Do you meet the new Fire Regulations?
Over the last seven years there has been a move away from Fire Authorities inspecting business premises.
This has been as a result of two main reasons:
a) A lack of available manpower; and
b) The advent of the Workplace Regulations which puts the onus of fire safety very much on the owner or the occupier.If you currently have a Fire Certificate issued under the FPA71 and are, a premises which employs more than 10 persons above or below the ground floor or a premises which employs more than 20 persons in the building, or a hotel with sleeping accommodation for over 6 persons, from the first of October 2006, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 will make Fire Certificates disappear.
In certain occasions, you will still have to make available your existing Fire Certificate for inspection by your local Fire and Rescue Service in conjunction with your FRA report.
In its place, you will be required to have carried out a FRA (in theory you should already have one). All premises, which employ 5 or more persons, will be required to have a valid and current FRA. Premises employing less than 5 persons will need to carry out a FRA, which need not to be written down, but all employees need to be aware of this.
You are required by legislation to keep your FRA report to hand in a safe and secure location for future reference and guidance where necessary.You do not have to collect the FRA report when you have an actual fire in your premises as it acts only as management tool for you to use to control the fire risks within your premises.
It is likely that Fire Authorities will pick selective premises for inspection and react in a similar way to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The HSE currently carry out spot checks and investigate premises that are believed to have contravened health and safety legislation.
Senior Fire Prevention Officers (FPO’s) from your local Fire and Rescue Service are to be given more authority to gain entry to premises and remove samples after a fire.
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