No one particular appreciates much more than I do, the challenging work, time, and care that goes into generating a higher high quality Fire Risk Assessment Report for your organization premises.

If you are the dutyholder, i.e. the employer, landlord, or any other person who has handle of the relevant premises you are needed by law to carry out an assessment of the workplace or, the relevant premises under section 53 or section 54 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 respectively.

The Fire Danger Assessment that is required by law to be carried out may possibly be performed so by, a “competent individual” who can either be somebody inside your business, or an outdoors contractor recognized as a Fire Danger Assessor. Picking the suitable particular person for the job might not be an straightforward 1 as the ‘competent person’ requires to have, enough coaching and knowledge, understanding, or other qualities according to the Fire Security Regulations (Scotland) 2006 Regulation 17(1).

Is your ‘in-house’ Fire Risk Assessor competent?

Unwittingly, some employers have charged their managers with the burden of carrying out this activity on their behalf, or, requesting that their company wellness and security practitioner is nominated as the fire threat assessor devoid of a moment’s consideration to their competence. In several instances the nominated “competent persons” do not have the appropriate qualities to carry out the fire security risk assessment or to see it by way of to a successful and satisfactory conclusion.

Statistics show that numerous assessments carried out in Scotland right now are inadequate or insufficient in nature exactly where the assessor has failed to recognize the fire hazards, effectively estimate the probability of ignition or to contemplate the consequences to life safety of the occupants, must a fire take hold in the premises.

Without having possessing completely identified & assessed, the fire hazards, and consequences to life in the premises, the assessor would be unlikely to come to the correct conclusion of the threat to life inside that constructing.

Indeed even for the seasoned “Security and Wellness Expert”, a fire safety danger assessment can be a time consuming, daunting activity exactly where the fire safety assessor could not even have the readily available abilities, background, or, knowledge to correctly determine the Important Findings, or to formulate, prioritise or implement the Action Program to mitigate, or even to retain the creating at its present fire threat level.

Fire Safety Consultants in Scotland.

Contracting out, or, outsourcing the Fire Threat Assessment, or the Fire Risk Assessment Assessment contract to a “Fire Security Enterprise”, or to a Fire Safety Consultant may possibly also have it really is pitfalls as some of our clients have previously found out to their peril, commonly when it is only too late and the invoice has been paid.

Scottish Government guidance advises-

“If you are seeking to employ a fire safety specialist, it can be challenging to judge the competence of firms and persons who advertise their solutions as fire threat assessors. The truth that a individual or enterprise is operating in the fire sector or that a person has preceding fire service encounter, does not imply that they are a fire safety specialist”.

I thus advocate that ahead of employing the solutions of a “Fire Safety Consultant” or “Fire Danger Assessor”, ask if they can provide proof of the following-

• Are they Correctly Qualified for the job such as Nebosh Fire Certificate? Fire Brigade fire-fighter courses or general Overall health and Security Practitioner courses are not ordinarily observed as enough.

• Are they listed on an Approved Register for Fire Danger Assessors such as the existing ones that are maintained by the Institution of Fire Engineers or the Fire Market Association? This can be simply checked on their web sites.

• Do casetrust have appropriate & Complete Experienced Indemnity Insurance coverage? Should really some thing go incorrect, e.g. wrongful tips, then this insurance is crucial as a redress. Employers and Public liability Insurance is not sufficient in this case.

• Most importantly. Can they provide physical hard proof of all of the above? No proof – no contract.

It amazes me to this day how retired firemen and health and safety practitioners are managing to hoodwink their clientele that they are competent by merely chatting about their life’s practical experience ‘down at the station’ or ‘what they done on their final job’, devoid of providing a scrap of evidence to their potential customer as proof that they are indeed competent to carry out the process.

If the person you are about to hire does not consider that they should produce documentation or offer you with proof of their competence, then I would have significant reservations about hiring them.

Remember – if you are the dutyholder described in paragraph 2 then you are the individual responsible for guaranteeing that a right fire risk assessment has been carried out and ultimately responsible for the competence of your fire risk assessor or fire safety consultant employed in the eyes of the law in Scotland.