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Are you liable?
Do you know your responsibilities? |
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After changes were made to the regulatory reform act in 2005, it is your responsibility to ensure your office or shop is meeting the latest in BS5389-1 fire standards and has had some form of fire risk assessment in plan. Should this not be in placed you are liable for what may happen should a fire occur in your building.
As the person liable for and fire incident in the building, you are responsible for the maintenance to help significantly reduce the change of a fire breaking out. Some of your responsibilities include:
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Have the set number of fire extinguishers for your building – this is 2 per floor |
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Ensure you and your staff are aware of your emergency evacuation plan |
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Install some form of sprinkler system to your building as a fast acting fire extinguisher |
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Remove potential ignition sources away to significantly reduce the chances of a fire occurring |
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| Failure to take on any of these responsibilities means that you are liable for what will happen in the event of a fire occurring. |
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Risks in your environment
Identification potential risk in Retail |
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As the responsible party of your office or shop it is up to you to ensure the appropriate measures have been implemented to ensure a fire does not occur and that an adequate evacuation plan is present. As the owner of your office/ shop you are required to perform an evacuation drill once every year to ensure all staff members are aware of all emergency exits and what they must do should a fire occur in the building. Should this not be undertook you are more than likely liable for what may happen – this could include death.
As you are liable for the lives of employees and customers to your shop/ office, there are a number of procedures that you must follow:
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You MUST provide employees with clear and relevant information on all potential risks and what they would do to reduce the chances of a fire starting. |
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You MUST consider the presence of any dangerous substance in your building and the risk that it may present to your employees and customers |
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You MUST provide appropriate training to your employees so they are able to execute your evacuation plan without harming themselves or others. |
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