A fire risk assessment will help you verify the odds of a fire occurring in your workplace and the perils associated with it. The following five steps will ensure a successful fire risk assessment:

Step 1: Identify potential fire hazards in the workplace. A source of ignition, fuel and oxygen must all be present for fire to occur. Your assessment should list all sources of ignition and fuels in your workplace.

Step 2: Decide who will be in danger in the event of a fire. Your assessment should include the number of persons in the area including employees, visitors, contractors and members of the public.

Step 3: Evaluate the risks and take necessary fire precautions. If any areas of inadequacy are identified, an action plan must be included to show how the problem is being addressed.

Step 4: Record your findings and discuss them with your employees. 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.

Step 5: Keep the assessment under review and modify it periodically as needed. It is important to remember that a fire risk assessment is a continuous project and as such must be monitored and audited.

The Fire Precautions Act 1971 and the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 as amended are the two major pieces of fire safety legislation being replaced by The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order introduced in 2006. The Order builds on the 1997 regulations in that it applies not only to persons at work but to everyone who is legitimately on the premises and those not on the premises who may be affected by the fire.

Under the Regulatory Reform Order, fire certificates will be abolished and will cease to have legal status. The Order calls for some specific duties relative to the fire safety measures to be taken and provides for the enforcement of the Order, appeals, offences and related issues. Insofar as they relate to general fire precautions to be taken by employers, the Order also gives effect in England and Wales to the following provisions:

• The establishment of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers, whether they be permanent, temporary or contractual
  
• Use of personal protective equipment, and protection rights
  
• The protection of young people at work
  
• The protection of workers from the risks related to chemical agents at work
  
• Minimum requirements for improving the safety and health protection of workers potentially at risk from volatile environments

The assessment should contain general information such as the address of the property, the employer, the name of the owner and the owner’s address. The person carrying out the risk assessment should be named, and a responsible person nominated to implement its recommendations. The assessor should sign and date the assessment, which should be accompanied by a suitable plan showing the location of any significant findings.

A risk assessment basically means searching all facets of the workplace from the position of fire safety: dimensions and layout, materials used or stored on site, number of occupants and what they do, etc. Consider who will be in danger and what damage may occur if fire starts, and try to find hazards such as combustibles, flammables, and sources of ignition.

In addition to obeying the law, a fire risk assessment is a vital step in safeguarding your workforce and your company. You are required to protect people as far as “reasonably practicable,” though the law does not expect you to remove all risk. Your assessment should be a careful check of what, in your work, could cause injury to people, so that you can evaluate whether you have taken enough safety measures or should do more to prevent harm.