The fire risk assessment should help you identify every fire hazard and risk in your building, and from this, you should then decide which risks are acceptable and which you need to plan steps to reduce or eliminate. A fire risk assessment needs to be carried out by the Responsible Person assigned to the building. This report can be incredibly detailed and it is always recommended to get a qualified and experienced fire risk assessor to complete this.
If you do decide to complete a fire risk assessment yourself, this blog will identify the five main steps that will be looked at in a fire risk assessment.
1. Evaluate
After identifying the fire hazards and the risks associated with them, it’s important to evaluate what you need to do to remove or reduce the risk. Consider if all your staff are trained and know what to do in the event of a fire and if all your alarm systems are working and can be heard by everyone in the building. Ask yourself; is all your fire safety equipment working and has it been regularly checked?
2. Identify Hazards
It’s essential to make a list, noting down anything that could be an identified hazard in starting a fire in your premises. It could be worth speaking to people that spend the most time in the building in case they spot things that aren’t obvious to you.
3. Identify People in Risk
For each hazard specified in the first step, be sure to identify who might be harmed in this instance, as it will help when coming to manage the risk. This doesn’t have to be specific names within your team, but it’s helpful to identify the closest groups to the hazard and how they will be at risk. Some people may have different requirements, such as wheelchair users not being able to use the building lift.
4. Record
Recording all your findings of the risk assessment and sharing them with everyone within the premise will encourage everyone to put the results of the assessment into practice. You need to be able to show the proper checks that were made, all obvious hazards have already been dealt with, and the remaining risks are low.
5. Review
Be sure to review the assessment regularly and assess whether any improvements need to be made.
If you would like to learn more about how to keep your workforce safe, browse our full range of blogs here.
