Flammable rubbish and waste should not be stored, even as a temporary measure, in escape routes such as corridors, stairways or lobbies, or where it can come into contact with potential sources of heat. Accumulations of flammable rubbish and waste in the workplace should be avoided, removed at least daily and suitably stored away from the building.

Do not allow flammable waste, unused materials, and redundant packaging, such as cardboard, wooden or plastic containers and wooden pallets, to build up at the workplace; these must be safely stored until they are removed from your premises. Where a skip is provided for the collection of debris or rubbish, it should be positioned so that a fire in it will not put the workplace, or any other structure, at risk.

Parts of the workplace which are not normally occupied, such as basements, store rooms and any area where a fire could grow unnoticed, should be regularly inspected and cleared of non-essential flammable materials and substances. You should also protect such areas against entry by unauthorised people.

If the workplace has waste or derelict land on or bordering it, you should keep any undergrowth under control (using a non-flammable weedkiller if necessary) so that a fire cannot spread through dry grass, for example. If you do have to burn bonfires in yards or other open areas, they should be carefully controlled and in positions where they will not pose a threat to the workplace. You should make sure that any bonfire is completely out before closing the workplace for the day.

Deliberately started fires pose very significant risks to all types of workplace. A study conducted by the Home Office (Safer communities: towards effective arson control) has suggested that the cost of arson to society as a whole has now reached over £1.3 billion a year. The same study suggests that, in an average week, arson results in:

3500 deliberately started fires;

50 injuries;

two deaths; and

a cost to society of at least £25 million.

The possibility of arson should be considered as a component of your risk assessment and it is one that you can do much to control. The majority of deliberately started fires occur in areas with a known history of vandalism or fire-setting. Typically, local youths light the fires outside the premises as an act of vandalism, using flammable materials found nearby. Appropriate security measures, including the protection of stored materials and the efficient and prompt removal of rubbish, can therefore do much to alleviate this particular problem.

There is a joint duty on local authorities and police to co-operate with other organisations (including fire authorities) to formulate and implement a strategy to reduce crime and disorder (including arson) in their local area. You should therefore seek advice from the local police or the fire authority who will involve the other agencies as appropriate. The Arson Prevention Bureau (see Further information) can provide further guidance on arson prevention measures for a range of building types.

Occasionally, arson attacks in the workplace are committed by employees or ex-employees. Employers and other workers should be aware of this potential threat and be alert for early signs, such as a series of unexplained small fires. Again, the police, fire authority or the Arson Prevention Bureau can provide further useful guidance.

A fire in your workplace must be detected quickly and a warning given so that people can escape safely. Early discovery and warning will increase the time available for escape and enable people to evacuate safely before the fire takes hold and blocks escape routes or makes escape difficult.

The nature and extent of the fire detection and warning arrangements in your workplace will need to satisfy the requirements indicated by your risk assessment.

All workplaces should have arrangements for detecting fire. During working hours, fires are often detected through observation or smell, and for many workplaces automatic fire detection equipment may not be needed.

However, you need to think about any parts of the workplace where a fire could start and spread undetected. This could be a storage area or a basement that is not visited on a regular basis, or a part of the workplace that has been temporarily vacated, for example at mealtimes. Fires that start and develop unnoticed can pose a serious danger to people in the workplace.

The usual method of protecting people in workplaces where fire could develop for some time before being discovered is to protect vital escape routes, particularly staircase routes, with fire-resisting construction which may include fire-resisting doors.

Installing an effective, reliable automatic fire detection system, linked to an effective fire warning system, can sometimes allow people to reassess the degree of structural fire protection required on escape routes. This can provide a more cost-effective and convenient fire precaution. However, the whole subject of trade-offs between structural protection and other fire protection systems is a complex one and such decisions should only be made after consultation with your local fire authority.

In some workplaces, such as those providing sleeping accommodation or care facilities, automatic fire detection and a high degree of structural protection are essential in ensuring a satisfactory standard of fire safety.

In small workplaces, it may be unnecessary to provide a sophisticated automatic fire detection system based on point-type fire detectors linked via control equipment to separate fire warning devices. In these cases, good quality, interlinked domestic smoke alarms (mains powered with battery back-up) could provide an automatic means of detecting fire. Each of these units contains a fire detector and a warning device and can operate independently or in conjunction with any other unit to which it is interlinked.

In other situations, for example where the only escape route from a room is through an outer room where a fire may start unnoticed, a single smoke alarm of the same type as described in the previous paragraph, positioned in the outer room, can provide an early warning and allow workers to escape before their route is cut off. Smoke alarms should conform with the requirements of British Standard 5446: Part 1.

Such basic smoke alarms tend to be more sensitive than smoke detectors used in more sophisticated fire detection/alarm systems. You need to be aware of any potential problems unwanted fire signals may cause. In some cases, unwanted fire signals can be reduced by using optical smoke alarms rather than ionisation ones.

This simple but effective way of providing automatic fire detection could provide a cost-effective solution to difficult situations where early warning is vital in ensuring the safe evacuation of employees. However, smoke alarms designed for domestic use are usually manufactured to different standards from those for automatic fire detection systems. The resulting reliability may therefore be lower and such smoke alarms may not be appropriate for your workplace, depending on the processes involved.

Whichever type of system you use, the detector type chosen should be appropriate for the premises to be protected, for example, a heat detector may function better than a smoke detector in a fume-laden or dusty environment but may not be appropriate for the rest of the protected premises. Choosing the right type of detector will reduce the chances of it giving false fire signals. False alarms can cause costly interruptions to manufacturing processes and business activities. They also increase the risk to occupants if the fire brigade is responding to a false fire call and is not so readily available to tackle a real fire.

Before installing an automatic fire detection system or a series of interlinked smoke alarms, it is advisable to consult the fire authority about what you propose. This can help make sure the system is appropriate to the circumstances of the workplace and avoid unnecessary costs.

Automatic fire detectors or smoke alarms do not remove the need to provide a means for people to manually raise a fire warning, and this will be essential in the majority of workplaces.

In workplaces that are only small buildings or small open areas, the means of raising the alarm may be simple. For instance, where all employees work near to each other, a shouted warning 'Fire!' by the person discovering the fire may be all that is needed. But you will need to be satisfied that the warning can be heard and understood throughout the workplace, including the toilets.

Where employees are dispersed more widely and it cannot be guaranteed that a shouted warning will be heard, a manually operated sounder (such as a rotary gong or handbell) or a simple manual call point, combined with a bell, battery and charger, may be suitable. However, you must ensure that any manually operated system is positioned so that it can be reached by the person discovering a fire and then operated for sufficient time to alert everyone in the workplace, without exposing the operator to danger.

In larger buildings, a suitable electrically operated fire warning system, with manual call points positioned both on exit routes and adjacent to final exits, should be installed. This should have sufficient sounders for the warning to be clearly heard throughout the workplace. The sound used as a fire warning should be distinct from other sounds in the workplace and, where background noise levels are high or an employee has a hearing impairment, it may also be necessary to install a visual alarm such as a distinctive flashing or rotating light.

In more complex buildings such as retail premises, where the evacuation system is based on staged or phased evacuation (see the 'Means of escape in case of fire' section), or where people are unfamiliar with the fire warning arrangements, you might consider installing a voice evacuation system. The system could form part of a public address system and could give both fire warning signals and verbal instructions in the event of fire.

Where a public address system is used in conjunction with a fire warning system, both should over-ride any other function of the equipment (such as playing music). The public address element of the system should give clear verbal instructions and should over-ride the fire warning signal - this should be distinct from other signals which may be in general use.

In workplaces covering large areas, using a public address-based warning system for people inside, and a radio-telephone system or walkie-talkie for people outside, can be an effective way of supplementing a conventional fire warning system. This would allow clarification of the precise nature and location of the emergency, and instructions on the pre-determined action to be given.

If an automatic fire detection system and a manually operated electrical alarm system are installed in the same workplace, they should normally be incorporated into a single integral system. Voice evacuation systems should be similarly integrated to prevent confusion.

Electrical fire detection and alarm systems should normally comply with British Standard 5839: Part 1, voice alarm systems should comply with British Standard 5839: Part 8. Although intended to cover domestic dwellings, British Standard 5839: Part 6 can offer useful information about systems which may be considered appropriate for use in some workplaces. Again, it is advisable to consult the fire authority about your proposals before installing a new fire warning system or altering an existing one.

The Health and Safety (Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 require that, in a workplace, fire safety signs and signals requiring some form of power (mains-powered smoke alarms and other fire warning systems) must be provided with a guaranteed emergency supply in the event of a power cut.

The principle on which means of escape provisions are based is that the time available for escape (an assessment of the length of time between the fire starting and it making the means of escape from the workplace unsafe) is greater than the time needed for escape (the length of time it will take everyone to evacuate once a fire has been discovered and warning given).

Regardless of the location of a fire, once people are aware of it they should be able to proceed safely along a recognisable escape route, to a place of safety. In order to achieve this, it may be necessary to protect the route, ie by providing fire-resisting construction. A protected route may also be necessary in workplaces providing sleeping accommodation or care facilities.

The means of escape is likely to be satisfactory if your workplace is fairly modern and has had building regulation approval or if it has been found satisfactory following a recent inspection by the fire authority (and in each case you have not carried out any significant material or structural alterations or made any change to the use of the workplace). However, you should still carry out a risk assessment to ensure that the means of escape remains adequate.

If, as a result of your risk assessment, you propose making any changes to the means of escape, you should consult the fire authority (in Scotland you must seek the agreement of the building control authority) before making any changes.

When assessing the adequacy of the means of escape you will need to take into account:

the findings of your fire risk assessment;

the size of the workplace, its construction, layout, contents and the number and width of the available escape routes;

the workplace activity, where people may be situated in the workplace and what they may be doing when a fire occurs;

the number of people who may be present, and their familiarity with the workplace; and

their ability to escape without assistance.

There are a number of technical terms used in this section which are defined as follows:

Compartment: A part of a building separated from all other parts of the same building by fire-resisting walls, ceilings and floors.

Emergency escape lighting: That part of the emergency lighting system provided for use when the electricity supply to the normal lighting fails so as to ensure that the means of escape can be safely and effectively used at all times.

Final exit: The end of an escape route from a workplace giving direct access to a place of safety such as a street, walkway or open space, and located to ensure that people can disperse safely from the vicinity of the workplace and the effects of fire.

Fire door: A door assembly which, if tested under the relevant British Standard (see the References section), would satisfy the criteria for integrity for at least 20 minutes or a longer period if this is specified.

Fire-resisting (fire-resistance): The ability of a component or construction of a building to satisfy, for a stated period of time, some or all of the appropriate criteria specified in the relevant British Standard (see the References section).

Place of safety: A place beyond the building in which a person is no longer in danger from fire.

Protected route: A route with an adequate degree of fire protection including walls (except external walls), doors, partitions, ceilings and floors separating the route from the remainder of the building.

Protected lobby: A fire-resisting enclosure separated from other parts of the workplace by self-closing fire doors, leading by a second set of self-closing fire doors to a protected stairway with no other openings, other than from toilets (which contain no fire risk) or lifts.

Protected stairway: A stairway which is adequately protected from fire in the adjoining accommodation by fire-resisting construction and either leads to a final exit or along a protected route to a final exit.

Storey exit: An exit people can use so that, once through it, they are no longer at immediate risk. This includes a final exit, an exit to a protected lobby or stairway (including an exit to an external stairway) and an exit provided for means of escape through a compartment wall through which a final exit can be reached.

You need to consider how you will arrange the evacuation of the workplace in the light of your risk assessment and the other fire precautions you have or intend to put in place. These arrangements will form an integral part of your emergency plan and must be included in the instruction and training you need to give your employees.

You must take account not only of the people in your workplace (employed or otherwise) who may be able to make their own escape, but also those who may need assistance to escape, eg by having adequate staffing levels in premises providing treatment or care.

In most workplaces, the evacuation in case of fire will simply be by means of everyone reacting to the warning signal given when the fire is discovered and making their way, by the means of escape, to a place of safety away from the workplace. This is known as a 'simultaneous' evacuation and will normally be initiated by the sounding of the general alarm over the fire warning system.

In some larger workplaces, the emergency arrangements are designed to allow people who are not at immediate risk from a fire to delay starting their evacuation. It may be appropriate to 'stage' the evacuation by initially evacuating only the area closest to the fire and warning other people to 'stand by'. The rest of the people are then evacuated if it is necessary to do so. This is known as a 'two stage' evacuation. The fire warning system should be capable of giving two distinctly different signals (warning and evacuation) or give appropriate voice messages.

Alternatively, and usually only in the most complex buildings, the evacuation could take place floor by floor. This is normally done by immediately evacuating the floor where the fire is located and the floor above. The other floors are then evacuated one by one to avoid congestion on the escape routes. This is known as 'phased evacuation'. Because of the extra time this type of evacuation takes, other fire precautions are likely to be required. These include:

voice alarm systems;

fire control points;

compartmentation of the workplace (with fire-resisting construction); and

sprinklers in buildings where the top floor is 30 metres or more above ground level.

In some cases it may not be appropriate for a general alarm to start immediate evacuation. This could be because of the number of members of the public present and the need for employees to put pre-arranged plans for the safe evacuation of the workplace into action. In such circumstances a 'staff alarm' can be given (by personal pagers, discreet sounders or a coded phrase on a public address system etc).

Following the staff alarm, a more general alarm signal can be given and a simultaneous, two stage or phased evacuation started (see 'Arrangements for evacuating the workplace'). The general alarm may be activated automatically if manual initiation has not taken place within a pre-determined time.

You should only plan to use staged or phased evacuation schemes, or a staff alarm system, if you have sought the advice of the fire authority and they have given their approval to the proposal.

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