Responsible Person's Duties

A Responsible Person can be anybody who has control of premises or anyone who has a degree of control over certain areas or systems. Examples include:

• the employer,
• the managing agent or owner for shared parts of premises or shared fire safety equipment (such as fire-warning systems, sprinklers etc),
• the occupier, such as self-employed people or voluntary organisations if they have any control, or
• any other person who has some control over a part of the premises.

In most cases the responsible person will be obvious, but there can also be instances when a number of people have some responsibility. The Responsible Person’s duties include ensuring that the provisions of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 are complied with.

The Responsible Person must, so far as is reasonably practical, ensure that everyone on the premises, or nearby, can escape from the premises safely if there is a fire. This goes further than previous legislation as the Order creates a duty to consider everyone who might be on your premises, whether they are employees, visitors or members of the public. Consideration must be given to people who may have a disability or anyone who may need special help. As the Responsible Person, you must manage any fire-risk in your premises.

The Responsible Person must also ensure that a suitable Fire Safety Risk Assessment is carried out; however this does not have to be done by yourself, it can be carried out by a competent person or organisation, such as LRB Consulting.

A number of Fire Safety guides are available online for free, you can find them on the Communities and Local Government website.

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