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What is a Fire Assessment? All business premises or other non-domestic premises must have a fire risk assessment by law, however, it’s a surprising fact that this important fire safety measure is often overlooked by many businesses. The result of…

Last year there were over 15,500 non-residential fires in the UK, resulting in damage to property, injuries and in some cases, fatalities. Whatever size organisation you run, fire safety is important, you are legally obliged to ensure your premises are a safe place for your employees to work, which means taking action to minimise the risk of fire. In fact, the Health and Safety Executive has stated that fire risk assessments are mandatory for all business premises.

The purpose of a fire risk assessment report is to help you identify any fire hazards in your organisation and subsequently deal with any potential risks that may arise off the back of this assessment. In England and Wales, it is a legal requirement for every workplace to carry out a fire risk assessment and in businesses where there are 5 or more employees, a record must be kept of any significant findings in the form of a fire risk assessment report.

At Bison Assist, we offer tailored fire risk assessments for many different types of premises. The service we offer to schools is carried out during the normal working day without disrupting any activities. We provide a comprehensive report that will help minimising the risk(s), prevent expensive damage and ensure that you are compliant with legislation.

If you are the landlord of a block of residential flats, you are usually responsible for fire safety compliance in communal areas. As these are likely to also be the exit routes for the residents, they are vital to any evacuation plan. There are plenty of nuances when it comes to the law in this area. To ensure that you are compliant, you need to carry out a formal fire risk assessment. Residential flats are one of the types of property that we have experience working with at Bison Assist. We can help you create an action plan to bring your building up to standard and create a timetable for future checks and maintenance.

When you work with Bison Assist, we help you cover all the bases when it comes to fire safety. When we perform your warehouse fire risk assessment, you will get a report that guides you through all the measures you need to put in place to be legally compliant, as well as protect your employees, visitors and your property.

South West Water, KFC, Iceland, Wilko, Howden Joinery, the list goes on. In just a single year, all of these big name companies fell foul of UK health and safety law. The fines levied against them were at least £1 million each, not to mention the human cost in terms of both injuries and fatalities.

You know the ins and outs of every aspect of your organisation, how it works, the staff you’ve hired, its weaknesses and strengths. But understanding the hazards present in the workplace is a different matter. All it takes is overlooking one seemingly insignificant hazard and you’ll be in breach of health and safety legislation. A health and safety risk assessment is really the only way to make sure you’ve identified and managed each of the hazards employees in your organisation face day-to-day.

In 1974 working in the UK became a whole lot safer as then Secretary of State Michael Foot introduced the Health and Safety Act 1974. Although today the Health and Safety Act is an integral part of any reputable business, this Bill only got passed on its third attempt through Parliament. The difference it has made since then is substantial to say the least.