New fire safety rules affecting all non-domestic premises in England and Wales are now in force from today, 1 October 2006.
A set of guides has been developed by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) on how to comply with fire safety law, help with carrying out a fire risk assessment and how to identify the general fire precautions that need to be in place.
The Minister responsible for the fire and rescue service, Angela Smith, commented:
“Risk assessment is a process that should be familiar to all businesses and the self-employed across England and Wales. These new rules will remove burdens from business - replacing over 70 separate pieces of fire safety legislation with a single reform.
“If your premises complies with current fire safety regulations, then the major difference you will notice is that new rules are cheaper and easier to follow especially as, in most cases, you will now been dealing with one regime and one enforcer.”
CFO Iain Cox, chairman of the Chief Fire Officers Association National Fire Safety Committee, commented:
“Compliance with the new Order should be straightforward for those businesses that meet the existing standards. All employers and others who have a responsibility for fire safety are urged to check their procedures by using the self assessment available on the Fire Gateway website (www.fire.gov.uk).
“Fire and Rescue Services will be carrying out audits to check compliance and where standards are not acceptable they will work with the responsible person to identify a suitable solution.
“Formal enforcement action using notices or the courts is very much the option of last resort other than in the most serious of cases.
“Our over-riding aim is to reduce the numbers of fires, the number of people killed and injured and the risk to business from fire.”
The guides can be found on the DCLG website by clicking the following link: Fire safety law and guidance documents for business - Department for Communities and Local Government
