Business or Property Owner? Are you meeting the latest Fire Safety Regulations?

As two of our fire technicians completed a refresher course on the latest regulations last week, we thought we would summarise the revisions to help you as business owners.
Although we have to work to regulations as soon as they have been released, it often takes longer for these changes to filter down to the ‘responsible people’ within businesses like yourselves. for a more comprehensive view of your responsibilities please read our ‘legislation’ section on the resources page.Please do not hesitate in calling us if you have any questions about what you need to do or whether your fire safety company are helping you in the ways they should do. telephone: 01282 861111

Revisions from BS5306-8; 2012

Responsible Person: Business Owner, Property Owner, Someone Responsible for a space.

Competent Person: Company with relevant qualifications and experience (BAFE and BSI approved).

• Extinguishers must be commissioned by the competent person and a certificate obtained. The supplier, responsible person or courier service cannot commission, install, service, or issue certification for fire extinguishers.
• Empty Buildings, Section 4.4 “The Responsible Person or Competent Person should assess the provision of extinguishers where buildings, or parts thereof, are unoccupied.
• Use of Powder Extinguishers, Section 5.4.3. Because of visibility and possible breathing issues which could temporarily jeopardize escape…… “Powder extinguishers should generally NOT be specified for use indoors, unless mitigated by a health and safety risk assessment”
• Extinguisher Signs, Section 6.1 “The position and type of extinguisher should be indicated on a sign, so that if the unit is removed, this can be identified during a safety inspection and a replacement ordered.”
• Class A Provision, Class A materials are generally present in all premises. The basic scale of extinguisher provision recommends in cases where portable fire extinguishers are the only means of first aid fire defence is at least a minimum of two extinguishers on any floor that offer a combined rating of 26A on each floor.

Remember these are just key changes that have been taken from a huge standard. If you need more help, please read the legislation section on our resources page or give us a call today.