Fire Safety under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

• Assist the responsible person with their fire safety duties
• Carry out a fire safety risk assessment of your premises
• Create a fire safety improvement plan
• Help to create emergency procedures
• Provide suitable documentation for fire safety records

Our fire safety specialist has over 25 years experience with Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service both as an operational fire fighter and as a fire safety officer.  During his fire safety service career he attended numerous fires and incidents and he received the Chief Fire Officer special recognition on two separate occasions.  He has considerable experience in most aspects of fire safety including licensed and certified premises, schools and colleges, hotels, residential care and other sleeping risk premises, as well as multi and single occupancy factories, shops etc.  John is a graduate member of the Institute of Fire Engineers, member of the Fire Protection Association and has attended various courses at the Fire Service College, Morton-in-the-Marsh.

Fire Safety - the New Law

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 came into effect in October 2006 and effectively replaced previous fire safety legislation.  The Order applies to all non-domestic premises in England and Wales, including the common parts of blocks of flats or houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). 

The law applies to anyone who is:

1. responsible for business premises
   1. offices and shops
   2. factories and warehouses
   3. premises that provide care
   4. community halls
   5. common areas of houses in multiple occupation
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   6. pubs, clubs and restaurants
   7. schools
   8. hotels and hostels
   9. Etc
2. an employer or self-employed with business premises
3. responsible for a part of a dwelling where that part is solely used for business purposes
4. part of a charity or voluntary organisation
5. a contractor with a degree of control over any premises

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Responsible Person

If the Fire Service visits your premises, they will want to know who the Responsible Person is for the premises and will want to speak to that person.  It is, therefore, essential that you have considered this point and have identified the Responsible Person and that that person is aware of their role and their responsibilities.

In simple terms: The Responsible Person is anyone who has control of premises or anyone who has a degree of control over certain areas or systems.  Examples include:

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

In many cases the responsible person will be obvious, but there will also be instances when a number of people have some responsibility.  In many industrial settings, the Responsible Person will be the employer.  In the case of multiple occupancy premises, each employer will be a Responsible Person and there may be an additional Responsible Person for the common or communal areas of the premises (such as the Owner of the site or the Managing Agent for the site).

If you are the responsible person in charge of fire safety in a small and medium-sized business click here for some simple and practical advice.

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Duties of the Responsible Person

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the duties of the Responsible Person include ensuring that the provisions of the Order are complied with.  While this creates duties and responsibilities, these can be simplified and distilled down to a few major points that act as a good starting point.  As the Responsible Person, you must make sure that you carry out a Fire Safety Risk Assessment (FSRA).  This does not mean that you must do the assessment - you can pass the assessment task to some other Competent Person.  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.

Principles to Consider when doing a Fire Safety Risk Assessment.

Fire risk assessments are generally split into five operations:

1. Identify fire hazards
2. Identify people at risk
3. Evaluate, remove or reduce, and protect from risk
4. Record, plan, inform, instruct, and train
5. Review the fire risk assessment regularly

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Click here for further information on Fire Safety Risk Assessment (FSRA)

Click here to download a short guide to fire safety

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