Fire Risk Assessment Checklist

Using a checklist to conduct a fire risk assessment is a sensible approach, because there are set steps that you should take to complete the procedure correctly. This article provides an overview of these steps, and can be used as a checklist for the process evaluation of fire risks. More detailed guidance is available free online, but the following describes all the main steps.

The first step is to identify fire hazards in your workplace. This means do a thorough inspection of all parts of your premises and check to see what could possibly lead to a fire in certain circumstances. To do this you must think about what it would take to start a fire, and the materials you have in your premises that are likely to burn well.

If you have any smoking areas, consider possible smoldering. If your workplace uses equipment with open flames, or sparks, there is an obvious risk involved. Any type of water heater must be considered, and any electrical equipment. A huge proportion of fires are caused by faulty electrical appliances. Cupboards full of documents and piles of empty cardboard boxes stacked against a wall outside are classic examples of potential risks, providing plenty of fuel if a fire starts.

Then you have to think your workplace is in danger if one of the hazards you have identified would cause a fire. This obviously includes all employees, but remember the people in your building that can not be used. Remember, contract staff or visiting contactors to undertake maintenance work, and do not forget all visitors or members of the public who come into your building, but rarely. Also think of your own staff who can work in particularly isolated areas of your premises, and all those who may have more difficulty than in most or leave the building, hearing, alarms or understand what is password. In particular, consider the disabled, children or foreign nationals.

The third step of the checklist is to assess the risks you have developed so far. Look at the hazards you have found and the people who are at risk and think about what steps to take to reduce the chances of any of these risks actually cause a fire. So think about what would happen if they cause a fire and what you can do to help protect the people you have identified. You need a plan of action you take is to reduce each risk to an acceptable level, or preferably get rid of it completely.

The fourth step on the evaluation form of fire is to record the details of what you found. You have to do by law if you employ five or more people, but it is good anyway. The best way is to use a form of risk assessment of fire, you can download from the Internet free.

The last step, which is sometimes forgotten, is to review your fire risk assessment at regular intervals. This is important because circumstances change and when that happens, the risks of change '. If you do not know how often to review your fire risk assessment, a good starting point is to do on an annual basis, and whenever something changes in your workplace (such as new equipment , materials or practices).

If you do not feel confident enough about your own experience to carry out a risk assessment of fire, there are many consultants available who will fire the job for you.