Education - Fire Risk Assessments

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"Statistics show that one in eight schools across the UK suffered an arson attack in 2011 costing around £65m."

Are you liable?
Do you know your responsibilities?

If your fire system does not meet the minimum legal requirements, you are liable. The Regulatory Reform Order (Fire Safety) 2005 states that as the property owner, head teacher or general manager you are responsible for safeguarding the lives of students and teacher should a fire occur – this includes loss of human life.

You must ensure that you are taking the necessary measures to meet the standards for fire safety. As the responsible party you must ensure that fire procedures are in place to reduce the possibility of a fire, this includes the entirety of your fire risk assessment (Maintenance of detectors and alarms).

Responsibility for fire safety rests with:

	Head teachers
	Owner of the premises
	Staff (Full-time and Part-time)

If you are a responsible party, you must adhere to the latest BS5839-1 British Standards and Regulatory Reform

Risks in your environment
Identifying fire risk in an educational environment

Arson can be a problem in schools, colleges and universities. In 2011, nationally 1 in 8 schools endured an arson attack, this costs money and could even costs lives. Within the education sector there will always be general public, visitor and student each person posing a risk to fire within the property, correctly identifying a risk and finding a method of preventing this issue is highly important.

Here are two essential steps when is comes to fire safety:

	You MUST provide all employees with clear and relevant information on the risks that have been identified by the current fire risk assessment. You should inform them about the measures you have taken to prevent fires and reduce the risks. Also how the measures will protect them if a fire were to occur.
	You MUST appoint one or more competent persons. This will depend on the size of the premises. It is the job of the responsible persons to assist in fire procedures (you can nominate yourself for this purpose). A responsible person is someone who is competent and has enough fire training to implement these measures correctly.

The Regulatory Reform Order
Do you know your new responsibilities?

Updated in 2005 the regulatory reform is in place to provide a minimum standard for fire safety within all workplaces. The reform states that as the responsible party you are responsible for the fire safety duties. These duties may be ensuring that the correct fire precautions are in place and that they remain current and up-to-date with changes.

As the responsible party you should ensure that a fire risk assessment has been conducted to regulation standard. This means that every element of the premises has been assessed and the hazards, sources and prevention methods have been identified.

Questions to ask...
Who is at risk in Education?

	Who is going to be at risk?
	Where and what are ignition sources?
	Can the risks be reduced?
	Is an up-to-date fire evacuation procedure in place?
	Is the cooking equipment safe?
	Is your schools electrical system safe?
	Are the science rooms safe?

DO YOU KNOW YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES?

In order to ensure you are not liable for injuries, deaths and damage to equipment in the educational environment as a result of a fire, there a number of procedures you must follow.

	You MUST provide your employees with clear and relevant information on all possible risks found in the fire risk assessment. This will ensure action can be taken should and incident occur.
	You MUST provide appropriate training that is needed for risks to be reduced. Keeping students and staff safe must be a top priority.

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