Posted By shirley Does anyone have an example of a fire risk assessment for a shop specifically in a shopping centre? Thanks.

Posted By Philip McAleenan If you follow the links on the left of the page to the NI branch and have a look at the minutes of our October branch meeting, the last two pages were a RRO and Fire RA presentation by the NIFRS. This should be helpful in conducting an assessment, http://www.iosh.co.uk/fi...MinutesOctober102006.pdf Regards, Philip NI Branch Secretary

Posted By Phillipe Shirley Whether or not the premises is in a shopping centre is fairly irrelevant to be honest. You need to assess your demise, the common areas are not your concern, that is the concern of the landlord. As long as you are highlighting the key areas, sources of ignition, sources of fuel, risks to customers and staff, structural considerations, means of escape, etc etc you should be fine. Try getting hold of Fire Safety/Fire Risk Assessment - Offices and Shops ISBN-13: 978 1 85112 8150

Posted By shaun mckeever Phillipe you are wrong. The mall in a shopping centre forms part of the means of escape. Anything that threatens that means of escape is a threat to your staff and customers. It must be considered as part of the risk assessment for the shop unit. In essence this could mean that the mall may be assessed a hundred times if there are a hundred shops. This is in adition to the one the landlord carries out. It is very much the same as in an office block. You do not stop at the entrance to your office. You need to check the stairs all the way down.

Posted By Phillipe Shaun I believe you may have misunderstood what I was trying to say. The fire assessment that is required must be undertaken by the retailer. That fire assessment is for their shop/demise and not for other areas outside the their control, i.e. the common areas, malls, etc. I receive plenty of correspondance from Landlords requesting an assessment for our demise and our demise only. Yes the fire assessment must take into account means of escape through evacuation routes that are common to all tennants, and this will need to form part of the overall store evacuation plan, which in our case is an additional document to the actual risk assessment, but which compliments it nonetheless. The assessment will also take into account other specific issues that may be shared with the Centre Mgt, such as raising the alarm (integrated fire warning systems, sprinklers, etc). If when undertaking the assessment and putting together your evacuation plans, you find the MOE in the common areas is compromised for whatever reason, then that issue is highlighted to the Landlord via communication direct with Centre Mgt or via the Estate Mgt team at our H/O. I am a firm believer in keeping things as simple as possible. Over complication of issues does not help anyone. Any fire assessment we have done that has been reviewed by either a visiting Fire Officer or other enforcement body has been well received. It is interesting to read other peoples comments to threads that have been posted on not just this subject but to all, but I resent comments that I am wrong, when the approach I have taken has not received any criticism from the persons enforcing the regulations.

Posted By Mike Draper Sorry, I don't work in the retail sector, but we do have premises that are leased and/or rented from others in shared workplaces. What we have done in such circumstances is start by requesting the fire risk assessment prepared by the landlord. In a retail context, this should provide a basis for an individual occupier of a shop unit to then consider what they need to do in addition to the steps that have been taken by the landlord. Mike

Posted By shirley Thanks everyone for their comments. Tried the shopping centre management who were unhelpful!! I think they key issue is about the 'means of escape'. Anything that threatens that means of escape is a threat to our staff and customers. So we need to specifically refer to this and go 'outside' of the unit to look at any hazards and risks. So I have really put an emphasis on this area in the document. Cheers.