For the past three years, businesses around England and Wales have been required to carry out risk assessments on their premises. Under the Regulatory Reform Order 2005, it has become a legal requirement for businesses to prove they are complying with the law by submitting their assessments to their local fire authority. This tightening of the law is now part of basic health and safety and has been enforced to reduce fires from breaking out in the work place. Prior to the new regulations, fire certificates were all you needed to produce in order to demonstrate that your work property was safe. However recognising that these certificates were no longer adequate in preventing fires, the Government introduced more pro-active methods with the assumption that by forcing all employers to assess their own properties, risk can be reduced leading to an outcome of a reduction in fires around the country. In today's working environment, anyone who is regarded responsible within the workplace, must take responsibility for ensuring their premises are a safe environment for their employees to work in. The order applies to virtually all premises and covers nearly every type of building, structure and open space, including offices, shops, care homes, hospitals, places of worship, community halls, pubs, clubs, restaurants, schools, hotels and factories. Pretty much the only buildings the law doesn't apply to is private housing. Hazards must be recognised and amended before the assessment can be successful completed. Many companies still possess fire certificates from previous years which would have been allocated based on a degree of fire risk assessment. However these certificates alone are no longer sufficient under health and safety guidelines as they do not contain the same level of fire risk assessment as required today. Even if there haven't been any structural or staff changes within the workplace since the old certificates were issued, a new fire risk assessment will still need to be carried out. A fire risk assessment will need to identify any possible dangers and risks, consider who may be most at risk, reduce this risk as far as is reasonably possible and provide general fire precautions. The assessment will then create a plan to deal with any emergencies and record all findings. All those concerned with fire safety must be notified and kept up to date with proceedings. One of the best ways to make sure you meet all legal requirements is to enrol on a Fire Risk Assessment course. Courses will vary depending on who is conducting them however in general, they will cover current and future fire legislative requirements and teach you of your fire safety responsibilities. Throughout the course you will be shown how to identify fire hazards and how to recognise people who are most at risk. Strategic approaches will be covered and practical fire risk assessments and applications will be demonstrated, highlighting best practice for preventing a fire. Understanding which and where fire risks can be reduced and removed in the workplace is paramount. You will learn how to evaluate the whole process and often, many fire risk assessment courses will include some general fire awareness training. Courses will vary in length however usually take a few days to complete and are competitively priced, especially when you consider the cost, financially and otherwise, of not complying with the law.
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