Workplaces are all required to be as safe as possible, and of course some workplaces carry more risk than others – working with heavy machinery and power tools for example is obviously going to be much riskier than working at a desk.
One of the risks that is always there in just about every work environment, however, is the risk of fire. Fire can be devastating, as it doesn’t take long for a fire to take hold, and as well as the destruction of the building and of property, fire can also quickly lead to injury and death.
This is why it is a legal requirement that all workplaces have a fire risk assessment carried out. Whoever is responsible for the property is also responsible for having the fire risk assessment done. However, they do not need to do this themselves. Unless it is an area that you know a lot about, it is usually better to have a qualified professional like this fIre risk assessment Bristol based company keloscape.co.uk/areas-we-cover/fire-safety-consultancy-bristol in to do it for you.
A fire risk assessment begins with the person who is doing the assessment going around and looking for potential fire hazards. These could be things that may start a fire, such as dangerous electrical items, portable heaters or kitchen equipment. It can also be things that make it easy for a fire to spread, such as clutter and debris, things on walls and materials that are highly flammable.
After this, the assessor will then look for the people that are at risk of a fire. This may be vulnerable people, like children or elderly people, people who will be working in an environment that is noisy, so they will be oblivious to the alarm, or people who work in other parts of the building or on their own.
Once the assessor has thoroughly been through these different stages, they can then start to work out the best measures to put in place to improve safety, reduce the risk of fire and to keep people safe if one does happen. It could be that things need to be moved, new fire protection equipment should be brought in, or practical steps are implemented so that the risk of loss of life is reduced.
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