Fire Safety and the Law
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 came into effect in October 2006 and consolidated all fire safety legislation for non-domestic premises into a single Order. One of the benefits of this change is that it reduces the number of enforcers that businesses, or others with responsibility for non-domestic premises, have to deal with.
Under the Order, those with the responsibility for non-domestic premises (usually the owner, employer or occupier) are required to actively pursue and maintain fire safety and take responsibility for staff and others visiting their premises.
To help you ensure your premises comply with the new legislation, the Communities and Local Government website contains information on how to comply with the requirements of the Order.
A guide to conducting a Fire Risk Assessment for a Catering Extract System.
Produced by BSRIA on behalf of the Association of British Insurers.
To summarise the main requirements of the order, the responsible person is required to:
- Carry out a fire risk assessment identifying the risks and hazards.
- Consider who may be especially at risk.
- Eliminate or reduce the risk from fire as far as is reasonably practical and provide general fire precautions to deal with any residual risk.
- Take additional measures to ensure fire safety where flammable or explosive materials are used or stored.
- Create a plan to deal with any emergency and, in most cases, document your findings.
- Review the findings as necessary.
See also; the Fire Gateway site.