Fire Risk Assessments: Everything You Need to Know
Fire risk assessments are very important for all businesses to do. Fire safety risk assessments are part of your fire safety procedures and they help keep everyone safe by avoiding fires and knowing what to do when one does break out. If you are a business owner, a fire safety risk assessment is something that can help keep you, your employees and your customers safe.
Here is everything you need to know about fire risk assessment.
What is the purpose of a fire risk assessment?
Fire risk assessments are to help a business recognise the risk of fire within their business. A good fire risk assessment will highlight the risks of fire and then take the necessary steps to reduce or remove these hazards. In order to effectively protect your business from fire, you first need to recognise the risks that are specific to your site. If you have more than 5 staff on your site, you are legally required to conduct an annual fire risk assessment. These laws are in place for a reason as there are around 22,000 workplace fires every year. Many people live with an attitude that it will never happen to them, however, if a fire were to break out on your property and you didn’t take steps to meet your legal duties, you can be fined and may even face time in prison.
How to conduct a fire risk Assessment
Anyone can carry out a fire risk assessment, but it needs to be a suitably competent person. This is usually a high-ranking member who understands the importance of this task.
- Identify fire hazards
- Identify people at risk
- Assess existing detection/suppression systems
- Evaluate, reduce or remove risks
- Record significant findings and assess existing protocol
- Update/improve emergency plan and provide training
- Review and update regularly
If you need a fire risk assessment in Essex, speak to the experts at Thameside Fire Protection today. We help you conduct a comprehensive and complete fire safety risk assessment. We also offer a range of other fire safety services including sprinkler installation, fire alarms and fire extinguishers.
