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Fire alarm
Page 36
Page 37
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Operators will have to comply with new fire regulations designed to protect their employees and customers or face unlimited fines and
imprisonment. Stuart Darlington reports.
All operators, from small hauliers to multi-site fleets, will have to comply with new rules that govern tire safety and the workplace. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Regulations come into force on 1 October 2006 rendering all existing fire certificates void. They will require the majority of property occupiers to carry out fire risk assessments and comply with its recommendations or face hefty fines and/or imprisonment.
Regime change
There are more than 100 items of legislation that relate to fire safety. The new regulations will either repeal or amend most of it, replacing it with a single risk assessment-based approach. The new regulations will apply to most commercial premises as well as the common parts of residential developments and houses in multiple occupation. Fire certificates will no longer be valid and risk assessments will be required as will the implementation of any works, procedures and requirements that they recommend.
The responsible person
The duty to carry out a risk assessment-and to implement any recommendations that are made as a result is placed upon theresponsible person".This individual is: • The employer, if the place of work is under his or her control • The owner of the premises • The person in control of premises in connection with the carrying on of a trade, business or undertaking For details of training for this role contact your local fire authority. There may be a fair degree of overlap, for example in commercial premises with common parts. The responsible person for each let part will be the tenant, but the responsible person for the common parts will be the landlord. The parties then have a duty to co-operate:The responsible person has a duty to 'relevant persons'. This is any person who is lawfully on the premises, and any person in the immediate vicinity of the premises who may be at risk of fire on the premises.
The responsible person must also nominate a -competent person' to carry out the requirements under the new regime. Failure to do so will amount to breach of the regulations. The competent person must have suitable training and experience and other relevant qualities.
In a typical haulage business it might make sense for the owner, as the 'responsible person'. to nominate the transport manager as the 'competent person'. assuming they are willing to take on this responsibility. The responsible person has many duties. He or she needs to carry out lire risk assessments then take any action and install any fire precautions that the assessment recommends.
The assessment must be kept up to date, especially after works or alterations have been made. The assessment should continually evolve and should be held under continuous review. The information from the assessment must also he recorded if the company has five or more employees.
Escape route
The responsible person needs to establish means of escape. These must be designated with relevant signs and notices. A suitable fire alarm system and emergency lighting must be provided too. as well as IS09001 or RA FR-approved firefighting equipment — and it is the responsible person's duty to ensure that this is maintained.
He or she must make sure that all employees are trained in fire safety procedures and provided with details of fire escape procedures. Training should he kept up to date and renewed where required. Fire wardens should he appointed to help with evacuations, contacting emergency services and the other duties of the responsible person.
The responsible person needs to create a fire safety policy and put in place evacuation procedures. He or she must also co-operate with any other responsible person as to fire procedures and maintaining fire safety where required. • • For more information see www.odpm.gov.uki index.asp?id=1 I 62 101 Stuart Darlington is a commercial real estate lawyer in London law firm Davenport Lyons