FEATURE: HEALTH & SAFETY
The rise of the accidental fire risk assessor
organisation, but what is less clear is who assesses the risks that sit behind that responsibility.
Budgetary pressures complicate the issue. Rising maintenance costs, ageing and increasingly complex buildings, growing estates and higher expectations are forcing academy trust leaders to make difficult decisions about where to invest their limited resources. This leads many to ask if their fire assessment could be done internally rather than by a specialist.
These pressures have in recent years led to the emergence of what I call the ‘accidental fire risk assessor’. This is where the caretaker, site manager or estates officer is handed the job because they know the premises, attended a training course, or simply because no one else is available.
I
sthar Pearce, Head of Health, Safety and Fire Safety at Judicium, discusses why fire safety requires a competency-led approach.
Every school leader knows that responsibility for fire safety sits with the
This is of course no criticism of these professionals, who are dedicated individuals who care deeply about their schools, but in some cases organisations may have gradually expanded responsibilities faster than competence has developed, unintentionally exposing staff and the wider school community to risk.
We have reviewed assessments completed using well-known templates that capture basic information but fail to identify
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significant risks or reflect government guidance for educational premises. The resulting document looks reassuring, but it might provide a false sense of security. In fire safety, confidence can sometimes be mistaken for competence, but competence is the combination of knowledge, experience, skills and judgement required to assess risk effectively. It’s not a qualification, a job title or a training certificate.
Responsibility doesn’t mean competence Trust and school leaders carry significant responsibilities for the safety of their school communities. The Academy Trust Handbook rightly places considerable emphasis on effective risk management, appropriate assurance and the stewardship of both people and assets. But being accountable for risk is not the same as being competent to assess every risk personally.
Most schools recognise this principle in other areas. They seek specialist support for educational visits, science activities, legionella management, structural surveys and a range of other technical issues. Some schools even seek support for display screen equipment (DSE) assessments yet many still believe they can complete a fire risk assessment internally after a short training course. The disparity
October 2026
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