What's covered in this sector?

This sector applies to all shops and offices, including buildings where part of the premises is a shop or office.

What do I need to do?

The previous threshold of having 5 staff before you need to record a fire risk assessment or fire safety management system has now been removed, and these rules applies all businesses / buildings that are not single private dwellings.

There are some fire safety duties you need to comply with:

• You must appoint one or more competent persons, depending on the size and use of your premises, to assist in undertaking any of the preventive and protective measures required by the Order1 (you can nominate yourself for this purpose). A competent person is someone with enough training and experience or knowledge and other qualities to be able to implement these measures properly.

• You must provide your employees with clear and relevant information on the risks to them identified by the fire risk assessment, about the measures you have taken to prevent fires, and how these measures will protect them if a fire breaks out.

• You must consult your employees (or their elected representatives) about nominating people to carry out particular roles in connection with fire safety and about proposals for improving the fire precautions.

• You must, before you employ a child, provide a parent with clear and relevant information on the risks to that child identified by the risk assessment, the measures you have put in place to prevent/protect them from fire and inform any other responsible person of any risks to that child arising from their undertaking.

• You must inform non-employees, such as residents, temporary or contract workers, of the relevant risks to them, and provide them with information about who are the nominated competent persons, and about the fire safety procedures for the premises.

• You must co-operate and co-ordinate with other responsible persons who also have premises in the building, inform them of any significant risks you find and how you will seek to reduce/control those risks which might affect the safety of their employees.

• You must provide the employer of any person from an outside organisation who is working in your premises (e.g. an agency providing temporary staff) with clear and relevant information on the risks to those employees and the preventive and protective measures taken. You must also provide those employees with appropriate instructions and relevant information about the risks to them. of the Order

• If you are not the employer but have any control of premises which contain more than one workplace, you are also responsible for ensuring that the requirements are complied with in those parts over which you have control.

• You must consider the presence of any dangerous substances and the risk this presents to relevant persons from fire.

• You must establish a suitable means of contacting the emergency services and provide them with any relevant information about dangerous substances.

• You must provide appropriate information, instruction and training to your employees, during their normal working hours, about the fire precautions in your workplace, when they start working for you, and from time to time throughout the period they work for you.

• You must ensure that the premises and any equipment provided in connection with firefighting, fire detection and warning, or emergency routes and exits are covered by a suitable system of maintenance and are maintained by a competent person in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair.

• Your employees must co-operate with you to ensure the workplace is safe from fire and its effects, and must not do anything that will place themselves or other people at risk

Who enforces the Fire Safety Order?

The local fire and rescue authority (the fire and rescue service) will enforce the Order in most premises. The exceptions are:

• Crown-occupied/owned premises where Crown fire inspectors will enforce;

• premises within armed forces establishments where the defence fire and rescue service will enforce;

• certain specialist premises including construction sites, ships (under repair or construction) and nuclear installations, where the HSE will enforce; and

• sports grounds and stands designated as needing a safety certificate by the local authority, where the local authority will enforce.

The enforcing authority will have the power to inspect your premises to check that you are complying with your duties under the Order. They will look for evidence that you have carried out a suitable fire risk assessment and acted upon the significant findings of that assessment. If you are required to record the outcome of the assessment they will expect to see a copy.

If the enforcing authority is dissatisfied with the outcome of your fire risk assessment or the action you have taken, they may issue an enforcement notice that requires you to make certain improvements or, in extreme cases, a prohibition notice that restricts the use of all or part of your premises until improvements are made.

If your premises are considered by the enforcing authority to be or have potential to be high risk, they may issue an alterations notice that requires you to inform them before you make any changes to your premises or the way they are used.

Failure to comply with any duty imposed by the Order or any notice issued by the enforcing authority is an offence. You have a right of appeal to a magistrate’s court against any notice issued. Where you agree that there is a need for improvements to your fire precautions but disagree with the enforcing authority on the technical solution to be used (e.g. what type of fire alarm system is needed) you may agree to refer this for independent determination.

If your premises were in use before 2006, then they may have been subject to the Fire Precautions Act and the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations. Where the layout (means of escape) and other fire precautions have been assessed by the fire and rescue service to satisfy the guidance that was then current, then it is likely that your premises already conform to many of the recommendations here, providing you have undertaken a fire risk assessment as required by the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations.