As a business owner or landlord, Fire safety in the workplace might be keeping you up at night.
With regulations and legislation constantly being changed and updated, fire safety can feel like a battle for a business owner- but it doesn’t have to!
Here are 3 things to do, to ensure you adhere to current Fire safety regulations:
- Testing and maintenance of; Fire alarm, Emergency lights, Extinguishers, Fixed wire testing.
- Annual reviews and three yearly full reviews of your fire risk assessment.
- Up to date staff Fire training.
Testing and Maintenance of Fire prevention/safety equipment:
- Fire alarms: Fire alarms should be tested every 6 months, certification should be provided by your fire safety company. This certification should be stored in a fire safety folder. The fire alarm system should be tested weekly internally, by testing call points and logging results in your logbook. We like to test ours on a Tuesday, because Test It Tuesday sounds good!
- Emergency Lights: These lights help guide the way to fire exits when visibility is poor or if it is dark- so they are really important for any workplace! These lights should be tested annually. Certification should be provided by your fire safety company.
- Extinguishers: Extinguishers are used to help you ESCAPE from a building and NOT to be used for members of staff to tackle the blaze. Extinguishers should be serviced by an extinguisher engineer annually. Extinguisher have a life span, this is something that we will be discussing in next weeks blog!
Fire Risk Assessments:
- Full fire risk assessments: A full fire risk assessment should be carried out if a fire risk assessment has never been completed on the business before. It is now recommended that a full fire risk assessment is completed every three years.
- Fire risk assessment reviews: It is recommended that a fire risk assessment review is carried out annually. However, if significant changes happen to the building, or if the person assessing the property believes that there are high risk items found, then a review will be scheduled prior to 12 months.
Fire Training:
- It is really important that your members of staff are aware of your business’s fire safety and evacuation procedures. It is advised that all staff undergo an induction for this information to be relayed to them. We advise that all staff undergo some form of certificated fire safety training once a year. We believe that staff are more likely to feel confident the better trained they are and yearly training will cover any new starters staff that have not been available for any previous training. Courses can include, but are not limited to; Fire Marshal with extinguisher training, Fire awareness training and Fire extinguisher theory and practical training. Fire evacuation drills should be practiced at least once a year, with details of this drill recorded in your fire safety folder.
For more information on fire safety in the work place please click the following link.
Find out more about your responsibilities as a business owner or landlord here.
