What is a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA)?

A Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) is a legal requirement of the Government in the UK. According to this, the Responsible Person (RP) is supposed to take all possible measures to reduce the risk of fire in high-rise buildings and keep people safe. Any person who is responsible for a non-domestic building, place, or structure (not a single private dwelling) is supposed to comply with fire safety law and must regularly carry out an assessment of fire safety on the premises to detect the safety risks. Small business owners are usually responsible for their premises unless someone else has been appointed to conduct a FRA. An RP in a domestic building is responsible only for common areas.

Steps to complete for a successful FRA:

- An FRA starts with identifying people at risk, including the night staff and visitors.

- Identifying fire hazards is the next step. An RP must identify sources of ignition, heaters, highly flammable materials, and substances inside and make notes of them.

- Then a responsible person needs to evaluate, remove or reduce the risks. All appropriate actions should be taken to protect the premises and people from fire.

- All the findings must be recorded. The RP also needs to get an emergency fire evacuation plan ready and make sure that the staff knows what to do in case of an emergency. An evacuation plan can consist of a single lined drawing to a scale 1:50 or 1:100. The plan should be discussed with all staff, people informed and trained.

- The FRA must be regularly reviewed. The law requires it to be renewed after 12 months. A new assessment is supposed to be conducted every 5 years and reflect all the significant changes that have been made to the building.

Why you should do it?

Carrying out an FRA also makes good business sense because many businesses do not have a chance to recover after a fire. What's more, you will need a written record of your assessment if five or more people are working for your company. If there are fewer than five people in the building at the same time, the FRA does not have to be kept in written form. Though having it written down is a good idea.

You are also required to keep an FRA in writing if the fire brigade instructed you to do this or if the premises need to have a license.

Failure to conduct an FRA can result in exposure to fire risks and potential loss of human lives and all the equipment. You also need to keep in mind that the RP is always held responsible for the outcome and can be fined or even imprisoned if there has been a fire and he/she failed to meet the legal requirements to keep people safe.