The Regulatory Reform Order (RRO) is the primary legislation under which general fire precautions are now imposed on non-domestic premises. The emphasis of this legislation is to place responsibility on the 'responsible person' (usually the owner/occupier).
The Articles define the 'responsible person' and that the assessment must be 'suitable and sufficient' in order to ensure the safety of the 'relevant persons'.
The approach is now to adopt a risk assessment methodology. A systematic analysis must be undertaken which recognises the fire hazards, fire risks and introduces control measures, making up the Fire Risk Assessment.
The Department of Communities and Local Government Guides on the Fire Safety Order suggest that there should be five steps in a fire risk assessment:
My approach breaks the steps down into more detail to provide the following nine steps that are recommended for any fire risk assessment:
Assessments should be recorded and reviewed to ensure that they are appropriately detailed and rigorous.