Summary
Stay compliant and keep your business safe with this essential fire safety checklist. Learn how to carry out fire risk assessments, alarm panel and call-point tests, extinguisher checks, emergency lighting inspections, and planned evacuation drills to ensure full fire safety compliance.
If you are responsible for fire safety in your business, there’s a checklist of items and issues that will need your attention.
Here, we cover everything you need to know, to help you stay up-to-date and on track with your fire safety protocols, covering:
Fire risk assessments
Fire panel checks
Fire alarm system testing
Fire extinguisher checks
Emergency lighting
Planned fire evacuation procedures
The Importance of Regular Fire Risk Assessments
If you employ five or more staff, you will need to conduct a Fire Risk Assessment and have a designated Responsible Person for fire security within your company.
Formal fire risk assessments should be carried out by registered, qualified fire risk assessment officers. These need to be done on a regular basis, especially if any structural or layout changes have been made to your premises. But, in between times, there needs to be a constant review of checking doors, fire exits and other fire safety related protocols.
Fire Alarm Panel Checks
Fire alarm panels, along with smoke heads, need to be checked annually by approved service providers. In larger premises, to avoid them all being done at once, these checks can be split up across the year, to ensure over the course of a 12-month period that all the heads are covered.
Fire Alarm Call-Point Testing
These tests need to be carried out weekly by a building manager or competent person, with one call-point being checked per week, on a rotational basis.
Fire Extinguisher Checks
These must be done annually by a fire extinguisher supplier. Extinguishers have a lifespan of between 5 and 10 years and need to be recharged or replaced at appointed times, according to manufacturer guidelines.
Emergency Lighting
Emergency lighting tests should be carried out periodically throughout the year. All commercial buildings should have a monthly ‘flick test’ carried out by a competent person, like a building manager, which should be logged, noting any emergency light failures. Six monthly, one-hour tests are required, which should also include notes of any emergency light failures. Annually, all emergency lights in both tenanted and common/landlord areas need to undergo a three hourly test.
Planned Evacuation Procedures
Planned fire evacuation procedures need to be carried out twice a year, i.e., every six months. There should be a designated rendezvous point where all building occupants should assemble before being allowed back into a premises. Any personnel with mobility issues need to wait at a refuge point, which should be clearly marked.
These procedures should be undertaken in conjunction with the assistance of fire wardens, who will be responsible for evacuating/covering each specific zone of a building. Fire wardens are responsible for checking that each area in their demise is clear of people, including the toilets/storage cupboards.
They should report to the person in charge of the planned evacuation, to confirm that the building is unoccupied. In a real emergency, this information would be imparted to the fire brigade. Any visitor/signing-in books also need to be checked, to ensure all visitors are also safely evacuated.
During a planned evacuation, at no time should the fire alarm system be silenced until all bodies are accounted for, or as instructed by the fire department, if they are in attendance.
Fire wardens and competent building management staff need to wear hi-vis jackets, for ease of recognition.
In Summary
Having a Fire Safety Checklist is a fundamental requirement in any commercial property. Regular maintenance and frequent monitoring of fire alarm panels, call-points. emergency lights and fire extinguishers - together with planned fire evacuations - are essential. Read more about fire safety in commercial properties.
Is your fire safety equipment in good working condition?
As a founding member of the NSI, which is the UK’s leading organisation for security and fire protection company certification, Justice Fire & Security are ideally placed to handle the installation and maintenance of all fire systems and safety equipment in your premises, including sensors, lights, extinguishers etc.
Is it time for your business to have a fire risk assessment, an equipment overhaul or upgrade? Our professional team of engineers are here to assist. To book an on-site appointment, call our main switchboard on 0845 468 9077.
