Alarm ringing for new regulations01 October 2006

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced earlier this year that the new fire safety rules affecting all non-domestic premises in England and Wales would come into force on 1 October 2006. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, made in June 2005, is the biggest overhaul of fire safety legislation in decades and is designed to avoid legislative duplication by amalgamating the various pieces of fire legislation.
Originally, the regulations were due to come into force in April 2006, but in January the ODPM announced it was deferring implementation to give business and stakeholders more time to prepare. The department also wanted to co-ordinate implementation with Scotland, which had announced a date of October 2006 for its new fire legislation as well. That time to prepare is now up.

The Fire Safety Order will apply in England and Wales. Northern Ireland and Scotland will have their own laws. In Scotland, these are The Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006. In Northern Ireland, fire legislation is currently under review.
There will also be a series of 11 guides published to assist those preparing fire risk assessments in various types of fire risks (eg, shops, offices, factories, warehouses, schools and hospitals). More information is available at www.firesafetyguides.odpm.gov.uk

After a review of current fire safety law, a number of changes are being made via the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order. The main effect of the changes is a move towards greater emphasis on fire prevention in all non-domestic premises, including the voluntary sector and for self-employed people with premises separate from their homes.
Responsibility for enforcement of the new rules will reside with the local Fire and Rescue Service authority, which will carry out regular inspections, with top priority going to those premises presenting most risk to the community.

Uncertainty will almost certainly arise with the introduction of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order and the abolition of fire certificates. It is clear also that the range of occupancies across England and Wales that will need to become familiar with the concept of fire risk assessment will widen. This makes it more crucial than ever that the fire risk assessment for the premises concerned can be relied upon to comply fully with the law.

The new legislation simplifies and brings together a wide range of existing fire safety regulations and requires businesses to have a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment carried out by a competent person. Legal responsibility for carrying out a risk assessment rests with the 'responsible person', who will usually be the employer or, alternatively, a designated competent employee. Furthermore, the responsible person will need to decide whether they, or the appointed person, have the necessary competency, knowledge and experience to carry out a fire risk assessment in-house or whether external assistance will be required.

The responsibility to carry out fire risk assessments under the law is likely to involve people having varying degrees of skill, knowledge and competency. This is a potentially dangerous situation, as unqualified and inexperienced persons may give incorrect advice. So how can employers, who are still ultimately responsible for the fire risk assessment, ensure that the choice of person tasked with the completion of the risk assessment is a good one?

There is no single prescriptive route that should be followed by the fire risk assessor to achieve the competency to carry out a fire risk assessment. However, it will arise from an appropriate mix of education, training and experience. Thus, competence does not necessarily depend on the possession of specific qualifications, although qualifications can contribute to the demonstration of competence.

The education of the fire risk assessor can involve formal education of a relatively academic nature, culminating in a qualification. Training of a fire risk assessor in the principles of fire safety will often be of a practical nature, sometimes given 'on the job'.

There are many ways of carrying out, or documenting, a fire risk assessment: the format in which the documented significant findings of the fire risk assessment will be produced and recorded is critical to the effectiveness of the entire process. A suitable and sufficient risk assessment, utilising an appropriate pro-forma, should be available on inspection of the premises by the local fire authority (fire authorities will be the main agency responsible for enforcing this legislation). This will help to demonstrate to the fire authority, that the employer has taken the necessary sufficient steps in both the completion and documentation of the fire risk assessment.

British Standard PAS 79:2005 (Fire risk assessment - Guidance and methodology) can be used as a suitable pro-forma for a fire risk assessment under the forthcoming legislation. The PAS 79 pro-forma offers a suitable template to ensure that all appropriate matters will be investigated and reported on within the fire risk assessment.

Further information on British Standards PAS 79 can be found on the following website: http://www.bsi-global.com/Fire/Detection/pas79.xalter

Help is also available with training of the person to do the assessment. NEBOSH (National Examining Board for Occupational Safety and Health) and Zurich have come together to provide a Fire Safety and Risk Management Certificate.

This is designed for managers, supervisors, employee representatives and those embarking on a role with fire safety responsibility.

Once the five-day course has been completed successfully, delegates will be competent to conduct and review fire risk assessments, and fire preventive and protective measures within most workplaces.

The main changes the legislation will bring are:

- Fire certificates will be abolished and cease to have legal status. This changes fire legislation from a prescriptive approach to a more self-compliant, risk-based approach.
- Responsibility for complying with the Fire Safety Order will rest with the 'responsible person'. In a workplace, this is the employer and any other person who may have control of any part of the premises - eg, the occupier or owner. In all other premises, the person or people in control of the premises will be responsible.
- If there is more than one responsible person in any type of premises, they must take all reasonable steps to work with each other.
- The responsible person will have to carry out a fire risk assessment, which must focus on the safety, in case of fire, of all 'relevant persons'. It should pay particular attention to those at special risk, such as the disabled and those with special needs, and include consideration of any dangerous substance likely to be on the premises.
- The fire risk assessment will help businesses identify risks that can be removed or reduced, and to decide the nature and extent of the general fire precautions that need to be taken to protect people against the fire risks that remain.
- If you employ five or more people, you must record the significant findings of the assessment.

SOE

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