The government is
bringing 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 replaces many of the
references to fire safety in other legislation such as the 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.
In such premises achieving fire safety is often a matter of common
sense but you will have to ensure that sufficient time is put aside
to work through the necessary steps. In more complicated premises
or those with a high life risk more expert help may be
required.
To help you ensure your premises comply with the new legislation,
an online self-assessment form is available. This consists of a
series of fire-safety related questions which should take no more
than ten minutes to complete. At the end of the process, you will
have the option to view your results and any suggestions for
improvement that may be applicable by means of an online form which
you can print or save for future reference (opens in a new browser
window). The results of this online form are displayed as a pdf
document and will require Adobe Reader. This can be downloaded from
the link given below.
* This form requires Adobe Reader to display the results
please click to
download.
To
complete the online compliance self-assessment form, click
here.
The Order applies to virtually all premises and covers nearly
every type of building, structure and open space.
For example:
• Offices and shops
• Premises that provide care
• Community halls
• The common areas of houses in multiple occupation including
common fire warning systems etc.
• Pubs, clubs and restaurants
• Schools
• Tents and marquees
• Hotels and hostels
• Factories and warehouses
But excluding:
• Purely domestic premises occupied by a single family
group
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
The provides additional information and has produced a
series of guides in order to assist those preparing fire risk
assessments; these will give detailed information on risk
assessments and other issues.
The following is a list of the eleven planned RRO guides:
- Offices and Shops
- Premises providing Sleeping Accommodation
- Residential Care
- Small and Medium Places of Assembly
- Large Places of Assembly
- Factories and Warehouses
- Theatres and Cinemas
- Educational Premises
- Healthcare Premises (responsibility of the Department of
Health)
- Transport Premises and Facilities
- Open Air Events
A small entry-level guide is also being produced. All of the
guidance documents will be available to download free of charge
from this site, as well as via the website which also
contains guidance on current fire safety
legislation.