How to get the skills you need to carry out a fire risk assessment
It is mandatory in this country for every business which has employees to carry out a fire risk assessment. This is a huge step in preventing fire and protecting your employees, and no other fire safety measures can be taken until this is done.
The fire risk assessment is usually undertaken by a person who has been named the ‘responsible person’ for fire safety within the business. In other cases, an external fire safety consultant is called in to carry out the assessment. Whoever is in charge of this very important task needs to have the right fire safety training under their belt, as there are many requirements to be met and many actions to be taken.
There are five main parts to a fire risk assessment. These are:
- Â Identifying hazards (i.e. flammable materials and ignition sources etc.)
- Identifying who is most at risk (i.e. disabled or elderly people, visitors and children)
- Evaluating and removing risk wherever possible
- Recording findings and implementing fire safety training for other members of staff
- Reviewing the fire risk assessment regularly
It is crucial that you go on a fire safety training course, particularly one which focuses on the fire risk assessment in particular, before you attempt to conduct the assessment yourself.