Fire Risk Assessment Template - Free Download

• Fire risk assessments are a legal requirement. 
• Each property you are responsible for will require a separate fire risk assessment.
• You could be breaking the law if you don’t have a fire risk assessment.
• You must regularly update your fire risk assessment. It is advised to be carried out annually and when significant changes to your building occur. 
• Recommendations state that you should hire a qualified person to conduct your fire risk assessment. 

It is the responsible person’s responsibility to ensure the fire risk assessment is complaint and sufficient. The competent person for small businesses is the owner unless there is an alternative appointed person. This does not, however, mean you have to carry out the fire risk assessment yourself. 

You can appoint a qualified and competent fire risk assessor to do this on your behalf, for example, someone with third-party accreditations or registered with a scheme such as The BAFE SP205 Scheme, which covers Life Safety Fire Risk Assessment. On the other hand, many fire safety training courses are available to help you build confidence in conducting an assessment.

As with any safety risk assessment, a fire risk assessment requires you to consider who is at risk should a fire occur. All individuals are at risk of fire within your building; however, you should consider the different people within your building at one given time.

Depending on the premises type and if it is accessible to the public, you must analyse who is at risk, including your tenants, employees, lone and evening workers, children, customers and even vulnerable people and the elderly.

We highly advise that the fire risk assessment is conducted by someone with the required knowledge, qualifications, and understanding of fire safety. However, in smaller premises (particularly ground and first floor) with a simple layout, you might be able to complete the fire risk assessment yourself.

Follow our fire risk assessment self-assessment template to guide you through the process and cover all areas required within your building. With a suitable template, completing your risk assessment should be straightforward. You can complete different sections to ensure you’ve covered all requirements.

Knowing how a fire occurs will help you understand the hazards that can cause it. Fire starts when heat (including ignition sources) comes into contact with a fuel source and oxygen. Multiple sources can cause a fire to start by generating heat, such as electrical equipment, heaters, lights, cigarettes, etc.

You must consider which type of building you have and which hazards exist to allow you to put safeguards in place correctly. The materials with your property that will burn in the event of a fire must also be an essential factor for your assessment and can include products such as paper/cardboard, flammable equipment, and building structures.

With all findings recorded, you can now access the proactive measures you can implement to reduce the fire risk within your premises. It is essential to consider all steps you can put in place to alert you should a fire occur. You must consider the following elements:

• Fire alarms and smoke detectors to alert you in the event of a fire
• fire extinguishers and fire blankets to prevent the spread of small fires
• Emergency lighting and exit routes to ensure everyone can safely exit the building
• Passive fire protection, including fire doors and fire stopping
• Systems to inform the fire department and others in the building

It would help if you also considered situations where fires could occur without being noticed. Some examples would be at night, in areas with low visibility, evenings and weekends where minimal people are on site.

Recording your findings is crucial, and any preventative measures
put in place must be noted. With alert systems in place, you need to ensure that your employees know the procedure and that guidance is readily available to those entering your building.

Training on all fire safety equipment is highly advised, as is regular testing and fire safety drills. Any new employees should be given the relevant fire safety training during their induction period.

It is best practice to ensure that several staff members are trained to be fire safety officers, as this helps implement all measures and procedures as needed. Fire safety procedures within premises are fundamental, so ensuring anyone who has access to or uses the premises is aware of these procedures is crucial.

Conducting a fire risk assessment identifies and helps you record all elements required to prevent fire in your premises.

Over time, you may see changes to your procedures; therefore, a regular risk assessment review is crucial.

If there are changes to your work, building layout and even the equipment you use, they should be all factored into your evaluation. as standard protocol, you must review your risk assessment after a fire or if there was a close call. This is so you can record all incidents and the new measures to prevent them from occurring again.

Fire risk assessments can be a daunting task as it comes with a lot of responsibility, but many sources of information and guidance are available to help you conduct this. 

• Fire Safety resources provide relevant information about fire hazards and how to prevent fire to The Health and Safety Executive.
• There are fire risk assessment guides for businesses on gov.UK.

If you have any queries regarding help with your fire risk assessment, contact our team for any guidance or advice, or if your premises requires an advanced assessment.