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Posted By gburgess
Time to pick your brains.
I am looking at producing a format for fire risk assessment on our properties and wondered how others had tackled it.
Did you have a set format?
Was this specific questions or more of a general form?
Did you do the assessment by rooms, sections or the property as a whole?
What training was provided for the people undertaking the assessments?
Any other advice on what worked well would also be useful.
I know there is guidance on this but wondered what had worked well in practice.
Thanks
Greg
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Posted By Mal Shiels
Greg, for our office environment i simply contacted my local fire brigade and they provided me with a fire risk assessment form to use, it was user friendly and would be appliacble to most workplaces.
I am sure your local fire brigade would do the same.
Best wishes.
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Posted By Alan Murphy
I have recently been to a seminar regarding the new fire reforms 2005 which are very important and far reaching i would suggest all people look at these two pages
http://www.firesafe.org....legislation/rrfsord1.htm (This gives a lay mans view, very interesting.)
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2005/20051541.htm (That’s the full regs)
The other important thing we were told by fire officers regarding risk assesment were.
The Fire Risk Assessment is the cornerstone of the Order. This must be a suitable and sufficient assessment done by a competent person and reviewed regularly and if necessary amended. The Risk Assessment must be formally recorded if the responsible person employs 5 or more people, the premises are licensed or the Inspector requires it.
This has not been tested in case law as yet, but in the fire officers opinion the minimum that will be considered would be if the competent person had sat all 5 (3 week) modules of fire training coupled with experience. The fire officers did also give examples of how in the past if this assessment is done right by competent people not only lives were saved but money also.
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Posted By shaun mckeever
What works well Greg is having an understanding of fire, how it develops, how buildings react in fire and how people behave when confronted with fire. The majority of multiple fatality fires are as a result of a failure in management procedures. I have lost count of the number of times I have asked staff "your computer has just burst into flames, what are you going to do?" for them to give me answers such as 'I will tell my line manager', or 'I will call security' or even worse 'I don't know'. I have also lost count of the number of fire risk assessments I have reviewed where the tick box for 'fire doors in place' is ticked yet closer examination of the doors reveals that they do not meet fire resisting standards. This also applies to similar problems with sprinkler systems, steel protection, travel distances etc. It is why I firmly believe that fire risk assessments must be undertaken by someone who is competent in fire. Someone who understands the risks and what is required of the equipment supplied and of the construction of the building. It is also why there are moves afoot to ensure that fire risk assessors are adeqautely qualified. After all, getting it wrong may have serious consequences.
As far as training goes, I am aware of and have even provided training courses in fire risk assessments, but none of the courses I am aware of enables anyone to carry out a fire risk assessment of anything more complicated than a small office block or similar type buildings e.g.shops. Occasionally some training can be tailored to an organisations specific risks e.g. chemical laboratories.
I know you said you are aware of guidance, but just in case you are not aware, BSI has recently produced guidance - PAS 79. This provides excellent guidance and recommended methodology for carrying a fire risk assessment. I think this should be the starting point for anyone considering undertaking a fire risk assessment.
Well done if you have read this far. Whatever you do I hope you get it right.
Best regards, Shaun
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Posted By Jonathan Sandler
PLEASE REMEMBER only a competent person can undertake a Fire Risk Assessment, compentency in this case is defined by either years doing the job, or a person who has attended a course. These forms that are being sent out by the fire service have been challanged in court, one area of the brigade has withdrawn this document.
Like all risk assessments and as a previous reply has stated, understanding the way a fire works is half the battle. I.e when attending the fire risk assessment course we where ask, if this chair caught alight, how long would it take for the brigade to attend site?
Unlike the HSE 5 steps to risk assessment, the brigade has 7 steps.
Should you require any further information, please email direct.
Thanks for your time.
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