Jump
to On-line questionnaire >
As most hoteliers and business people are
aware Fire Safety legislation changed on October 1st of this year. The
Fire Precautions Act and the Work Place Regulations as amended have both
been repealed. They have been replaced by the Fire Safety Regulatory Reform
Order 2005. This in effect means the Fire Service no longer issue fire
certificates and existing certificates are no longer valid. The other
main 
difference as far as we are concerned is, the Fire Service cannot give
the full advice and guidance that was available before.
As I understand it the Fire Service can no longer give
this advice because the legislation is now risk based and not prescriptive
and they are the people who will look at the significant findings of the
risk assessment and either concur with it or disagree. So they are unable
to undertake the risk assessment and then inspect there own work, for obvious
reasons.
The onus is now on employers to undertake a fire risk assessment
of their business premises. We can either do this ourselves, or we can engage
specialist advisers to risk assess on our behalf. The information that guides
us through the risk assessment process is available to be downloaded free
of charge from the Department for Communities and Local Government website,
(DCLG) or they can be purchased from her majesty’s stationary office.
The alternative to this is, that many of us will engage
a fire risk assessor/consultant.
No doubt there are numerous companies and individuals in North Wales and
beyond ready to exploit the new market in assessing the fire risk to hotels
and businesses, (Llandudno in particular has a high number of hotels). But
rather than general Health & Safety consultants it may be advisable
to employ a fire risk assessor that has primary experience in the field
of Fire Safety or you could end up being under or over provided for your
requirements. I would also check that the assessor has full Professional
Indemnity and Public Liability Insurance.
Please click here for an On-line questionnaire
to check if you need a Fire Risk Assessment for your business.
|
