The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, FireScotland website provides information about fire law and safety in Scotland including guidance notes for undertaking a fire safety risk assessment [1]. Public Health Scotland's Healthy Working Lives provides resources which you can use to conduct and record a fire safety risk assessment [2].
The five stages of a fire safety risk assessment are:
Identify the location of people (staff, patients and visitors) at risk in the event of fire.
Identify the fire hazards, i.e. the three elements required for fire to start:
- Sources of ignition (cooking, smoking, open flames, lighting equipment, electrical equipment)
- Sources of fuel (paper, flammable gases, liquids or solids)
- Sources of oxygen (forms of air conditioning/ventilation; draughts as well as oxygen present in the air)
Evaluate the risk and decide if existing fire safety measures are adequate by:
- Evaluating the likelihood of a fire occurring (fire hazards) and the consequence to the people at risk
- Assessing the adequacy of existing fire safety measures and the need for additional measures, through Risk Reduction Principles. These principles are required by law and are:
- Avoiding risks
- Evaluating those risk that can not be avoided
- Combating risks at source
- Adapting to technical progress
- Replacing the dangerous with non or less dangerous
- Developing a coherent fire prevention policy
- Giving collective fire safety measures over individual measures
- Giving appropriate instruction to employees
Record the Fire Assessment information.
- NB: Where there are 5 or more employees, the significant findings of the Fire Risk Assessment must be recorded. This information should be available for inspection by the enforcing authority.
Review the Fire Risk Assessment regularly and if there are significant changes to the premises.
Sources of information
- Fire Safety Risk Assessment – forms and guidance
- Example Fire Safety Risk Assessment. Healthy Working Lives