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A good Fire Risk Assessment Form will help to guide you through the process and make it easier to ensure that you properly consider each stage that you need to go through. The other important function of the form is to provide a record of the fact that you have carried out the fire risk assessment and record the details of what you find and any action you need to take. Recording this information in writing is a legal requirement for any business employing five or more staff. Every fire risk assessment form should provide certain basic information, including the name of your business or organisation, the specific workplace premises being assessed, the name of the person doing the assessment and the date it was carried out. It is also a good idea to include the date on which the next review will be due. The main part of the form is very much governed by the stages of the assessment process itself. It should have at least six columns, so that you can record all potential fire hazards you identify, any people who are affected by the hazard and any existing control measures you have in place. In addition to these you will also need to record any further action you need to take to manage the risk, some indication of how urgent or high a priority this action is as well as a column for signatures by however signs to say that the required action is complete. The need to carry out a fire risk assessment and record your findings is a requirement under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. This abolishes the use of fire certificates and puts a duty on the 'responsible person' in each workplace to ensure that an assessment of the risk of fire is carried out, and action is taken to reduce any risks identified. In practice it is what we should all have been doing anyway, but it puts this into a formal structure to help ensure it is done in a consistent way. There are many professional fire safety experts happy to undertake your assessment for you, but unless you have a particularly complicated or specialised premises, you can probably carry out the assessment yourself. Free detailed help on how to do this is available online. The legislation does not define what level of experience you should have to carry out a fire risk assessment. If you are unsure about whether your knowledge or experience is adequate for carrying out a fire risk assessment, you may be better using a consultant. If you are not sure, a good approach is to use a consultant for the first one, to ensure that it is done thoroughly and to confirm the proper process, then do the reviews and updates yourself after that. As a rough guide, if your workplace is a relatively small, fairly typical office type environment, you are almost certainly fine to carry out your own fire risk assessment. Many small businesses will find that their assessment is actually very quick and simple, resulting in a brief sheet of notes of their findings. It is only with larger premises, which may involve manufacturing processes, machinery, storage and use of dangerous or flammable materials, etc, where you should think carefully about whether you have the appropriate level of knowledge. If you have a particularly hazardous workplace and you think an intumescent seal is something that balances a ball on its nose, you may wish to seek advice.
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