Business owners in Northern Ireland are being urged to be aware of their obligations which have come into force under new fire safety legislation.

Adrienne McGill News Letter reports

 

Running a business carries a wide range of responsibilities - but one of the most important relates to ensuring that your buildings and premises all comply to health and safety legislation with regular fire risk assessments.

Part 3 of the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 and the Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 came into effect on 15 November and simplified existing fire safety legislation in non-domestic premises. Fire safety legislation introduced in Great Britain in 2006 produced a single unified legislative regime and created a need for people with competence to carry out suitable and sufficient fire risk assessments. One of the companies in Northern Ireland which carries out in-depth fire safety surveys of commercial premises is Planet Environmental Design, which is based in Belfast. An assessor from Planet Environmental Design will inspect measures a company has in place including fire protection, fire escapes, emergency procedures, and exits for staff with disabilities, training for staff to deal with an emergency, evacuation drill, fire alarm systems, extinguisher systems and emergency lighting. Every aspect of fire safety in a building is covered. The company will then be presented with a report detailing what needs to be addressed in order to comply with the new legislation. Planet Environmental Design director Tony Brown says it is vitally important for companies to have an assessment in place.

“In recent months our assessors have found after visiting a number of local companies that most felt they were aware of their legislative requirements and had an adequate and suitable fire risk assessment in place. In reality however, after inspection, most would not have met the required level under the new Fire and Rescue Services Order. All our clients were well intentioned but were left vulnerable with limited or incomplete records. After a quick review of the documents in place, Planet was able to make small recommendations and thus bring our clients in line with the legislation”.

This vulnerability can be seen in the increase in prosecutions (in GB) for contraventions of fire safety legislation. There is the potential, in any such case, for the authorities to allege a failure to review or carry out a fire risk assessment on the basis that, had there been a current and adequate fire risk assessment, the contraventions would not have occurred.

“The legislation brings Northern Ireland up to the same legal position, from a fire safety point of view, as the rest of the UK, says Mr Brown. “It applies to all non-domestic premises and effects every single business in Northern Ireland. Under duty of care and under corporate responsibility, businesses have to have a fire risk assessment done. It is a legal requirement - if you did not have it in place and something happens, then your commercial insurance policy might be jeopardised.’’

The legislation will mean significant changes to the ways in which employers and people in control of premises are required to manage fire safety. Responsibility for fire safety in the workplace now clearly rests with the employer and those with any degree of control of premises. They must take reasonable steps to reduce the risk from fire; and ensure people are able to escape safely if there is a fire. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service will be the enforcing authority in respect of the majority of premises and will visit premises to ensure compliance with fire safety legislation. Colin Todd, Chair of Fire Risk Assessment Council of the Fire industry Association (FIA) writing in the Fire Safety Professional Journal said:

“The failure to carry out an adequate fire risk assessment brings about considerable risk of enforcement action. Given the criticality of fire risk assessments to the safety of people, rigorous enforcement is appropriate. It would now seem that there is great vulnerability of many organisations to enforcement and prosecution as a result of failure to ensure the existence of a  current and adequate fire risk assessment”.

The seriousness with which the courts (in GB) treat this failure is exemplified in the sentences now imposed. in one example, oil giant Shell was fined £300,000 for breaches of the Fire Safety Order (FSO) after an investigation into two small fires at its London headquarters revealed “extensive breaches” and last year High Street fashion chain New Look was fined a record £400,000 for fire safety breaches after a blaze broke out at a central London branch, Tony Brown warns that with such high level fines being imposed on companies, it makes commercial sense to have an assessment done and comply with the legislation. “Employers have a responsibility to their staff and customers to adhere to the legislation.’’ he adds.

Guidance and advice on this issue can be obtained from Planet Environmental Design on 02890-322045 or e-mail info@planetenvironmentaldesign.com.