Posted By Paul R I have read the RRO several times now and while a safety person can see it is based (generally) on the 'management regs' etc, I don't feel it is clear, in the context of fire, on what sort of person(s)constitute 'competent persons'(CP). By that I mean the CP offering 'safety assistance' (article 18). Can anyone offer any useful insights into how this is meant to work in practice? ie who is most likely to be a competent person and what levels of competence are we talking about (noting contractors are very likely to be in the mix). This is going to be practically important and possibly costly to a lot of smaller businesses who may 'over specify' (remember COSHH anyone??). I'd appreciate any light members can shed on this one. thanks Paul

Posted By J Knight Hi Paul, Gareth has good advice, it is worth looking at previous threads, do a search. I have been to a coupld of seminars on this topic and opinion is widely divergent; some people think only an ex-Fire Officer will fit the bill, or a qualified Fire Safety Engineer; others take the view that for simple situations practically anybody equipped with guidance can do it. We're training our Estates team (all with considerable facilities management experience) to the NEBOSH fire safety cert standard, and using NHS guidance, as I think that will do, but it is a leap of faith, John