We spend most of our lives at work and although the genre of our jobs may vary widely, the common themes for any workplace are health and safety.
Whether you manage a traditional office, a school, hospital, warehouse, museum, pub or garden centre – spring cleaning your fire safety procedures should be paramount.
Why is it so important?
All companies who employ more than five people are legally obliged to have a Fire Risk Assessment.
If you don’t have a Fire Risk Assessment, you are basically risking the lives of your employees as well as the safety of your workplace and all that it contains.
It also makes good business sense to have a robust and up to date Fire Risk Assessment – the Association of British Insurers reported that 60 per cent of private businesses never recover from a fire. In the long run it will save you money.
Taking fire safety seriously and acting on its findings gives your staff the confidence that they are working somewhere safe and their employer has their best interests at heart.
What are the most common causes of fire in the workplace?
According to the London Fire Brigade, the most common causes of fire in work environments are:
- Discarded cigarettes
- Fire doors being wedged open
- Electrical faults
- Not planning appropriate escape routes
At Synergy Fire Engineering, we will work with you to complete a comprehensive Fire Risk Assessment, which includes:
- Creating a comprehensive and bespoke emergency plan
- Testing your fire doors
- Testing your electrical system and educating employees about the risks and causes of electrical fires
- Advising how to install a reliable fire detection system
- Advising how to recruit and train Fire Wardens
- Advising how to implement fire safety training
- Showing the importance of implementing a robust smoking policy
The Fire Safety Order requires Fire Risk Assessments to be updated, particularly if there’s any reason to suspect it’s no longer valid.
Most of our clients choose to review their fire safety procedures annually, which we recommend. So dust off your fire risk assessment this spring and make sure it has a clean bill of health!
If you are still unsure about whether your fire risk assessment is up to scratch, contact Matt at Synergy Fire Engineering on (0)843 658 1310 or email [email protected].
Matt Spivey is Managing Director of Synergy Fire Engineering, BAFE SP205 accredited Fire Risk Assessors. A member of the Institution of Fire Engineers, Matt is highly qualified and holds a BEng (Hons) in Fire Engineering. For more information about our fire safety training call Synergy Fire Engineering on 01629 828 881 or email [email protected].
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