat or oxygen, materials that might carry a fire or smoking areas.
Identify Those at Risk
Consider what your employee’s duties are, and where they are required to be – are they somewhere that you’ve identified as a high-risk area? Are they carrying out jobs that handle equipment you think has the potential to start a fire?
Think about the nature of their role and how this might affect them in the case of an emergency. Are they somewhere they are likely to hear an alarm, or are they handling very noisy equipment that will require them to be notified in an alternative way? Are they operating in a place that’s close to emergency exits, or will they have to travel far to get away from a potential fire? Make sure you consider each and every factor in your fire risk scenarios so you can take the appropriate preventative action.
Map Out Safety Measures
With the help of your identified hazards and risks, you can now move on to mapping out your safety measures. These are practical things you can put in place to directly target each risk and help to protect your people if there ever is a fire. This step can also look at removing identified risks entirely – if possible, this is your safest bet to ensure complete protection.
Create an Emergency Plan
However many preventative measures you take and fire risks you remove, there is always the chance of an accident happening. You need to make sure you have a plan of action in place in cases of emergency, taking into account:
- How will you detect a fire?
- How will you ensure everyone is alerted of the fire?
- How will you extinguish the fire to prevent spreading?
- Will people be able to find fire exits and safely evacuate?
- Where do your exits lead to – are these places completely safe from the fire if it does spread through the premises?
- Will anyone have to go past a fire to reach a safety exit?
Record Risk Assessment
UK law dictates that each and every employer has to keep a complete record of all risk assessments conducted in a workplace, so make sure you note everything down and keep it safe for everyone to access if needed.
Review & Adapt
With everything reviewed, identified, and written down, you can then work to continuously review your risk assessment and adapt it to keep up with any changes your workforce or workplace might experience.
Provide Training
A crucial element of any fire safety plan – providing adequate training to your staff is the only way to ensure everyone is made aware of what to do in the case of an emergency. This includes what to do in the case of a fire, where to go, who to report to, and anything else that comes into the intricacies of your unique fire risk assessment. Make sure the whole team knows about each potential risk, every fire exit, and any extra safety measures you might have put in place to combat the risk of fire, such as fire safety doors or smoke detectors.
A good way to provide practical training is with fire drills, where you can safely practise what you would do in the case of a workplace fire. Currently, fire drills are only conducted once a year in around 50% of all high-rise buildings, which needs to be changed if businesses want to take fire safety training seriously.
Training also encompasses fire prevention strategies and awareness. Your team should be properly educated on the dangers of fire and how to minimise any risks of starting one in the workplace so that the chances of a fire are significantly lowered.
When providing training, make sure you take into account each and every person who might come into contact with your work premises, such as cleaners or contractors. If you have customers or guests coming into your building, your staff will also need to be trained in how to handle the public in cases of emergency.
How We Can Help
When it comes to training a team, the support of professional help can’t be overstated. At The H&S Dept, we understand the importance of proper fire safety and awareness and are dedicated to providing our expertise in order to keep your company safe.
We have extensive experience in fire risk management and have helped hundreds of businesses carry out fire risk assessments to ensure the complete management of all fire risks in their place of work. Our ongoing support goes above and beyond, bringing you continuous guidance in keeping your fire risk assessments up-to-date in order to protect your team.
If you’d like to hear more about our services, don’t hesitate to get in contact today to find out more about how we can ensure complete safety alongside proper legal compliance to keep your company on the right side of fire safety law.