The new Fire Safety Order introduced in order to replace the hugely complicated and highly confusing regulations relating to fire safety has certainly made a big difference in terms of simplifying the process and making it as much about fire prevention as it is about actually dealing with situations involving fire.
But there are also many problems with trying to fulfil the requirements of the Fire Safety Order, and many businesses and organisations have found that meeting the requirements of the FSO can actually be not only a time-consuming business but also potentially quite expensive.
As well as needing to call upon the services of fire risk assessors on a regular basis to ensure that the building or property is fully compliant with the requirements of the FSO, additional visits may need to be scheduled, or advice sought, whenever a change of purpose, redevelopment, expansion or other change to the way in which a building or section of the building is used. It will often be necessary to call out fire risk assessors to ensure that existing precautions, equipment, signage, fire doors, alarms and other aspects of fire precaution and safety are still sufficient.
It simply isn’t worth it to guess that arrangements and equipment put into place at the recommendation of fire risk assessors at some previous date will still be effective and appropriate after the changes have been implemented that affect the way in which the building is used. Calling out fire risk assessors on a regular basis can get quite expensive, and businesses may find that the total cost of calling out the experts can become so hot it might almost be considered a fire hazard itself!
However, there is an alternative, and one which is much more cost-effective, and provides a great deal of peace of mind. There are companies and organisations providing Section 32 Assessors access to fire risk assessors on a contractual basis. What this means is that for a set price, which is significantly lower than paying for several individual callouts each year, it is possible to call out fire risk assessors to carry out a partial or full fire risk assessment whenever necessary. Such contracts often provide access to a variety of servicing, testing and maintenance of fire safety equipment such as fire alarms, signage, fire telephones, emergency lighting and fire extinguisher inspection.
The only two alternatives include paying on a per visit basis, which can easily become quite expensive, or undertaking the training necessary to be a qualified expert in fire safety, which is even more expensive. Fire risk assessments and fire safety assessments are incredibly detailed, and whilst the FSO has been designed to provide a streamlined and understandable set of regulations and requirements, the devil can be in the detail, with a huge number of aspects that need to be considered.
Every business, organisation and building will have different requirements, different levels of risk and different issues which require a unique combination of fire safety solutions.