Four step process to confirm you meet current fire safety legislation

In 2013 – 2014, the fire and rescue authorities attended a total of 212,500 fires, resulting in 322 fire-related fatalities and 9,748 non-fatal casualties and according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), most fires are preventable.

A fire can be a catastrophic event, leading to the destruction of property or loss of life. It is therefore essential that every business has an effective fire safety management plan in place.

There is no one size fits all approach to managing fire safety and don’t be misled into thinking a fire risk assessment alone will ensure you meet your legal duties. A fire risk assessment is merely where fire safety management begins.

When advising clients on fire safety management, Tenos use the widely recognised Plan, Do, Check, Act approach.

Follow our four-step process to confirm you meet your legal duties under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005:

1. Plan

   Begin by setting standards for fire safety management that reflect your legal requirements under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the risks to your organisation. To do this you will need to:
    

   •  Ensure the responsible person(s) are correctly identified
   • Carry out a strategic review /gap analysis of your existing policy and arrangements Prepare a fire safety management plan based on your findings 
   • Agree procedures and lines of communication within your organisation
      
2. Do

   Implement your fire safety management plan to ensure you meet your legal duties. This will involve carrying out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment (FRA) and putting into practice protective and preventative measures for actions identified both in your gap analysis and FRA.  In addition, instruction and training will be required for those responsible for the plan’s implementation. At all times, you should record all relevant data and documentation for future inspection/audit.
    

3. Check

   Regularly monitor and measure your ongoing performance against the fire safety management plan and legal standards to ensure (1) the plan is being implemented and (2) your continued fire safety compliance. Performance is best measured when:
    

   • You regularly review reports and actions
   • You manage and close actions
   • You determine compliance
   • Your report compliance
      
4. Act

   It is important that you regularly review your performance and, based on what is learned:
    

   • Review your policies and procedures
   • Adapt your policies and procedures in accordance with legislation updates
   • Identify and report any trends in performance
   • Audit your performance and benchmark against industry standards

By rigorously following this four-step process and treating this as a process for continuous improvement, you will be able to confirm that your legislative duties under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 are being met.