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Fire Risk Assessment
Step 3: Evaluate The Risks
The Fire Risk Assessment Process:
Step One: Identify Fire Hazards
Step Two: People At Risk
Step Three: Evaluate The Risks
Step Four: Record Your Findings
Other Useful Pages:
Download A Fire Risk Assessment Form
Frequently Asked Questions
Assuming that the result of the first two stages of your Fire Risk Assessment did not show that there is no risk of a fire starting any time anywhere, then you have a bit more work to do, In many ways, this is the most important bit.
Once you have identified what the risks are on your premises, you must take steps to either remove the risks completely, if possible, or put measures in place to manage the risk to an acceptable level. Without this subsequent action on your part, the Fire Risk Assessment is meaningless.
You have already identified what the Fire Hazards are and who is at risk. What you need to do now is:
- Assess the risk of those hazards resulting in a fire
- Assess the risk these hazards present to the people you have already identified.
- Eliminate or manage the fire hazards
- Eliminate or manage the risk to people
OK, here we go:
1. Assess the Risk of Fire from the Hazards Identified:
Go through your list of possible hazards and assess the possibility of each one turning into a fire. Think about what it would take for this to happen, and the likelihood of it actually happening.
Consider the consequences of possible accidents, things not going to plan, equipment being knocked over or developing a fault.
Consider the possible consequences of someone being careless or lazy, or forgetful. What if a cigarette is not put out properly, some equipment is not maintained properly, someone piles boxes up in a cupboard instead of throwing them out, etc.
Finally, consider how easy it would be if someone wanted to deliberately start a fire. Are you making it easy by piling cardboard boxes up against the wall of your building?
2. Assess The Risk To People:
Go through the list you created of people who could be at risk and make a judgement about the likely risk to these people if one of the possible scenarios you have considered in the section above should occur. Think about the hazard, where the fire would start, where it would spread to and how quickly.
In considering the spread of fire, you need to have an awareness of the ways in which fire can spread. Fire spreads in three ways, by convection, conduction and radiation. Convection is the main one to concern yourself with for now, as it is the one that leads to most injuries and death.
Convection in this context is the spread of heat (and in this case smoke) through the air. When a fire starts in a room the smoke rises up, forming a thick layer on the ceiling, gradually filling the room from the top down. The smoke will find its way through any tiny gaps in the ceiling, walls, doors, etc and spreads to the top of the building. A fire on the ground floor can quickly cut off escape routes on the floors above, long before the actual fire itself has got that far. In a closed space like a building, the heat from the fire is trapped inside, and the temperature increases.
Remember, smoke is poisonous and is usually what kills people in a fire.
In considering the risks to people, think about the escape routes - can they get out of the building before a fire can spread enough to trap them? Consider the following:
Is there a fire risk in an area that could block off the only means of escape for some people (consider people on higher floors, or disabled access routes)?
Think about lift shafts and ventilation ducts and how fire and smoke could spread through these.
How would spread of fire be affected if fire doors were propped open? Do you fire doors close properly?
Is 'fire stopping' adequate in vulnerable areas? Are there any holes in walls where cables or other services have been run in? They must be 'stopped' up to prevent spread of fire and smoke.
3. Eliminate or Manage The Fire Hazards
You have already identified all the possible fire hazards in the first part of your Fire Risk Assessment. Now you need to use your knowledge of the three things a fire needs in order to start in order to eliminate or manage those hazards.
Eliminate or Minimise Sources of IgnitionConsider the following:
Have a smoking policy which takes into account the need to minimise the risk of smoking materials being left where they could lead to a fire.
Try to remove the need for any naked flame heaters or portable heaters of any sort. Use central heating where possible, or fixed convector heaters.
Keep anything you have identified as combustible well away from any potential heat source. Don't store anything close to lights, don't store anything combustible in any room with electrical equipment (fuse boards, power intake rooms, etc).
Reduce risk of fires from portable electrical goods by having them regularly PAT Tested.
Make sure you are not an easy target for arsonists.
Have a permit system for 'hot works', which ensures that checks are made after work has finished to ensure that no ignition has taken place and that no material is smouldering.
Eliminate or Minimise Sources of FuelYou now know what your sources of 'fuel' are, so consider how you might reduce the risk of these things contributing to a fire. Think about the following to begin with:
If you have stock which is very combustible, do you need to keep that much of it on your premises? Could you order smaller quantities more frequently?
If you have to have flammable materials, keep stocks to a minimum, keep them is specially selected storage areas only.
Ensure combustible waste materials are not allowed to build up – arrange regular collection and proper storage between collections.
If you have areas of combustable material as part of your fixtures and fittings (carpets, curtains, drapes, etc) consider alternatives, or have them treated with flame retardant.
Eliminate of Minimise Sources of OxygenThe main area that affects everyone is the movement of air around your premises. Consider the following:
Ensure all fire doors are properly maintained (a maintenance contract is a useful way of ensuring this happens regularly) and that people do not wedge them open. If it is desirable to have fire doors held open at certain times, the only safe way of doing this is to use door-holders that are linked into the fire alarm system, so they close automatically in the event of a fire. These are usually electro-magnetic.
Ensure all doors and windows are kept closed as much as possible, and make it part of the locking up procedure to check this at night.
If you have to keep oxygen cylinders on the premises ensure they are in a well ventilated area and are not leaking.
4. Eliminate Or Minimise the Risk To People
Now that you are aware of the fire hazards and have reduced the risk of fire as much as you can, you need to reduce the remaining risk to people to as low as reasonably practicable. You do this by making sure that you have appropriate fire precautions in place so that if you do have a fire, everyone can get out safely.
I cannot prescribe the exact fire precautions you need to have in place - it very much depends on your workplace and business practices. Your fire precautions need to be in proportion to the level of risks you have identified, so there is no need to go over the top if you know that the risks are low.
What you must do is ensure that those risks which remain are managed and minimised as far as is reasonable.
For example, you may decide on the following measures:
All visitors to your premises have to sign in and out so you know exactly who is in the building if there is a fire.
Have certain areas where only trained personnel can go.
You need to introduce a system to limit the number of people in your premises, to prevent having more people than your exit routes can deal with quickly.
In considering risks to people, you may also find the following areas useful:
Go to Step 4 of your Fire Risk Assessment
