A Fire Risk Assessment is one of the most important safety documents within your organisation. Ensuring it is completed by a competent person not only supports legal compliance but helps protect your people, your premises and your business when it matters most.
One of the most common questions we hear is:
“Can’t I just do my own Fire Risk Assessment?”
The better question is:
“If an incident occurred tomorrow, could I confidently demonstrate to an insurer, enforcing authority or court that the person who completed my Fire Risk Assessment was competent to do so?”
What is PAS 79?
PAS 79 is the recognised methodology used by many professional Fire Risk Assessors for carrying out and recording Fire Risk Assessments.
Rather than a simple tick-box exercise, PAS 79 provides a structured approach to identifying:
- Fire hazards
- People at risk
- Existing fire precautions
- Means of escape
- Fire detection and warning systems
- Emergency procedures
- Management arrangements
- Required actions and priorities
The aim is to produce a suitable and sufficient assessment that can withstand scrutiny and genuinely help improve fire safety.
What does competence actually look like?
The introduction of BS 8674, the British Standard for the competence of individual Fire Risk Assessors, has placed even greater emphasis on assessor competency.
The standard sets out the knowledge, skills, experience and behaviours expected of those carrying out Fire Risk Assessments and reflects the increasing expectation that assessments are completed by suitably qualified and experienced individuals.
Competence is not simply attending a fire safety course or having worked in a building for several years. A competent Fire Risk Assessor should be able to demonstrate a combination of:
- Knowledge of fire safety legislation and guidance
- Relevant qualifications and training
- Practical experience of undertaking assessments
- Understanding of fire protection systems and building construction
- The ability to identify deficiencies and evaluate risk
- Ongoing professional development to keep up with changing standards
Why this matters
Many businesses only think about the quality of their Fire Risk Assessment after something has gone wrong.
Should a fire occur resulting in injury, significant damage or enforcement action, investigators, insurers and potentially the courts will not simply ask to see the assessment. They will ask:
“Who completed it, and were they competent to do so?”
The Responsible Person for your business may be required to demonstrate:
- Who carried out the assessment
- Why they were considered competent
- What qualifications and experience they held
- Whether a recognised methodology was used
- Whether the assessment was suitable and sufficient
A poorly completed assessment can be extremely difficult to defend if the person who produced it cannot demonstrate appropriate competence.
If the Fire Service, your insurer or a court reviewed your Fire Risk Assessment tomorrow, would they be satisfied that the person who completed it was demonstrably competent to identify and assess fire risks?