A fire risk assessment is a legal document designed to improve fire safety within a premises or business. It is not a certificate of conformity to declare a building safe, but a working document detailing what is currently being done to reduce the risk from fire as well as provide further recommendations for improvement purposes. The fundamental principles of a fire risk assessment are to: ・Identify potential fire hazards (potential ignition sources & fuel sources) ・Identify people at risk ・Evaluate, remove or reduce the risks ・Record your findings, prepare an emergency plan and provide training ・Review and update the fire risk assessment regularly What the assessment considers: ・Emergency routes and exits ・Fire detection and warning systems ・Fire fighting equipment ・The removal or safe storage of dangerous substances ・An emergency fire evacuation plan ・The needs of vulnerable people, for example the elderly, young children or those with disabilities ・Providing information to employees and other people on the premises ・ Staff fire safety training

It is a legal requirement for all non-domestic properties to have a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Non-domestic buildings are effectively all buildings that are not individual dwellings, these can include but are not limited to: All workplaces and commercial premises All premises with public access The common areas of multi-occupied residential buildings Responsible persons can be fined or even prosecuted for not producing a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment. Minor penalties range up to £5,000 while major penalties have unlimited fines and up to 2 years imprisonment. Failure to provide evidence of a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment can hold up property sales and can lead to mortgage offers expiring and sales falling through.

・Employers ・Owner ・Landlord ・Occupier ・Any other person with control over a premises e.g managing agent, building manager, charity organiser, voluntary group leader etc… These are known as ‘Responsible Persons”. In some cases, there may be more than one for a single premises in which case they must work together to uphold their responsibilities.

・Carry out a fire risk assessment of the premises and review it regularly ・Tell staff or their representatives about the risks you’ve identified ・Put in place, and maintain, appropriate fire safety measures ・Plan for an emergency ・Provide staff information, fire safety instruction and training

The level of detail in the risk assessment should be proportionate to the risk and appropriate to the nature of the building and its occupants. The person carrying out the risk assessment should be competent in doing so and this can be demonstrated by a combination of applicable training, skills and experience. These persons are known as “Competent Persons” and are employed by the Responsible Person to assist them in meeting their responsibilities under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Fire risk assessments are important life safety documents that should not be rushed. The time period to undertake the inspection, assess the information and create a conclusive report with an appropriate action plan depends on the size and complexity of the premises. Small basic premises can be assessed and written up within a couple of days while larger more complex sites can take multiple days just to assess. The assessor should always be able to provide you with a rough timescale prior to undertaking the assessment presuming they receive accurate information on the development. We do offer a next day risk assessment service for urgent cases but again it is dependent on the location, size and complexity of the development. Enquire with us now for more information regarding our turnaround times and fees.

Fire stopping is a form of passive fire protection used to prevent fire and smoke spread between differerent parts of a building. Fire stopping is required to maintain the fire-resistance of a wall or floor where is either an opening or joint between two or more pieces of construction. Often the parts of a building that require fire stopping can be hidden or enclosed behind over parts of construction and therefore may not be easily visible to someone without experience or knowledge of the suystems. A fire stopping and compartmentation survey investigates whether there is adequate passive fire protection in place at comparment walls and floors. This is why fire strategy design drawings are requested when completing these surveys. Our reports also comment on the quality and condition of any existing fire stopping measures and whether they are sufficient. Fire stopping surveys can be instrusiuve or non-instrusive, the level of detail will always be agreed with the client prior to the survey. These surveys are important because they can highlight defficiences in the buildings construction that could compromise its ability to contain fire and smoke spread. Also it's important exisiting fire stopping is inspected regularly by a competent person to ensure it remains in good condition and is fit for purpose. Fire stopping and compartmentation surveys can take place during the buildings construction or later on in the building life cycle where additional services may have been added or modified.

Fire Stopping & Compartmentation surveys are important because they can highlight defficiences in the buildings construction that could compromise its ability to contain fire and prohibit smoke spread. It's also important that exisiting fire stopping is inspected regularly by a competent person to ensure it remains in good condition and is fit for purpose. Fire stopping and compartmentation surveys can take place during the buildings construction or later on in the building life cycle where additional services may have been added or modified.

A health & safety risk assessment is a key part of an on-going process to manage risk within the workplace for employees and anyone else who may be exposed to these hazards.

As an employer, you're required by law to protect your employees, and others, from harm. Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the minimum you must do is: ・identify what could cause injury or illness in your business (hazards) ・decide how likely it is that someone could be harmed and how seriously (the risk) ・take action to eliminate the hazard, or if this isn't possible, control the risk Employers have a legal duty to assess the risks to the health and safety of their employees (and risks to the health and safety of persons not in your employment) to which they are exposed while they are at work. The law states that a risk assessment must be 'suitable and sufficient', ie it should show that: ・a proper check was made ・you asked who might be affected ・you dealt with all the obvious significant risks, taking into account the number of people who could be involved ・the precautions are reasonable, and the remaining risk is low ・you involved your workers or their representatives in the process

Legionella is a bacteria that is widespread in natural water systems, eg rivers and ponds. However, the conditions are rarely right for people to catch the disease from these sources. Outbreaks of the illness occur from exposure to legionella growing in purpose-built systems where water is maintained at a temperature high enough to encourage growth, eg cooling towers, evaporative condensers, hot and cold water systems and spa pools used in all sorts of premises (work and domestic). Legionnaires' disease is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia caused by the inhalation of small droplets of contaminated water containing Legionella. All man-made hot and cold water systems are likely to provide an environment where Legionella can grow. Where conditions are favourable (ie suitable growth temperature range; water droplets (aerosols) produced and dispersed; water stored and/or recirculated; some 'food' for the organism to grow such as rust, sludge, scale, biofilm etc) then the bacteria may multiply thus increasing the risk of exposure. It is a simple fact that the organism will colonise both large and small systems so both require risks to be managed effectively.

The dutyholder is responsible for ensuring legionella is appropiately controlled within the premises by ensuring a suitable and sufficient risk assessment is carried out. They are also responsible for ensuring that the person who carries out the risk assessment and provides advice on prevention and control of exposure of legionella is competent to do so. The dutyholder is either: (a) the employer, where the risk from their undertaking is to their employees or others; or (b) a self-employed person, where there is a risk from their undertaking to themselves or others; or (c) the person who is in control of premises or systems in connection with work, where there is a risk from systems in the building, eg where a building is let to tenants, but the landlord keeps responsibility for its maintenance. The risk assessment should identify and evaluate potential sources of risk and: (a) the particular means of preventing exposure to legionella bacteria; or (b) if prevention is not reasonably practicable, the particular means of controlling the risk from exposure to legionella bacteria.

Under general health and safety law, an employer or person in control of a premises (eg a landlord) has health and safety duties and needs to take suitable precautions to prevent or control the risk of exposure to legionella. A suitable and sufficient assessment must be carried out to identify and assess the risk of exposure to legionella bacteria from work activities and water systems on the premises and any precautionary measures needed. The dutyholder is responsible for ensuring the risk assessment is carried out.

As an employer, or person in control of premises, you must appoint someone competent to help you meet your health and safety duties and to take responsibility for controlling any identified risk from exposure to legionella bacteria. A competent person, often known as the responsible person, is someone with sufficient authority, competence, necessary skills, knowledge of the system, and experience. If you have five or more employees you have to record any significant findings, including those identified as being particularly at risk and the steps taken to prevent or control risks. If you have less than five employees, you do not need to write anything down, although it is useful to keep a written record of what you have done. Records should include details of the: a. person or persons responsible for conducting the risk assessment, b. managing, and implementing the written schemesignificant findings of the risk assessment c. written control scheme and details of its implementation d. details of the state of operation of the system, ie in use/not in use e. results of any monitoring inspection, test or check carried out, and the dates These records should be retained throughout the period for which they remain current and for at least two years after that period. Records kept in accordance with (e) should be retained for at least five years. A simple risk assessment may show that there are no real risks and are being properly managed and no further action is needed. It is important to review the assessment in case anything changes in the system. Implementing simple, proportionate and appropriate control measures will ensure the risk remains low. For most domestic hot and cold water systems, temperature is the most reliable way of ensuring the risk of exposure to Legionella bacteria is minimised i.e keep the hot water hot, cold water cold and keep it moving. Other simple control measures to help control the risk of exposure to Legionella include: ✓ flushing out the system prior to letting the property ✓ avoiding debris getting into the system (eg ensure the cold water tanks, where fitted, have a tight fitting lid) ✓ setting control parameters (eg setting the temperature of the hot water cylinder (calorifier) to ensure water is stored at 60°C) ✓ make sure any redundant pipework identified is removed. The risk is further lowered where instantaneous water heaters (for example combi boilers and electric showers) are installed because there is no water storage.