Online Fire Risk Assessments from just £4.99/month

You can do the fire risk assessment yourself with the help of standard fire safety risk assessment guides. If you do not have the expertise or time to do the fire risk assessment yourself you need to appoint a ‘competent person’ to help, for example a professional risk assessor.

‘Competent’ can be defined as somebody with sufficient training, qualifications, experience and attitude. A competent person must have received specific training in relation to fire risk assessments. They must have some form of qualification to back that up, experience in assessing your type of building, and the correct attitude to ensure they’re able to communicate the findings effectively. All of the above can be achieved for your fire risk assessment by using external assessors.

A fire risk assessment is legally required in almost all other types of premises. It is the duty of the ‘Responsible Person’ to take fire precautions ‘as far as reasonably practicable’ under the RRO Part 2 Article 8, to ensure that fire safety is paramount in a premises and that a building is safe for all relevant persons. The ‘Responsible Person’ is defined in the RRO Part 1 Article 3 as:

1. In relation to a workplace, the employer, if the workplace is to any extent under his control;
2. In relation to any premises not falling within paragraph (a)—
   1. The person who has control of the premises (as occupier or otherwise) in connection with the carrying on by him of a trade, business or other undertaking (for profit or not); or
   2. The owner, where the person in control of the premises does not have control in connection with the carrying on by that person of a trade, business or other undertaking.

In Layman’s terms, a ‘Responsible Person’ could be the employer, owner, landlord, or appointed managing agent of the premises. All fire risk assessments must be carried out by a competent person.

Without proper risk assessments, the likelihood of accidents and incidents in your workplace increases. This not only affects the wellbeing of your employees but can also lead to employees needing time off work, increased insurance costs, compensation costs and a loss of productivity. You have a legal duty to assess the risks to the health and safety of your employees (and risks to the health and safety of persons not in your employment) to which they are exposed while they are at work.

There are no specific time periods for how often fire risk assessments must be done or reviewed. UK law states that the responsible person for assessments in your building must review it ‘regularly’ to make sure it’s up to date.