New fire safety rules affecting all non-domestic premises in England and Wales will come into force on 1 October 2006. The new fire risk assessment regulations apply to practically every work place, hotel etc. Companies that fail to comply with the new regulations will not only face prosecution, but insurance companies may also re-examine their warranties and claim conditions to penalise deliberate offenders by withholding cover.

A responsible person from each place of employment must ensure that fire risk assessment is carried out and take full corporate liability for any incident. He or she will be required to assess the risks of fire and take steps to reduce or improve them. In the majority of cases this assessment need only be made by a competent person and doesn’t require the presence of a specialist.

A fire risk assessment helps you identity potential fire hazards and risks in your workplace. The person conducting the risk assessment can then decide whether the risks and hazards are acceptable or whether something can be done to reduce or control them.

The first step in conducting a fire risk assessment is to produce a list of all possible fire hazards. For fire to occur there must be a source of ignition, fuel and oxygen. If all three are present and in close proximity then there is a real risk of fire. Potential sources of ignition are:

• Naked flames, smokers' materials, matches, pilot flames, gas/oil heaters, gas welding, cookers, arson, etc.
• Hot surfaces, heaters, engines, boilers, machinery, lighting (e.g. halogen lamps), electrical equipment, etc.
• Hot work welding, grinding, flame cutting
• Friction drive belts, worn bearings, etc.
• Sparks, static electricity, metal impact, grinding, electrical contacts/switches, etc.

Sources of fuel include:

• Solids, textiles, wood, paper, card, plastics, rubber, PU foam, furniture, fixtures/fittings, packaging, waste materials, etc.
• Liquids, solvents (petrol, white spirit, meths, paraffin, thinners, etc), paints, varnish, adhesives, etc.
• Gases, LPG, acetylene

The next step is to access the people at risk and identify their means of escape and evacuation. When conducting the assessment the employer should cover:

• The likely speed of growth and spread of any fire, and associated heat and smoke (remember some fuels burn much faster and produce more toxic products than others do)
• The numbers of persons working in the area including contractors, visitors, members of the public
• How will they become aware of any fire that occurs will any outbreak be conspicuous? or Will some form of fire detection and alarm system be required?
• How they will make their escape (can they make their way out quickly, easily and safely)?

Once the hazards and the persons at risk have been recorded, you must assess the effect of any particular hazard on the occupants of the workplace. Once this has been done, you must decide if any further control measures are needed in order to reduce the risk to an acceptable level.

These control measures could include:

• Changing the process to use a slower burning fuel
• Removing all possible ignition sources
• Moving the hazard to an area that affects the minimum of persons, e.g. outside the premises
• Providing an additional exit/protected route to speed the escape of the occupants
• Providing a fire detection and alarm system to warn persons of the fire in its early stages
• Training the staff to reduce the possibility of a fire occurring, e.g. housekeeping/safe working practices
• Providing appropriate firefighting equipment / fixed installation e.g. sprinkler system

If any areas of inadequacy are identified, an action plan must be included to show how the problem is being addressed. This should include time scales for achieving the required level of control and specifying who is responsible for the action.

If your workplace is situated in a relatively modern building it should already incorporate important control measures that were installed to meet the requirements of the Building Regulations e.g. fire escape staircases, fire lobbies, fire doors, emergency lighting etc. Many of these measures will also be found in older buildings.

If you employ five or more employees you must record the significant findings of your risk assessment, together with details of any people that are at particular risk. More importantly, the record must show whether the existing control measures are adequate and, if not, what further action is required to reduce the risk to an acceptable level. For larger workplaces you should include a simple floor plan in your fire risk assessment. You can use the plan to record fire hazards and control measures in a simple format that is easily understood.

If your workplace has a fire certificate issued under the Fire Precautions Act you may wish to cross reference your fire risk assessment with your fire certificate plan.

It is important to remember that fire risk assessment is a continuous process and as such must be monitored and audited. New and existing control measures should be maintained to make sure they are still working effectively. For example:

• A new work process may introduce additional fuels or ignition sources.
• Changes to furniture layout or internal partitions could affect the ability for employees to see a fire and escape in time.
• Increasing the number of employees may mean that a fire exit is now too small to cope with their escape within a safe period.
• Occupying another floor of the building may mean that an electrical fire warning system is now necessary, etc.

If a fire occurs at a premises and the owner has not complied with the new law, they could face prosecution. Insurers will be reluctant to cover claims if a fire risk assessment has not been carried out and most will insert a strict warranty into their policy stating that if fire regulations are deliberately breached, claims will not be met.

We are currently developing a fire risk assessment document which will be able to walk you through the proper procedure. This service will be available next month.