What Is a Fire Risk Assessment and Why Is It Legally Required?
What is a Fire Risk Assessment?
A careful look at your premises and the people who use them, from a fire prevention perspective. It’s about understanding
the potential risks, then improving your fire safety precautions to keep people safe.
Why Do It?
A Fire Risk Assessment is a legal requirement. If you are responsible for a building—for example, an employer, owner,
or occupier of premises that aren't a 'single private dwelling' (a private home)—you must ensure that a suitably competent
person completes a Fire Risk Assessment.
It is your duty to identify fire risks and hazards in your premises and take appropriate action. You must also keep a record
of your findings, and review your risk assessment regularly, especially after any significant changes that might impact it.
Beyond being a legal obligation, it's simply good business sense—many businesses never recover after a major fire.
Effective fire prevention starts with properly understanding your risks.
Did You Know?
If there's a fire and you haven't met your legal duties to keep people safe, you could be fined—or even face imprisonment.
Learn about your legal obligations here.
How to Do a Fire Risk Assessment
Broadly speaking, assessments are conducted in five key steps:
- Identify the fire hazards.
- Identify people at risk.
- Evaluate, remove or reduce the risks.
- Record your findings, prepare an emergency plan, and provide training.
- Review and update the fire risk assessment regularly.
Who Should Do My Fire Risk Assessment?
Large or Complex Businesses
If your business is large or complex, we recommend hiring a qualified fire safety professional. While we enforce fire safety
standards, we do not provide assessment services ourselves. You’ll need to find a suitably competent person—guidance on doing
this is available at the end of this page.
SMEs or Smaller Organisations
If your organisation is relatively small and the risks are straightforward, you may be able to conduct the assessment yourself.
You can find helpful resources on the Gov.uk website
Heritage Buildings
If you're responsible for a museum, gallery, or historic site, we strongly recommend using a Competent Person with experience
in fire safety for heritage buildings. These sites come with unique risks and preservation challenges.
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