Every business owner has a duty of care under various items of legislation, which includes detection of fire and the means of fighting any fire, and providing escape routes and training for their staff. In October 2006, the existing fire safety laws changed, requiring all business owners to have a fire risk assessment.
What does RRFSO stand for?
RRFSO, or The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, affects all non-domestic premises in England and Wales. Although Scotland and Northern have their own legislation, they are fairly similar in what they expect from a business or premises owner.
What Is A Fire Risk Assessment?
A fire risk assessment allows business owners to examine their business premises, and assess both their buildings and business activities in terms of fire risk. A business fire risk assessment should address the following issues:
- the nature of the risk
- the probability of that risk occurring
- the extent of existing fire precautions
- any members of staff at special risk, such as wheelchair users
Your Existing Business Fire Risk Assessment
If you have an existing fire risk assessment, compiled before October 2006, you need to redo the assessment to ensure your provisions are in line with the new legislation.
In addition, every time your business changes in terms of premises, business activity or even staff, you should undertake a revision of the assessment.
Help With Your Fire Risk Assessment
The good news is that there are several ways to get help with compiling your fire risk assessment.
Fire risk assessment consultants will be happy to help with professional advice on your fire safety provision, but their services can prove very expensive if your business changes regularly.
The Department for Communities and Local Government has issued a variety of guides for fire risk assessments that business owners can use, but these comprehensive guides are time-consuming to absorb and not everyone’s choice of learning curve!
The Internet offers business fire risk assessment advice, many in the format of text-based guides that can either be read online or printed as a pdf for later reading.
However, it is likely that the busy business owner would prefer some format that gave practical information that is easily absorbed, rather than reams of paper to read through.
The Fire Assessment Training DVD Or CD-ROM
Fire training DVDs or CD-ROMs have several advantages over paper manuals:
- The combination of audio and visual information, allowing for different individual learning styles
- Training from DVDs ensures a consistency of message and information as well as the opportunity for groups to learn together
- Practical ‘how to’ demonstrations, such as fire extinguisher usage, are much easier to understand on video than via 2D drawings
- DVDs and CD-ROMs often include printable template fire risk assessment forms including checklists, guide policies and other important paperwork, accessed via a standard office PC
- One DVD can be used again and again to train staff and help business owners with their fire risk assessments, at a fraction of the cost of individually printed manuals
For those who still like to have something printed in their hands, pdf guides are often included with the DVDs, or your or your staff can always print them off the net for free.
Fire Risk Assessments: Act Now For Safety Later
The more familiar you are with the elements of a fire risk assessment, the better you can protect your business and your staff. A fire risk assessment DVD helps keep you informed and up to date – and share that knowledge with staff in a cost-effective format.
If you do use a professional Fire Risk Assessment consultancy service, our advice would be two-fold. Firstly, use an ex-Fire Officer but take up references and look for experience.
Secondly, never buy the equipment from the risk assessor as it is unlikely that you will have been given truly independent advice.