Louanne Lanahan

24/10/2024

Your Fire Safety Risk Assessment Checklist

Fire safety is an essential process that demands both attention and precision, which is why it’s vital you conduct a fire safety risk assessment.

Men in Hi Vis Jacket and Hard Hat

Can you do your own fire risk assessment?

Yes, you can do your own fire risk assessment, but we always recommend having a qualified fire safety consultant either guide you through the process or do the fire risk assessment for you.

When you conduct a fire risk assessment, it is important that you don’t take any shortcuts since the consequences can be catastrophic. Our team will always ensure your fire risk assessment is completed to the highest standard with our years of experience and always updated knowledge. 

What is covered on a fire safety checklist?

There are five steps that should be covered when conducting a fire risk assessment. These steps are:

  1. 1
    Identify any fire hazards
  2. 2
    Understand who is at risk
  3. 3
    Take action
  4. 4
    Record, plan and train
  5. 5
    Regularly review the progress

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Identify any fire hazards

The first step is to identify the risk and hazards of your business. It is crucial to know how to identify these when completing a fire risk assessment. 

To do this, you need to survey your entire business premises and establish any potential fire risks and combustibles. These can be defined as either fuel or a source of ignition. 

Common sources of ignition include:

  • Faulty or overloaded equipmentOverheated machinery or appliances
  • Overheated machinery or appliances
  • Poorly managed heating and cooking equipment

Other examples also include:

  • Cigarettes, matches and lighters
  • Wood
  • Waste Materials
  • Flammable liquids

When you’re looking for hazards in your property, you should ask yourself what sources could catch fire easily and burn if there’s anything that could generate a spark or high levels of heat. 

Understand who is at risk

The associated risks of a fire will likely be greater for certain types of people on your business property. This is why it is essential that you take the time to establish who they are and what measures need to be put in place to support them.

For example, some of your employees may be in more high risk environments or work in roles that are higher risk than others. This could involve working with electrical equipment or with highly flammable materials.

You may also have employees with disabilities, motor issues or sight and hearing loss. If this is the case, they may need additional support during an emergency evacuation, such as lighting and easy access lifts and exits. 

Take action

When we say take action, we mean implementing your fire risk plan. You’ll need to decide what type of fire safety equipment your business needs to avoid any associated risks on your property. 

There is a huge number of different fire safety equipment available that you can implement across your premises. Neglecting the laws set out in the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 can leave you open to legal implications. 

Fire safety equipment includes:

  • Fire doors
  • Fire Alarms
  • Fire Dampers
  • Fire extinguishers
  • Sprinklers
  • Dry and Wet Rinsers
  • Emergency Lighting and Signage

By installing emergency equipment, you can ensure your workplace is prepared for an emergency and significantly reduce the risk of fire related accidents. 

Record, plan and train

Training is an essential part of your fire risk assessment. You should create a plan and then implement sufficient training so your staff are aware how to act in the event of a fire emergency.

Your training plan should show staff how to use equipment such as fire extinguishers, running emergency fire drills, ensuring everyone knows where the emergency exits are and assigning roles such as fire marshals.

Training is a crucial part of your fire risk assessment. It provides your team with the confidence they need to use certain fire equipment and also reduces the risk of injury or death should a fire ever break out.

Bringing in an official Fire Risk Assessor can really help with keeping compliant and ensuring staff are trained accurately. Our team can come to your premises and accurately assess what you need to ensure fire safety in the workplace.

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Regularly review the progress

Once you have created your fire risk assessment, it should regularly be reviewed to identify any changes in risks and update the procedures accordingly. 

This step involves:

  • Running maintenance checks on your equipment;
  • Replacing any faulty equipment;
  • Training new staff members;
  • Addressing any new potential hazards should any new materials or substances be brought to your premises.

Working with our fire safety experts is the most effective way to ensure your fire safety equipment meets the required standards. We will help you to establish what is working and suggest any necessary changes that may need to be implemented.

Identifying vulnerable people who may be at risk in a fire

As we mentioned, it is crucial to consider the needs of everyone who visits and works at your premises, particularly those who may be vulnerable. This is extremely important during a fire risk assessment which is why we’re going to dive a little further into how to identify vulnerable people.

To recognise anyone that could be at risk in the event of a fire, including staff, visitors, residents, customers, children and the elderly, you should consider:

Who is regularly at the premises?
Are there any specific individuals who may need assistance?

You will also need to assess the number of people at different times. This includes evaluating the number of children, elderly and lone workers, as well as considering the peak times of your business. You should also consider those who may have disabilities, including those who are deaf, blind or have mobility issues.

Once you have outlined all of the above, you should tailor your evacuation procedures to ensure they are inclusive and provide training that accommodates everyone's needs. 

How often should you review your fire risk assessment?

To ensure your environment is protected, we advise you to review your fire risk assessment every year, even if your business premises have not changed at all.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 that fire risk assessments should be reviewed as follows:

(3) Any such assessment must be reviewed by the Responsible Person regularly so as to keep it up to date and particularly if—

(a) there is reason to suspect that it is no longer valid; or

(b) there has been a significant change in the matters to which it relates including when the premises, special, technical and organisational measures, or organisation of the work undergo significant changes, extensions, or conversions.

At Lanahan Risk Management Services, we’re here to help you. If you think your fire risk assessment needs to be reviewed or there have been significant changes to your premises, we can conduct and guide you through a new fire risk assessment. Get in touch with our team today to see how we can help keep you and your business safe.

Download Our PDF of This Checklist


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