Could your Fire Risk Assessment stand up to scrutiny when it matters most?
It is 3am. A fire starts in a storeroom at your premises. The alarm sounds, everyone gets out safely and the Fire Service brings it under control. Nobody is hurt, and by the morning attention turns to the paperwork.
Your insurer asks to see your Fire Risk Assessment. So does the Fire Service. Then comes the question every business should be ready to answer:
“Who completed this, and were they competent to do so?”
At that moment, your Fire Risk Assessment is no longer a document in a drawer. It is your evidence, and it will be scrutinised by people who have every reason to test it.
Can We Just Do It Ourselves?
It is one of the questions we are asked most often, and it is a fair one. The law requires your Fire Risk Assessment to be “suitable and sufficient”. Since October 2023, businesses in England and Wales have also been required to keep a full written record of their assessment, including who carried it out.
After an incident, investigators, insurers and the courts will look closely at that person’s qualifications, their experience and whether they followed a recognised method. Knowing your building well is valuable, but it is not the same as being competent to assess fire risk, and familiarity can mean that hazards which have become part of the furniture go unnoticed.
What Is at Stake?
A weak assessment rarely causes a problem on the day it is written. It causes one on the day it is tested. Serious failings can lead to:
- Enforcement notices
- Prosecution and unlimited fines
- An insurer questioning a claim if the assessment cannot withstand scrutiny
- Lives put at risk by a hazard that nobody noticed
Challenge for Leaders
Find your current Fire Risk Assessment today and ask yourself:
“If your Fire Risk Assessment was reviewed tomorrow, could you demonstrate that the person who completed it was competent?”
If the answer is anything other than a confident yes, it may be time for a conversation. It is far easier to have that conversation before an incident than after one.
How Kingfisher Can Help
Competence is not a job title, and it is not confidence. It is evidence: qualifications that can be shown and a method that can be followed and explained.
Kingfisher Professional Services is accredited and is a member of the Institute of Fire Safety Managers as an organisation. All of our assessors have significant experience, hold the necessary qualifications and keep their CPD up to date with current requirements. Our most senior assessor holds a Level 5 Diploma and is an Associate Member of the Institute of Fire Safety Managers.
Contact us to discuss your Fire Risk Assessment needs.