Fire Hazards

According to the Department of Communities and Local Government (Fire Statistics Monitor to 30 September 2007) there were 31,100 fires involving premises other than dwellings, which involved 32 fatalities. There were 64,800 deliberate (primary) fires in the year ending 30 September 2007.

Fire Hazards

To appreciate the means of assessing the risk of fire, the first step is to understand fire hazards and these will include:

• sources of ignition, which may cause a fire
• combustible and flammable materials in the workplace
• structural features, which could aid the spread of fire
• people at significant risk from fire, including visitors, members of the public and other employees
• unusual sources of ignition, which may be introduced during maintenance or building refurbishment work.

Legal Requirements

In England and Wales, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRFSO) is the current and only general legal requirement for fire safety. The fire safety regime in Scotland is contained in Part III of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006. The approach parallels the requirements found in RRFSO. For Northern Ireland, the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 introduced parallel powers.

In addition to the general legislation, there are some specific items of legislation which relate to fire hazards specifically: the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR), which contain a duty to eliminate or reduce risks to safety from fire, explosion or other events arising from the hazardous properties of dangerous substances in connection with work, and the Building Regulations 2000 Approved Documents B (2006 edition) and M (2004 edition), which deal with fire safety and access to and within buildings.

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