Blog
Blog
Lots of fire safety legislation and Government Guidance has been introduced over the last couple of years. Are you aware of it? If you would like to know more then please contact us.
Many business`s are now returning back to work following the Governments easing of the Covid 19 lock down. Is your business premise "fire safe" to return? Fire & Rescue Services are urging business that are returning to work following the Covid 19 lock down period to review their individual fire risk assessments as soon as possible. You may have been away from your workplace for a considerable period of time, you may have missed vital servicing of your fire alarm system, emergency lighting system or fire extinguishers. If the premise has not been visited for some time has the fire alarm had its weekly test carried out? if not, what confidence do you have that they will work as they should? Please follow the advice of the Fire & Rescue Service and review your fire risk assessment to help keep you and you employees safe from fire.
There have been hundreds of prosecutions since the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (FSO) first came into effect in October 2006. Many of these prosecutions have not been brought about just because a fire had occurred either. In some cases it is because there had not been a "suitable and sufficient" fire risk assessment carried out. One prominent fire safety solicitor who has reviewed his cases has concluded that of these cases the average fine since the Grenfell tragedy was £27,519.00. The FSO is currently under review by the Government and fire industry experts and when amended it is expected to provide more detailed information, in particular to blocks of flats and the type of cladding that they may have on them, along with the suitability of the flat entrance door where it leads directly onto the means of escape. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have introduced a form which looks particularly at the external wall of a residential building over 18 metres or where there is specific concern for valuation purposes. This form is called an External Wall Fire Risk Assessment (EWS1). To obtain a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, it must be conducted by a competent fire risk assessor to give you any chance of achieving building fire safety compliance with the FSO.