The UK has clear legal standards in place to make sure every workplace takes fire risk seriously. The main law covering this is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. It applies to almost all non-domestic settings including offices, shops, factories, schools, warehouses, care homes, and many more. It also applies to gatherings outside of traditional buildings, for example the setting for a festival.
Under this law, fire safety becomes the legal duty of a ‘responsible person’. This is usually the employer, owner, landlord, or someone who has control of the premises or setting.
The responsible person must:
This law requires the organisation, through its responsible person, to be proactive in planning for fire and other emergency events. Inspectors from appropriate bodies including the Health and Safety Executive and local fire and rescue services are responsible for enforcing the law, and they have the power to issue improvement notices, close unsafe buildings or events, and prosecute individuals from organisations for serious safety breaches, even when injury has yet to occur.
The fine imposed on care home provider Bupa after reviewing fire safety failings
Fire safety is a shared worker responsibility; not just something for management or maintenance teams to worry about. While there is one legally responsible person, it takes a team effort to make sure a workplace stays safe day to day.
It’s important to stress that training plays a crucial role. Fire marshals for example need extra training so they know how to handle real emergencies, but all staff must be briefed on what to do if the alarm sounds and that training should be updated regularly.
Here’s how the responsibilities usually break down:
A fire risk assessment (and an associated action plan) might sound like something only a safety officer or building manager gets involved with, but it’s worth knowing what is involved and how it affects everyone in the workplace, and it’s required by law.
There are typically five key steps involved:
The person carrying out the assessment must be competent, meaning they have the knowledge and experience to carry out the risk assessment process. In more complex settings, a qualified external fire risk assessor may be needed.
Even in simpler environments, the outcome of a fire risk assessment should never just sit in a file. It should lead to real-world changes, whether that’s moving a filing cabinet that’s blocking an exit, updating signage, or more staff fire safety training.