Fire Safety for Commercial/Business Premises
Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service’s (TWFRS) Protection and Technical team is responsible for making sure that commercial/business premises are regularly checked to ensure they have proper fire safety plans in place and to ensure they comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO).
They identify commercial premises which may be at higher risk of fire and work with owners/occupiers to make sure that they have proper plans in place to ensure that they and anyone who may use their premises are safe from fire.
TWFRS has a team of 31 staff working in the Protection and Technical department. They are managed by five Station Managers and work in the five local authority districts in Tyne and Wear (Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside). The team are trained in all aspects fire safety and work with local partners like local councils and the Health and Safety Executive to ensure that the law is upheld.
What is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005?
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 came into effect in October 2006 and replaced over 70 pieces of fire safety law.
The FSO applies to all non-domestic premises in England and Wales e.g. offices, shops, care homes, community halls, pubs, clubs, restaurants, schools, marquees, hotels, hostels, factories and warehouses. It also includes the common parts of blocks of flats and houses of multiple occupation (HMOs). The law applies to anyone who is:
- responsible for business premises
- an employer or self-employed with business premises
- responsible for part of a dwelling where that part is solely used for business purposes
- a charity or voluntary organisation
- a contractor with a degree of control over any premises
- providing accommodation for paying guests.
Under the FSO, the responsible person must carry out a fire safety risk assessment, and implement and maintain a fire management plan.
A fire management plan includes ensuring fire exits meet legal requirements and are not blocked, that appropriate fire alarms systems are in place, maintained and working and that staff are trained. This is to protect staff working in the premises, as well as visitors and customers.
Audit
Fire and rescue services areresponsible for ensuring that commercial premises are regularly audited to ensure they have the correct fire safety arrangements in place. Currently, TWFRS has responsibility for over 38,000 commercial premises in the Tyne and Wear area. Each premise is given a ‘risk’ rating and checked accordingly i.e. the higher the risk rating, the more often it is checked. Places like residential care homes and hospitals which provide sleeping accommodation are considered ‘high risk’ and are, therefore, checked on an annual basis. Smaller premises like corner shops may only be audited by the fire and rescue service once every ten years.
TWFRS has a rolling programme of checks of commercial premises, averaging around 4,500 per year. On an ad hoc basis, the Protection and Technical team carry out ‘themed’ inspections, for example, inspecting and providing advice and support to pubs/restaurants/licensed premises etc e.g. ‘Candle with care’ initiative in 2008 which highlighted the dangers of naked flames and candles among other things. The team also holds regular fire safety seminars for businesses to remind them of their responsibilities.
Enforcement
TWFRS has the power to serve enforcement notices on individuals who fail to comply with the FSO. This can take the form of informal enforcement such as general advice and education or formal enforcement where individuals are given a period of time to make improvements to the fire safety precautions in a premises. TWFRS also has further powers to restrict the use of part or all of a premises where the risk to employees/people using the premises is too great. This is a prohibition notice and is served on the responsible person. These can be used if informal enforcement advice has been ignored.
Prosecution
In a rare number of cases, TWFRS has prosecuted where conditions are so bad that lives have been put at risk in the event of a fire. Owner/occupiers are liable to heavy fines and, in the most severe cases, a custodial sentence if found guilty. Most recently, TWFRS successfully prosecuted Jesmond Court Ltd for breaching fire safety regulations which led to a customer suffering serious burns from a tealight placed on a shelf in Mr Lynch’s bar in Jesmond in November 2007, and in September 2008 Ultimate Leisure, owners of Sea Nightclub, were charged for a similar incident where a customer received serious burns.
Contact details for more information
Michelle Atkinson, Corporate Communications Manager, 0191 444 1542 or michelle.atkinson@twfire.gov.uk
Lucy Dixon and Nicci Westgarth, Corporate Communications Officers, 0191 444 1513 or corporatecommsofficer@tw.fire.gov.uk
Julie Knox, Corporate Communications Officer, 0191 444 1725 or Julie.knox@twfire.gov.uk.
Website – www.twfire.gov.uk
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