Fire safety risk assessment reviews

14.09.20

General

If you are now open for business, you must review your Fire Risk Assessments and record changes.

Watch Commander Gary Wood, seconded SFRS officer to SBRC, is encouraging businesses to review their Fire Safety Risk Assessments to ensure they are suitable and sufficient.

Gary commented: “All Fire Risk Assessments must be regularly reviewed but it is especially important that they are reviewed due to the impact of Covid-19 on businesses. Regardless of the current Covid-19 situation, and whether changes have had to be made to business in response to it, the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 has not changed, reduced or been removed.

“It remains a legal requirement for businesses to comply with the legislation within the Act as well as understand the duties and responsibilities detailed within the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006.”

Fire Risk Assessments must be reviewed to ensure they are suitable and sufficient. Likewise, if future changes are made as businesses move back to pre-lock down practices, those FRAs will again need to be reviewed. This document Fire Safety Risk Assessment – 5 key step is useful and can be considered in conjunction with any change made to the workplace.

It is not only a legal requirement to review FSRA’s but it is vitally important as part of business continuity planning. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service will continue its regulation of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 as well as provide advice on moving to a ‘new normal’ and further advice can also be obtained from Gary here at the Scottish Business Resilience Centre: [email protected]

For further advice on reviewing your FSRA take a look at our following guidance topic here. 

Guidance can also be found on the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service website here.