The consequences of not using a qualified Assessor could be that the premises is unsafe, hazards are not removed and fire risks are left unmanaged. Penalties and enforcements are imposed by the UK Government if businesses do not follow fire safety regulations.
Your Responsibilities
If you are an employer, owner, landlord or occupier of business or non-domestic premises, you could be legally responsible for the safety of your employees, customers, and anybody else at your premises.
Understanding Fire Safety
If you are an employer, owner, landlord or occupier of business or non-domestic premises, you could be legally responsible for the fire safety of your employees, customers, and anybody else who could be affected by a fire at your premises.
A competent and knowledgeable person must create a Fire Risk Assessment for the building(s) and surrounding areas. It is advisable to employ the services of qualified Fire Risk Assessors, such as those at Churches Fire & Security, to carry out this essential evaluation. Using our expert Assessors, you can rest assured that no fire safety risk is overlooked.
In England and Wales, all non-domestic premises are obliged to comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. In Scotland, this legislation is governed by the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and in Northern Ireland by the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006. The Responsible Person (known as the duty holder in Scotland and Northern Ireland), usually the employer or landlord, is personally liable for complying with this legislation. This responsibility includes, but is not limited to, carrying out the assessment and reviewing it regularly, creating an emergency plan and removing hazards.
By using a qualified Fire Risk Assessor from Churches Fire & Security, you can be confident that your premises will be assessed, and instructions will be provided to ensure comformity to fire safety legislation.
Churches Fire & Security can ensure that you fulfil all of your fire safety obligations and remain fully compliant with all legislation. You can concentrate on your business in the knowledge that we will keep your employees, customers and assets safe from the dangers of fire.
Fire Evacuation Drills
Churches Fire & Security’s Fire Safety Team are experts in correct evacuation procedures and can provide all the necessary advice for your organisation.
In order to familiarise employees with the emergency plan and evaluate its effectiveness, a fire drill should be carried out annually, or as determined by the fire risk assessment. Churches Fire & Security can organise and run these drills, acting as independent observers and provide you with a debrief, so you can be sure that you have an effective emergency plan in place.
Who Should Take Part?
The evacuation should include all users except those needed to ensure the security of the premises, or those who are required to remain with equipment or processes that cannot be closed down. It may also be appropriate to include members of the public.
Premises with several buildings on the same site should be dealt with one building at a time over an appropriate period.
Carrying Out The Drill
For premises with more than one escape route, the emergency plan should evacuate people on the assumption that one exit or stairway is unavailable because of fire. Applying this scenario to different escape routes at each fire drill will encourage use of alternative escape routes not normally used.
When carrying out the drill it is helpful to:
- Circulate details of the drill and inform staff of their duty to participate. Surprise drills are not always beneficial, given the health and safety risks
- Ensure that equipment can be safely left
- Nominate observers
Monitoring and Debrief
The nominated observers should pay attention to the following:
- Any difficulties establishing that everyone is accounted for
- The use of the nearest escape route rather than common circulation routes
- Difficulties opening final exit doors
- Difficulties experienced by people with disabilities
- The roles of specified people, for example fire wardens
- Inappropriate actions, such as stopping to collect personal items
- Windows and doors not being closed as people leave
Immediate debriefs with feedback from everyone are useful to establish the plan’s effectiveness. Later, reports from fire wardens and nominated observers should be collated and reviewed. Any conclusions and remedial actions should be recorded and implemented.
Contact Churches Fire & Security to talk to us about your emergency plan and our fire drill service
Routine User Inspection
Routine user inspections are simple to carry out and instil confidence that everything will work correctly in the event of a fire. With our decades of experience, we can provide all the support and advice you need to perform these checks correctly. Alternatively, for full peace of mind we can offer routine inspections as part of our service.
In-house checks should always be performed by a competent person – often a fire warden. All inspections should be added to a logbook or online database. Fire and Rescue Service inspectors will ask to see these records during fire safety audits and may take action if they are absent. We can help you remain fully compliant in all these matters.
Firefighting Equipment
Visual inspections of all firefighting equipment must be carried out monthly and should ensure that:
- All equipment is in the correct position.
- All equipment is unobstructed and visible.
- The operating instructions of all equipment are clean and legible and face outwards.
- Equipment has not been operated and is not obviously damaged or missing parts.
- The reading of any pressure gauge or indicator fitted to an extinguisher is within operational and safety limits.
- The seals and tamper indicators of each extinguisher/equipment are not broken or missing.
Fire Alarms
Daily visual inspection of the indicators on the fire alarm panel should be undertaken. On a weekly basis, the following inspections should be undertaken on fire alarm units:
- A manual call point should be operated during normal working hours to confirm that a fire alarm signal is processed, alarm sounders activated and a fire alarm signal is correctly received at any Alarm Receiving Centre used
- The weekly test should take place at the same time each week and occupants instructed to report any poor audibility of the alarm signal. Systems using staged alarms ‘alert’ and ‘evacuate’ should have those signals operated sequentially in the correct order
- Where some employees work only outside ‘normal’ hours, an additional test(s) should be carried out at least once a month to ensure familiarity with the signals
- A different manual call point should be used every time, so that each is tested in rotation over a prolonged period The duration for the fire alarm signal should not normally exceed one minute, so that if a real fire should occur at the same time, the occupants will be warned by the prolonged signal.
Self-Contained Emergency Lighting
Monthly
Each luminaire and internally illuminated EXIT sign should be tested for correct operation by simulating a failure of the power supply to each lamp. The duration of this test need only be the minimum necessary to check that all lamps function correctly, show no sign of damage and are clean.
Annually
Planned preventative maintenance should be carried out annually by a competent technician. Because maintenance involves switching on each luminaire for its full rated duration it is important that this is carried out when an absence of emergency lighting presents a low risk. For this reason the Fire Risk Assessment might recommend that maintenance is instead carried out six-monthly, with luminaires switched on for a third of their rated duration. This is often useful in buildings such as flats, hotels and residential care home which are occupied 24 hours a day.
Fire Doors
All fire doors must be regularly checked to ensure they are in good condition, self-closing devices close the doors effectively and hinges are secure. Fire seals must be sound and firmly fixed in position. Signs on the doors must be present and legible.
Safety Signs
All fire safety signs must be checked regularly to ensure they are present, legible and in good condition.
Sprinklers
Technical Bulletin 203 outlines the procedures for the care and maintenance of sprinkler systems. This ensures that they remain fully operational and that correct periodic assessments are carried out in order to ensure compliance. With our decades of experience in the field, we can provide all the support and advice you need to perform these checks correctly. Alternatively, for full peace of mind, we can offer routine inspections as part of our service.
Firefighting Equipment
Visual inspections of all firefighting equipment must be carried out monthly and should ensure that:
- All equipment is in the correct position.
- All equipment is unobstructed and visible.
- The operating instructions of all equipment are clean and legible and face outwards.
- Equipment has not been operated and is not obviously damaged or missing parts.
- The reading of any pressure gauge or indicator fitted to an extinguisher is within operational and safety limits.
- The seals and tamper indicators of each extinguisher/equipment are not broken or missing.
Fire Alarms
Visual inspections of all firefighting equipment must be carried out monthly and should ensure that:
- All equipment is in the correct position.
- All equipment is unobstructed and visible.
- The operating instructions of all equipment are clean and legible and face outwards.
- Equipment has not been operated and is not obviously damaged or missing parts.
- The reading of any pressure gauge or indicator fitted to an extinguisher is within operational and safety limits.
- The seals and tamper indicators of each extinguisher/equipment are not broken or missing.
Self-Contained
Emergency Lighting
Visual inspections of all firefighting equipment must be carried out monthly and should ensure that:
- All equipment is in the correct position.
- All equipment is unobstructed and visible.
- The operating instructions of all equipment are clean and legible and face outwards.
- Equipment has not been operated and is not obviously damaged or missing parts.
- The reading of any pressure gauge or indicator fitted to an extinguisher is within operational and safety limits.
- The seals and tamper indicators of each extinguisher/equipment are not broken or missing.
Fire Doors
Visual inspections of all firefighting equipment must be carried out monthly and should ensure that:
- All equipment is in the correct position.
- All equipment is unobstructed and visible.
- The operating instructions of all equipment are clean and legible and face outwards.
- Equipment has not been operated and is not obviously damaged or missing parts.
- The reading of any pressure gauge or indicator fitted to an extinguisher is within operational and safety limits.
- The seals and tamper indicators of each extinguisher/equipment are not broken or missing.
Safety Signs
Visual inspections of all firefighting equipment must be carried out monthly and should ensure that:
- All equipment is in the correct position.
- All equipment is unobstructed and visible.
- The operating instructions of all equipment are clean and legible and face outwards.
- Equipment has not been operated and is not obviously damaged or missing parts.
- The reading of any pressure gauge or indicator fitted to an extinguisher is within operational and safety limits.
- The seals and tamper indicators of each extinguisher/equipment are not broken or missing.
Sprinklers
- We are here for our customers; 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
- We provide an unrivalled quality of service with confidence.
- We shape our services according to our customer’s needs.
Contact Churches Fire & Security today to find out how to carry out your routine user fire safety inspections.
Legislation
In England and Wales all non-domestic buildings must comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO). In Scotland, this legislation is governed by the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and in Northern Ireland by The Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010.
Under the FSO, the Employer or Landlord have the following responsibilities:
The consequences for not adhering to these requirements are serious, including substantial fines and prison sentences. Do not take these responsibilities lightly. Churches Fire & Security is third-party quality-assured, fully accredited and highly experienced. Partnering with us demonstrates your full compliance with the law and your dedication to the safety of your employees and customers.
Let's Discuss Your Fire Safety
Protect your business, staff, customers and assets with Churches Fire & Security safety solutions. Expertise from start to finish and we are fully compliant, ensuring you’re covered.
