Fire Risk Assessments

I have a domestic cleaning business. I am writing my H&S policy and am unsure on the fire safety for staff due to working in homes? Please could you advise?

Could you please advise me on what fire equipment I must have in a cafe kitchen and also what regulations and laws there are that I need to be aware of on my cafe premises in the way of fire exits, signage and equipment etc. many thanks hope to hear from you soon. Joe

As the owner of a medium sized site with various individual traders occupying units of various size and incorporating retail outlets and industrial outlets/stores etc is the owner responsible for providing an overall site FRA especially for public access areas or is it down to individual traders to provide their own, or both? Thanks

Hi I recently moved jobs to a counselling agency. We have 4 members of staff, volunteer counsellors and clients who come in daily. We are a very low risk organisation. I did fire fighting equipment training about 5 years ago so my questions are: With 4 employees how many fire wardens should there be by law? As long as I felt competent using equipment would I still need to be retrained? Many thanks

We are due a brigade visit in a few weeks to a small warehouse. We only use it occasionally probably on average 1/2 hours per day Mon - Fri. Could you advise if possible where in the regulations a bldg. such as this fits. We have marked fire exits and have annually maintained fire extinguishers but after that not a lot. I would welcome any comments. Kind regards, Paul.

I am wondering if our landlord is responsible for providing a fire risk assessment. There was no such thing in place when we moved into our office. The problem is we need certification to become accredited. We are a small company 3 employees and are not sure whether we should be paying or our landlord should be. I would be grateful for your help.

Hello, I am a resident in a two story purpose built set of flats. The ground floor comprise commercial units which have separate entrances and the first floor comprise thirteen flats with three communal entrances. The two main entrances are security gates which can be opened with a key or opened by pressing an electronic timer button. Can you tell me what the legal requirements are with regards to getting out of the gate in event of a fire? I don't think there has been a recent fire assessment and I don't think there is any way of opening the gate without a key in the event of a fire and the electricity goes down. Thank you, Sam.

Hi I am the landlord of a two story, two, 2 bed flats Flats are owner occupied on long leases with freeholder in occupancy. From what I have read we are therefore non hmo, as more than 2/3rds owner occupied There is a 10 year battery smoke alarm in the lobby that feeds both flats, the lobby is approx 2m by 2m. There is then another ten year smoke alarm interlinked in the upstairs flat. The construction is pre 1991. Do i need fire risk assesment? Can i do one myself? Thanks for any help

I'm looking to improve fire safety training across our school sites and look to involve more staff in the use of fire extinguishers and become fire wardens, as the training is quite costly I'm looking into ways of training quite a few more people than normal but keeping the cost down. I believe if I can show the powers that be, we could train more for the same, or a little more they may be on board with the idea. I'm working on the theory that the more people I can involve, the more interest I can generate in fire safety as a whole. I can get a qualified health and safety professional to go through the academic/classroom side of the training, but wondered what tra…

A landlord of a block of flats is required to make and to keep updated a fire risk assessment in respect of communal stair cases, the only means of escape for 1st & 2nd floor residents. If the staircase has its treads and landings covered with a synthetic material that, on heating, decomposes giving toxic fumes. Should such a latent hazard be recorded in the fire risk assessment ?

Our local Council management are enforcing sterile conditions in our high rise block. As part of this is the changing of small doormats usually offcuts of normal carpet within the flat. In place the Council insist on rubber backed mats. I would suggest that rubber backed mats, in the case of fire, would give off toxic fumes, possibly worse than the normal household pieces of carpet. Could a professional Fire Officer give his/her opinion on this. Or is it too trivial to be considered as a risk. Yours Sincerely Colin Middleton

Hi, FIrstly, your website is very informative and helpful. I am interested in providing fire safety consultancy for the hotel industry but would like some clarification on who currently regulates the industry and how hotels currently inpliment their fire safety measures. Do they conduct the fire safey checks themselves or is it the local council or fire authority that does it.

Hi, my partner and I have lived in a first floor apartment happily for over two years now, but our circumstances have changed and my partner is now registered disabled. There is no lift in the building and so she is forced to use the stairs. Though she has the use of both of her legs, she suffers from serious mobility problems and her condition is chronic. This seems, to us, to present a serious fire risk. In that, should the need arise, she will be unable to escape. What are our landlords obligations? I understand that he should make reasonable adaptations to the property, but what if these changes can't be made? I can't seem to think of a soloution, would he be forced t…

Hi I run a woodland with sawmill, a few tractors and 5 employees. We have a Diesel storage. I was asked to carry out a fire risk assessment. do I just use a standard fire risk assessment form or is there special regulation for forestry? Thanks Ben

I live in a converted barn in a group of 6 with a limited amount of shared land (driveway and gardens) and equipment (sewage treatment plant, boundary fencing, cattle grid, driveway lighting). We have formed a private limited company as the legal mechanism to manage our affairs which essentially are the upkeep of the above mentioned. We have no employees (but we do of course use people to maintain our sewage treatment plant and do minor maintenance tasks as necessary) and conduct no business. We consider our fire risk as very low but are concerned to know if we should be complying with any legislation (training, fire equipment, risk analysis etc.) . Can you please give us…

For new or altered buildings and are only lines on paper you have to design a fire safety strategy and the guidance used is one of three guides. If you prefer a prescriptive approach then use Approved Document B (fire safety) and is the one Building Control Officers appear to favour. In complicated buildings you may consider a fire engineering approach using BS 7974 (series) Application of fire safety engineering principles to the design of buildings. Finally you could use BS 9999:2008 Code of practice for fire safety in the design, management and use of buildings which is a hybrid, using a prescriptive approach based on fire engineering principles. You should …

I am looking into the Occupancy Levels for Swimming Pools, and how normally Able Bodied Persons can then become a higher risk as they may not be able to swim very fast to get out of the pool and to an exit in the event of a fire. Examples of typical floor space factors in reference documents don’t seem to reference Swimming Pools Any Additional literature or pointers on this subject would be welcome.

A couple of documents you may find interesting. A Guide to Choosing a Competent Fire Risk Assessor http://www.fia.uk.com/en/info/document_summary.cfm/docid/E6479C4F-E267-4DD4-8B55A6930C685F13 Competency Criteria for Fire Risk Assessors http://www.fia.uk.com/en/Information/Details/index.cfm/FRA%20Competency%20Criteria

Next month my son & wife will be opening Saltmarshe Hall for Weddings & Corporate Events. Please could any of your staff advise me of the required Fire Safety procedure in Saltmarshe Hall. Many thanks. Mary

I have a small block of four studio flats over two stories. I want to know the minimum fire safety requirements I can install as the residents do not have a large budget.

Hi I am looking at opening a small children's home, less that 6 residents that receive care so would remain under a C3 classification under a cert of lawfulness as opposed to a C2 Residential institution. We will also be provided an "in house" educational provision for the residents whom will have physical and/or learning disabilities. I am aware of the fire risk assessments but wondered what other specifics I may or may not need. It is my understanding previously as a small children's home less that 3 residents it does not require full regs as if it was a large children's home, 3 pr more residents. Regards Scott

having a bonfire, and somebody gave me a sofa to burn.. its cotton i think (could be polyester) and i want to know if it will be safe to burn it like does it give off harmfull fumes, is it illegal?

We are currently buying a leashold 2 bed ground floor flat in a house that has 2 flats and no communal areas. The surveyor has said we need a fire inspection but the mortgage provider says we dont. The freeholder is a housing association and we are not sure but the flat upstairs may be rented. Please can you clarify what inspections are required and who has the responsibility of doing these and any work that needs doing? How much to fire inspections cost? Many thanks for your advice, Chloe

As a Fire Risk Assessor seeking to join a recognition body, IFE, Warrington, IFSM etc, (and be on the “List”) Which one is “best”? Which one is better recognised? Which one most cost effective? Pros and Cons?

I am trying to obtain the RR(fs)O 2005 documentation which was updated in 2010. Can you please help?