FEATURE


FIRED UP STEWART KIDD


STEWART KIDD is a security and fire protection specialist with 40 years experience. Vice President of the Security Institute and the Institute of Fire Safety Managers, he is a Chartered Security


Professional. He was Director of the FPA, and Secretary General of British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association. Contact: STEWARTKIDD@ME.COM or call: 01353 741094.


MANAGING COMPLIANCE IS CRUCIAL FOR EVERY BUSINESS


ONE of the primary issues for any manager is ensuring business workplaces are effi cient and well-run, safe places to work.


In England and Wales this means ensuring there’s a fire safety management regime which complies with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the ‘Fire Safety Order’), and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.


All managers should be concerned at the increasing possibility the fi re and rescue service can prosecute. Since the introduction of the legislation – that became eff ective in England, Wales and Scotland in October 2006 – the number of prosecutions has increased dramatically, from less than 10 a year to more than two hundred in the past year.


Fines are now signifi cantly larger. The courts are imposing custodial sentences even in circumstances where there have been no injuries or fatalities, or even when there was no fi re.


PROBLEM OF COMPLIANCE One of the particular problems of compliance from many site and facility managers is the signifi cant lack of understanding of the extent of the duties imposed by legislation. For example, there are responsibilities which now require the duty holder (‘responsible person’ in England and Wales) to ensure the key findings in fire risk assessments are available to the employers of contract personnel working in the premises. The same duties apply to employers of other companies sharing a building.


Trying to ensure that a building or organisation’s fi re safety measures are both adequate and legally compliant can prove to be a diffi cult balancing


26 TBH June, 2018


act. In times of ever-depleted budgets even fi nding enough cash for essential maintenance can be hard.


PROSECUTIONS


The penalties for not taking care of the required steps can be harsh for companies in all sectors.


A Derbyshire company was fi ned a total of £47,500 (including costs) for a fi re in September 2012. The sole director was imprisoned for two terms of 10 months, and was disqualifi ed from acting as a manager/director for eight years.


In deciding to impose an immediate custodial sentence, the Judge emphasised that warnings and advice had been disregarded.


A Sheffi eld-based fi rm was convicted of fi re safety off ences in 2014 and fi ned £30,000 following a fi re at their premises in which an employee was injured. The


PARTICULAR uncertainty is often experienced in the following areas:


F


ire risk assessments should now go beyond recording the


existence of fi re hazards, to now require the formulation of plans to eliminate these (Article 9)


A T


T


duty to appoint ‘competent persons’ to assist with


undertaking fi re risk assessments, planning, training, evacuation and fi refi ghting (Article 13)


he need to keep detailed records of all fi re safety matters


he need to have staff trained in the use of fi re extinguishers (even if the organisation has a


company was said to have no suitable or suffi cient risk assessment, had not trained staff , and lacked fi re equipment.


The fi rm received the maximum fi ne for each off ence - £45,000, plus an additional £3,207 in costs. South Wales Fire and Rescue uncovered a string of safety failings during an inspection.


The off ences cited in court included blocked fi re exits, one completely blocked and another obstructed by cylinders and combustibles, while storing waste materials inappropriately.


The premises were also found to have no working fi re alarm or emergency lighting, and investigators also uncovered no fi re risk assessment had taken place.


Part 2 of this article will feature in next month’s edition. This will set out a structure for fi re safety management, which can be followed in ANY workplace.


AREAS TO LOOK OUT FOR: T


policy of not requiring staff to fi ght fi res) (Article 13)


he need for fi re exit doors to open in the direction of


travel (Article 14)


A A


N


legal duty to maintain all fi re equipment provided for the safety or persons (Article 17)


requirement to undertake specifi c fi re risk assessments


in respect of any employee aged less than 18, and an obligation to provide information on this to parents or guardians (Article 9)


ew obligations on employees to do nothing to endanger


themselves or others, and to report the presence of fi re hazards (Article 23)


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