INTRODUCTION

This guidance gives advice on how to avoid fires in the workplace and how to ensure people's safety if a fire does start. Why should you read it? Because:

Fire kills. In 1997, UK fire brigades attended over 36 000 fires in workplaces.
These fires killed 30 people and injured over 2600.

Fire costs money. The costs of a serious fire can be high and afterwards many businesses do not reopen. You can get advice about minimising fire losses from your insurer, or the Fire Protection Association (see Further information section).

This guidance explains the basic requirements of and can help you comply with:

the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 (as amended) (in Northern Ireland the Fire Precautions (Workplace) (Northern Ireland) Regulations*) - these are referred to as the Fire Regulations in the rest of this guide; and

the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended).

The advice in this guide is applicable to most workplaces. However, not all the precautions will be relevant in all circumstances, nor is the guidance intended to be sufficiently comprehensive to cover those workplaces where very large quantities of flammable or explosive materials are handled. Guidance on these is listed in the References section. If you need any further information, contact your relevant enforcing authority.

* The Northern Ireland Regulations are due to be made in 1999.

The term 'fire precautions' includes matters which are the subject of legal requirements under specific fire precautions legislation. These include the Fire Regulations and the Fire Precautions Act 1971 (in Northern Ireland the Fire Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1984 (as amended)) and, more generally, under health and safety legislation including the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and regulations made under that Act.

The Fire Regulations and the Fire Precautions Act 1971 (and Northern Ireland equivalents) are the responsibility of the Home Departments and are enforced by the fire authorities. However, for Crown-occupied and Crown-owned premises, enforcement is carried out by the Fire Service Inspectorates of the Home Departments (in Northern Ireland by the Department of Economic Development).

Fire precautions legislation deals with general fire precautions. These include:

means of detection and giving warning in case of fire;

the provision of means of escape;

means of fighting fire; and

the training of staff in fire safety.

The Fire Regulations also include a requirement to undertake an assessment of the fire risks. (In this guide, the term 'fire risk' collectively describes both the risk of fire occurring and the risk to people in the event of fire.)

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and regulations made under it cover the provision of process fire precautions which are intended to prevent the outbreak of a fire or minimise the consequences should one occur. Matters falling within the scope of the Act include the storage of flammable materials, the control of flammable vapours, standards of housekeeping, safe systems of work, the control of sources of ignition and the provision of appropriate training. These precautions are enforced by inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or the local authority.

Between them, the Fire Regulations and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended) require you to:

carry out a fire risk assessment of your workplace (you must consider all your employees and all other people who may be affected by a fire in the workplace and you are required to make adequate provision for any disabled people with special needs who use or may be present at your premises);

identify the significant findings of the risk assessment and the details of anyone who might be especially at risk in case of fire (these must be recorded if you employ more than five people);

provide and maintain such fire precautions as are necessary to safeguard those who use your workplace; and

provide information, instruction and training to your employees about the fire precautions in your workplace.

The risk assessment will help you decide the nature and extent of the general and process fire precautions which you need to provide.

There are six other legal duties you need to know:

Where it is necessary to safeguard the safety of your employees, you must nominate people to undertake any special roles which are required under your emergency plan (you can nominate yourself for this purpose).

You must consult your employees (or their elected representatives or appointed trade union safety representatives) about the nomination of people to carry out particular roles in connection with fire safety and about proposals for improving the fire precautions.

You must inform other employers who also have workplaces in the building of any significant risks you found which might affect the safety of their employees - and co-operate with them about the measures proposed to reduce/control those risks.

If you are not an employer but have any control of premises which contain more than one workplace, you are also responsible for ensuring that the requirements of the Fire Regulations are complied with in those parts you have control over.

You must establish a suitable means of contacting the emergency services, and ensure that they can be called easily.

The law requires your employees to co-operate with you to ensure the workplace is safe from fire and its effects, and not to do anything which will place themselves or other people at risk. In some workplaces you may need to apply for a fire certificate, a licence, or other form of approval before using the workplace. You can find more information about the legislation which might apply to your workplace in Annex A, and enforcement arrangements for the Fire Regulations in Annex B.

Part 1 - Risk Assessment