The Government has brought about better regulation, by regulating only where necessary and in a manner that is more suited to the needs of modern business and commerce.
The Order, made under the Regulatory Reform Act 2001 replaces many of the references to fire safety in other legislation such as the Fire Precautions Workplace Regulations, Fire Precautions Act, Licensing Act and Housing Acts with a simple, single Order. It requires any person who exercises some level of control in premises to take reasonable steps to reduce the risk from fire and ensure occupants can safely escape if a fire does occur.
The new Fire Safety Order has now been approved by the House of Lords and originally scheduled to come into force in April 2006 it then was dealayed for a further 6 months. It is intended that the guidance documentation in support of the order is effective 1st October 2006.
The aim of the Fire Safety Order - that has been introduced under the Regulatory Reform Order - is to 'simplify, rationalise and consolidate existing legislation'.
Where does the Order apply?
The Order applies to virtually all premises and covers nearly every type of building and structure and to open spaces put to certain uses.
For example:
Offices and shops
Premises that provide care
Community halls
The common areas of houses in multiple occupation
Pubs, clubs and restaurants
Schools
Tents and marquees
Hotels and hostels
Factories and warehouses
Open air public gatherings (concerts, shows etc)
But excluding:
Purely domestic premises occupied by a single family group
Open spaces put to solely agricultural and forestry use
What are the main requirements of the Order?
The responsible person is required to:
Carry out or nominate someone to carry out a fire risk assessment identifying the risks and hazards
Consider who may be especially at risk
Eliminate or reduce the risk from fire as far as is reasonably practical and provide general fire precautions to deal with any residual risk
Take additional measures to ensure fire safety where flammable or explosive materials are used or stored
Create a plan to deal with any emergency and, in most cases, document your findings
Review the findings as necessary
Generally the requirements of the RRO will be little different from those already imposed under the WFPL, in that it will require the responsible person to carry out a Fire Risk Assessment, produce a policy, develop procedures, provide staff training and carry out fire drills. The RRO contains the phrase 'The responsible person must... appoint one or more competent persons to assist him ...'
It goes on to say the competent person must have '... Sufficient training, experience and knowledge...'. Where the competent person is directly employed, the responsible person must ensure that he or she is properly trained. However where the competent person is a sub contractor, it implies that the contractor should have some form of Third Party Accreditation.
Definitions
Responsible Person
This is the person who owns the premises or business or the person with control over the premises, business or activity. Where two or more responsible persons share responsibility (e.g. tenant/landlord, multiple occupied building or adjacent premises) the responsible persons must co-operate, share information and collaborate to provide safety measures
Relevant Person
Anyone who is not an employee but is legally on the premises or anyone who is not on the premises but who may be affected e.g. customers in a shop or entertainment venue
Competent Person Anyone appointed by the responsible person and could be anyone from a company fire warden to a fire alarm service engineer. They may be directly employed or a sub contractor, but the important word is competent
Fire Risk Assessment
The cornerstone of the RRO is the Fire Risk Assessment. This must be reviewed regularly and if necessary amended. The risk assessment must be formally recorded if the responsible person employs 5 or more people (not necessarily within the same premises) or the premises are licensed
Summary of The Fire Safety Order
· All existing fire legislation will be repealed including the Fire Precautions Act 1971, Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997/99, Management of Health & Safety in the Workplace Regulations 1999 + 100 pieces of related legislation…
· Fire certificates will be no longer issued for the majority of commercial undertakings by fire brigades. Fire Training & Fire Marshall Training will need to be completed by individual companies.
· Each individual company will be responsible for their own fire safety. The employer must conduct a fire risk assessment regardless of the size of the risk, Staff Fire Training, Fire marshall Training and the provision of fire safety management plans, log books and maintenance of fire safety precautions. The identified responsible person would therefore take full corporate liability.
· Extended scope of consideration now to include property safety, fire fighter safety and the environment around the site as well as just protecting life. This means that allowing a building to be sacrificed is unacceptable due to the risk to neighbouring buildings and fire fighters. The responsible person would have a duty to protect the fire brigade and ensure all staff complete Fire Training & Fire Marshall Training as appropriate.
· Unlike the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations, the Fire Safety Order also places emphasis on business continuity and containing and preventing the spread of small fires.
· Protection is explicitly extended to all occupants and not just employees. Visitors, contractors or passers-by also have to be considered in the risk assessment and Fire Marshall Training along with staff Fire Training.
· Fire fighters are to have greater authority to gain entry to premises and remove samples after a fire.
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Who is responsible for complying?
Under the Order, anyone who has control in a building or anyone who has a degree of control over certain areas or systems may be designated a "responsible person" for example:
The employer for those parts of premises they have control over
The managing agent or owner for common parts of a premises or common fire safety equipment such as fire warning systems or sprinklers
The occupier of premises that are not workplaces such as a chairperson in a parish hall
Any other person who has some control over a part of a premises may be the responsible person in so far as that control extends.
Although in many premises the responsible person will be obvious, there may be occasions when a number of people have some responsibility.
Guidance on the RRO in relation to the various types of premises (occupancies) will be published by the Government during 2006, and these will provide guidance on fire safety matters and the risk assessment process itself.
Remember - as an employer, you will have been carrying out fire risk assessments since 1997.
Only those premises with no employees (e.g. family run hotels, charitable or voluntary organisations) will notice a major change in the way in which fire safety is dealt with.
· Employer with control of a workplace,
failing that…
· Person with overall management of a building
· Occupier of premises
· Owner of premises (i.e. empty buildings)
Whilst other people like landlords have some control, the primary responsibility rest with employer
The employer/responsible person will be held accountable and may be held responsible at the time of inspection or post incident.
Whilst renewing the focus on the fire risk assessments and staff fire training and fire marshalls training, the Order will state that fire brigades can advise on but not carry out fire risk assessments.
If you own/operate Licensed premises, i.e. pubs, clubs, hotels etc these changes may be more immediate than for others. The new licensing authority will be the Local Authority and not the Police. All new licensees, prior to the issue/approval of a license, will have to provide proof and documentation that they have written policies, procedures, risk assessments, management plans and training programmes governing for example Fire, Health & Safety and Asbestos safety.
How do you comply with the Order?
If you are the responsible person you must ensure a fire risk assessment is carried out although you can delegate this task to somebody else. However you will still remain responsible, in law, for complying with the Order.
The responsible person, either on their own or in co-operation with any other responsible person, must as far as is reasonably practical, ensure that everyone on the premises can escape safely in the event of a fire.
This differs from previous legislation in that there is no longer any distinction made between people who are employees, for example in a place of work and members of the public at an open air entertainment venue. It includes people who may have a disability or anyone who may need special assistance.
Fire Certificates will no longer be issued and those previously in force will have no legal status. (However, they may be used as a good starting point for a fire risk assessment). The Order requires that the responsible person takes ownership of the management of any risk in their premises.
If your premises have been designed and built, and are being used in accordance with modern Building Regulations then your structural fire precautions should be acceptable. You will still need to carry out a fire risk assessment and ensure that your risk reduction, fire prevention and maintenance routines are sustained.
The Fire Authority will not conduct your risk assessment for you.
That is quite properly the responsibility of the responsible person, but will seek to ensure that any support necessary is made available within the scope of the RRO. General advice can be made available on specific matters, however, resources will be targeted at the higher risk premises e.g. hospitals, residential care premises, larger public entertainment venues etc.
For further information on the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 please contact:
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister - www.odpm.gov.uk
Or for general fire safety matters contact your local Fire and Rescue Service fire safety department
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