Do I need a fire risk assessment for my commercial property?

Do you manage a commercial property? Or have a portfolio of commercial premises to keep track of? When it comes to health and safety, there are lots of things to consider, and the fire safety of your building is one of the cornerstones of compliance. At Crysp, we understand that fire safety is a huge responsibility and a stressful part of being a property owner or manager. We’re all about streamlining health and safety processes to reduce stress, help you save time and keep your workplace safe. So, we’ve put together this handy guide to help you get to grips with a fire risk assessment for your commercial property.

Who is responsible for a fire risk assessment of a commercial property?

The responsibility of fire risk assessments falls to those in charge or control of a commercial property, including: the owner, the landlord, an employer and an occupier. These people are responsible for ensuring that the fires risk assessment takes place and that the property is compliant with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

However, the role of undertaking the assessments could be delegated to a specific person or member of staff, or even outsourced. If you are planning your next commercial property fire risk assessment, Crysp’s expert Fire Assessment Team could complete this for you. The Fire Assessment team will undertake an in-person inspection at your property. They will identify any potential hazards and create detailed action plans to help you keep the occupants of your commercial property safe.

What is a commercial property fire risk assessment?

It’s important for you to regularly review your property or business for any potential fire risks and to put in place preventative measures. Every commercial property, whether it is a business or office, needs to document this in a fire risk assessment. It is a legal requirement to routinely check the fire safety risks of your commercial property and, if there are five or more employees working there, there must be a record of this kept.

The five key steps of fire risk assessment for commercial property:

When it comes to a risk assessment, it can be hard to know exactly where to start. Thankfully, the UK government has outlined five key steps that need to take place during fire risk assessments. Here’s a breakdown of those steps and what they mean for your commercial property.

Identifying fire hazards

This means things that could start a fire in the property and things that burn. Things that could start a fire don’t just include naked flames, you should also think about electrical items and particularly things that create heat like toasters or welding equipment - this will be dependent on what type of work goes on inside the property, so there is no one-fits-all approach. Things that could burn include fuels like varnish and petrol as well as easily flammable materials such as paper, wood and polystyrene.

Identify the people at risk

This will be anyone in the building: staff, customers, visitors and contractors. It’s important to think about who could be at risk in a fire within the commercial property at any one time, and consider those who may be more vulnerable, such as the elderly or people with disabilities.

Evaluate risks, remove or reduce them and protect people

After steps one and two, you need to evaluate the identified risks within each building in your portfolio and work out how to manage these. You need to think about how these risks could be removed or reduced and what actions are in place to protect people in your commercial property in the event of a fire. This could mean installing better fire alarms, having fire extinguishers and removing flammable objects from areas where fire could start.

Record assessment findings, create an emergency plan and train staff

In this step you should have a record of all identified fire hazards in the property and what actions have been taken to remove or reduce these risks. Then you should have a clear plan of what happens in the event of a fire and training staff that occupy the property on what they need to do. This usually involves a fire practice drill and nominating certain staff to carry out the fire safety plans. If you are looking for more support with training, our consultancy service has over 100 health and safety e-learning modules and provides professional accreditation support.

Regularly review and update the fire risk assessment

Fire risk assessments of commercial buildings need to be completed annually, but you should consider updating your assessment when there are major changes in the building. When updating your risk assessment and plan some things to consider include, any fires or near misses, change of stock or potential hazardous items and changes to the building internally and externally. If any changes to the risk assessment are noted and the fire action plans updated, ensure that staff and those that use the building regularly are made aware.

When do you need to do a fire risk assessment for a commercial property?

You should conduct an initial fire risk assessment of the property when you first open your commercial property or start your business. Then you should review your fire risk assessment at least once a year after this. It is important to keep your fire risk assessment records up to date and regularly reviewed. Failure to complete regular assessments is against health and safety law and could result in fines or further legal action. Plus, regular checks are the best way to ensure the safety of employees and visitors in your building.

How to manage the fire risk assessments for your commercial property

Whether you manage one commercial property or operate across multiple sites, organisation is key, as you will be responsible for risk assessments across all your buildings. As you will need to keep clear records of your fire risk assessments, and regularly review and update these, you will need a system that keeps documents in order allows you to access evidence of compliance should an incident occur and inspectors come calling. Piles of paperwork in the corner of the office or in dusty filing cabinets may not be the best approach for keeping track of compliance across your commercial property.

That’s why we’ve created our digital platform to assist you with all your compliance needs. Our health and safety compliance software for commercial property owners/managers stores your records in one handy place, ensuring data is secure and available to those that need it. There are also automated reminders of when reviews or inspections are due and the platform will keep you up to date with all things health and safety. Whether you look after one property or a whole portfolio of commercial properties, we can transform the way you manage compliance.

Don’t worry if that sounds like a lot; with Crysp we’ll provide all the support you need to get set up on the platform. If you want to find out more, be sure to contact our team who can talk to you about how we can help meet your compliance needs. Our services are totally customisable to the needs of your commercial property, from fire risk assessments to digitising your records and more.