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Fire Risk Assessments are a legal requirement for workplaces. We can’t complete a fire risk assessment for you, but we can provide advice and guidance.
You’re responsible for fire safety in business or other non-domestic premises if you’re:
You’re known as the ‘responsible person’. If there’s more than one responsible person, you must work together to meet your responsibilities.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) also applies if you have paying guests, eg if you run a bed and breakfast or guesthouse, or let a self-catering property.
This government fire safety risk assessment chart gives more detailed information about these steps.
In addition to doing an initial fire risk assessment, it's important that if there are any changes to your premises that may impact your business, property or staff, a further assessment is done to take into account changes in risk.
You’ll need to consider:
Specialist guides are available for different types of premises – jump to Fire Safety and Risk Assessment Guides see them.
You must have a fire detection and warning system. You may need different types of detectors, depending on the type of building and the work carried out in it.
The types of equipment you need depend on your business premises. You’ll need to have any equipment properly installed, tested and maintained and train your staff to use it if necessary.
You must carry out regular checks to make sure that:
You need to train new staff when they start work and tell all employees about any new fire risks.
You should carry out at least one fire drill per year and record the results. You must keep the results as part of your fire safety and evacuation plan.
Your plan must show how you have:
You should also make special arrangements for people with mobility needs, eg make sure there are people to help wheelchair users get downstairs if there’s a fire.
We visit premises to check the fire risk assessment and fire prevention measures are appropriate. Our fire safety officers will help you understand and comply with the rules.
We can also take action if we think your fire safety measures aren’t adequate. For example, we might issue an informal notice suggesting safety measures.
We could also give you a formal fire safety notice and tell you how to fix the problems described in the notice.
You could get an alterations notice if your premises have high safety risks, or will have if the use of the premises changes.
You could get an enforcement notice if we find a serious risk that’s not being managed. It will say what improvements are needed and by when.
These take effect immediately and are issued if we think the fire risk is so great that access to your premises needs to be prohibited or restricted.
You may be able to arrange an informal review by us if you disagree with the decision to issue a fire safety notice. You can also appeal to your local magistrates’ court within 21 days of receiving a notice.
In certain circumstances, you and West Midlands Fire Service can ask for a ‘determination’ from the Communities Secretary to resolve a dispute.
There are a range of guides for assisting with fire safety risk assessments and requirements in a variety of businesses premises types. You can find the different guides linked here.