A commonly asked query by hotelkeepers, building owners and those liable for dealing with fire safety is– can I do my own fire risk analysis?
In this blog post, we’re going to explain why it is possible– but may not necessarily be the proper conclusion to make. Who are we? Fire Risk Assessment
The short answer is ‘Certainly – you can conduct your own fire risk assessment’, there is virtually nothing stopping you from Googling an online design template for a fire risk analysis and filling out the fields to define your structure, what you do, and any risks you can identify from the limited expertise you have. If in doubt get in touch Pyro Fire
You could possibly even do your own research, perhaps even attend a fire safety program. This may have been satisfactory prior to 2005, as the fire service used to visit your property and carry out an audit to deliver you with a fire certificate. However, since then, the criteria and law for fire safety became much more strict and things changed dramatically.
The law for fire safety – The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which was actually introduced in 2006– was created to change fire safety in England & Wales, to introduce the need for a suitable and adequate fire risk analysis to be carried out for all non-domestic premises.
The words ‘suitable and sufficient’ when used in law, were certainly brought under scrutiny, but the meaning has since been made very obvious:
A suitable and sufficient fire risk analysis can only be carried out by a competent individual.
‘Competent’ can be defined as someone with sufficient training, qualifications, experience and attitude. A competent person needs to have obtained specific training in relation to fire risk evaluations, they must have some form of certification to back that up, experience in assessing your type of building, and the proper approach to ensure they’re able to communicate the results effectively. All of the above can be achieved for your fire risk evaluation by using external inspectors.
Find out More about our Fire risk assessments Pyro Fire