Minimising Fire Risks and Ensuring Staff Safety
Fire is a big risk to businesses. Paying attention to simple fire safety measures can help you to minimise the dangers and protect the safety and wellbeing of your employees.
Fire presents serious risks to companies. As well as potentially causing serious injury or even death to customers or employees, it can also destroy stock and premises, causing significant and long-lasting damage to your business.
As an employer or business owner, you are responsible for fire safety in your workplace. The majority of fires are preventable, and paying attention to fire safety measures can help you to minimise the risks and ensure the safety of your staff and customers.
Risk Assessments
Carrying out a risk assessment is an essential part of any fire safety policy. It will enable you to identify and evaluate potential hazards in the workplace so that you can put in place strategies to minimise or eliminate these risks and keep your employees safe.
When carrying out a risk assessment, you will need to look at your premises with a critical eye and consider a range of issues, including evacuation routes and fire exits, the needs of any vulnerable people, fire detection and fire-fighting equipment, the storage of any dangerous substances, and information and training for staff.
If your business employs five or more people, you will need to keep a written record of your risk assessment.
Evacuation Plans
In the event of a fire, getting out of the building quickly and safely is of prime importance, so it’s essential that you have an emergency evacuation plan in place. First and foremost, you need to ensure that there is a clear and direct passageway to all escape routes and that these routes are clearly marked and signposted, with emergency lighting where necessary. It’s also important to designate a safe meeting point for staff and ensure that all staff members are informed of the emergency evacuation procedures.
Make sure that you consider people with mobility needs and put in place special arrangements so that they can exit the building safely.
Fire Safety Equipment
It is a legal requirement to install an adequate fire detection and warning system. This could include fire alarms, smoke detectors, or a sprinkler system for example, and will depend on your building and the type of work carried out there.
You should also have appropriate fire-fighting equipment in place, and again, the equipment required will depend on the nature of your work and of your business premises. Any equipment installed needs to be regularly tested and maintained, and staff should be trained on its appropriate use.
Training and Drills
Training, information and regular drills are essential to ensuring people’s safety in the event of an emergency. All members of staff need to know about fire safety in the workplace, so make sure that new employees receive relevant information and training upon joining the company, and that all existing staff members are made aware of any new fire risks.
A fire drill should be carried out at least once a year so that staff are familiar with the evacuation procedure. The results of the drill should be recorded and kept with your fire safety and evacuation plan.
Compliance
As fire safety is a legal responsibility, the local fire and rescue authority will carry out regular visits to check that you have appropriate fire safety measures in place. If they think these measures are inadequate, they could either issue an informal notice suggesting improvements, or a formal fire safety notice instructing you on how to rectify the issues.
As well as risking your business and people’s lives, failure to comply with fire safety regulations can also land you in hot water with the courts. Minor infringements can be punished with fines of up to £5,000, whereas more serious incidents can carry unlimited fines and up to two years in prison.
Disregarding fire safety carries serious risks. But by following this simple guidance you can help to minimise the risks and protect your business, and the safety of the people who work there. For more information on workplace fire safety, see the Government page on Fire safety in the workplace.