|
Fire Risk Assessment is an important part of fire safety in any building, and it is similar to other kinds of Risk Assessment. Simply follow the steps outlined below. Please also see the Fire Prevention page for additional information about fire safety and some typical fire hazards.
1. Look for the hazards
With Fire Risk Assessment, there are three kinds of fire hazard (which are known as "the fire triangle" as all three are needed for fire):
Sources of fire, known as Ignition Sources.
Materials that could catch fire, known as Fuel Sources.
Sources of oxygen.
Look around the building to see what could be a significant hazard. Typically, things like heaters, candles and electrical equipment could be sources of ignition, but Arson is also a possibility. Likely fuel sources come from books and papers, furniture and stored goods. Oxygen is a constituent part of air, but consider how ventilators, air conditioning systems and windows could contribute to the fire.
Don't forget to include areas of the building that you don't use often, like boiler rooms, basements and attics. A useful technique is to use a floor plan to mark on the hazards so that you can see exactly where the problems are: Simply mark a cross 'X' where the ignition source is or a 'O' where a fuel source is. An arrow could be used for oxygen sources if needed. Write next to it a brief description of the hazard. This method can be useful to help you see where the hazards are in the building.
2. Decide who might be harmed
A fire in a building can affect many different people in many different ways. The numbers of people that are near the hazard will increase the risks, so will the type of person. Initially, any person who is immediately next to the fire would be at risk.
As a fire increases, so will the number of people who are at risk from the fire. People trying to evacuate the building might be affected by smoke, and this needs to be shown in your Risk Assessment. The effects of smoke spreading within the building might be increased with ventilators, air conditioning systems and open doors.
Many Places of Worship are open to members of the public, so the assessment must also consider these people. It is also wise to consider how a fire might affect passers by and nearby buildings. In your assessment, make a note whether disabled, elderly, young children or babies are also at risk.
Note too that you must assess for cleaners, contractors and anybody else that come into contact with your building, paying close attention to those who work alone where they might not be made aware of an outbreak of fire.
3. Evaluate the risk
Using the information you have gathered about the hazard (like the number of people at risk), work out if the risk is HIGH, MEDIUM or LOW. With this system, careful judgement is needed because it is very easy to under estimate the risk (which is human nature). Risks should only be marked as low if you have done all that you can to prevent the risk. Medium risks are typical (showing there is room for improvement), and high risks tend to be for things that are very dangerous.
With fire hazards, the risk depends not only on the possibility of fire starting in the first place but how quickly it could spread. This could be because there are flammable goods near something that could start a fire. Decide if ignition sources are too close to fuel sources – this is the first stage of fire prevention.
You need to find out what you do to limit the risks and think about anything else you can do to reduce or eliminate the risk. These are often called controls and include things like:
Moving away fuel sources from ignition sources
Closing vents and windows that don't need to be kept open
Protecting flames, candles etc…
Using heaters and candles safely
Changing one cleaning substance for another
Fire exits
Fire alarms, detectors and extinguishers
Many safety precautions such as fire alarms and fire extinguishers need a schedule of maintenance and testing. This might include, for example, testing a fire alarm every week or checking fire extinguishers every month visually for damage or use.
4. Record your findings
Where fewer than five people are employed there is no need to write down the assessments, however, a written record is suggested as being useful for future reference. ChurchSafety suggests that all risk assessments should be written down.
You must be able to show on the assessment the following:
You have done a proper check for hazards in your building and you have asked other people;
You have taken action against the major hazards to reduce the risks to an acceptable level;
The things you have done are good enough and reduce the risk as much as possible.
The exact format that your assessment takes is totally up to you. It is strongly recommended that you use a clearly marked ring binder to hold all risk assessments in one place. If you have taken any actions to further reduce the risks, also make a note of this. Finally tell people about the findings of your assessments and a fire safety policy and evacuation plan is a good way to do this.
5. Review and Revise
Risk Assessments should be reviewed occasionally to ensure that they remain valid. For most Places of Worship, a review every 12 months should be adequate.
If you have never done a Risk Assessment before, it is a good idea to review them in about six months time as you are likely to be more able to spot hazards and make a judgement about the risk.
If there are significant changes, the Risk Assessment might need to be reviewed and this should be seen as part of the planning process of any new project or change.
Each time you review and revise your Risk Assessment, you are likely to identify new hazards, think of new control measures and make further improvements. Always aim to make improvements.
|
