Fire Safety Risk Assessment

A Fire Safety Risk Assessment is the first step a business owner must take to reduce the risks from fire at their premises. By undertaking a fire safety risk assessment you can pinpoint the fire risks and decide how to remove or reduce them. They can also identify whether the existing fire precautions eg fire detection systems and fire escape routes are adequate or whether more needs to be done. Although fire authorities no longer issue fire certificates they can be a useful starting point if you already have one.

A fire safety risk assessment can be carried out as part of a general health & safety risk assessment or as a separate exercise. Although it sounds daunting, a fire safety risk assessment is a common sense review of a business premises and the aim is to identify a significant risk in the workplace. Do not bury these risks under an excess of information or by concentrating on trivial items. Insignificant items should still be included in a fire risk assessment as it demonstrates you have reviewed the premises and deemed that particular area a low risk. This can be reviewed in future to ensure it remains a low risk item.

Be systematic eg do not try to assess the whole premises in one go especially if it is a large premises. Break the business down into manageable sections eg by building, activity or process. An assessment should always follow the direction on the normal workflow through the process and tackle the more prominent hazards.

Assess what actually happens. It is important that a business owner knows exactly how the job is performed - and not only for health & safety reasons! The actual way the job is completed may be more hazardous and therefore subject to further control measures. Also think about non-routine operations eg maintenance, servicing, emergency repairs and how this may increase the risk of a fire starting.

To ensure that the greatest benefit is gained from the risk assessment, it must be suitable for the type of industry eg using an assessment for a catering company would be unsuitable for a construction site. It must also be sufficient in that it reflects the size and complexity of the business. An assessment designed for a small company may not be sufficiently in-depth for a large multi-national even if they are in the same industry.

Therefore when starting to make sure that your facility is as safe as you can make it from the dangers of fire, your starting point should be a full understanding of the way your business operates and then undertake a thorough fire safety risk assessment of the facility.


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Nigel J Welford is a qualified Health & Safety professional and believes in making health and safety as simple as possible whilst still being effective and meeting all the regulations. For his free report "The Secret To How Health & Safety Can Improve Your Business And Profits: 7 Everyday Pitfalls To Avoid" from http://www.healthandsafetyintheworkplace.com


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