Business Safety Solutions provide fire risk assessments for Landlords throughout the North of England and throughout the UK. As a landlord, you have a legal obligation to ensure a comprehensive fire risk assessment has been carried out, alongside ensuring you are reviewing the assessment in line with any building or internal changes.
In line with The Fire Safety Act 2021, landlords must undertake fire risk assessments for the safety of tenants and the building.
In this latest blog post, we’ll be covering the importance of fire risk assessments for landlords and identifying the key steps in conducting a fire risk assessment, as well as other essential information you need to know.
If you’re looking to book a consultation right away with Business Safety Solutions, you can call us at 01244 455277 or use our online contact form and we’ll get back to you promptly.
What is a Fire Risk Assessment?
Before we get into the legal requirements and key steps in conducting a fire risk assessment, it’s important to answer; what exactly is a fire risk assessment?
Essentially, a fire risk assessment is a systematic evaluation of a property’s potential fire hazards, as well as the measures in place to prevent fires and ensure the safety of occupants. It involves identifying fire risks, assessing the likelihood of a fire occurring, and evaluating the adequacy of fire safety measures.
Legal Requirements
As a landlord, and the responsible person, you are legally-obligated to carry out and review fire risk assessment(s) at your premises. Therefore, you are responsible for appointing a fire risk assessment company to comprehensively carry out the assessment (Business Safety Solutions) and upon completion, you’ll receive certification and proof to the local authorities.
It’s important that you keep this proof and written record of your assessment for any future checks from the authorities.
Non-compliance can lead to serious consequences, including fines or even imprisonment in extreme cases.
Key Steps in Conducting a Fire Risk Assessment
When it comes to fire risk assessments for landlords, Business Safety Solutions are here to help every step of the way. From identifying potential risks and hazards to putting safety precautions in place to eradicate or significantly minimise those risks, our team is able to provide a comprehensive assessment for you.
Here are the key steps in further detail:
- Identify – Business Safety Solutions will identify potential risks and hazards throughout your property where fire risks may be prevalent. Risks and hazards will be prioritised from most hazardous to least hazardous.
- Decide – The next step of the fire risk assessment is deciding who could be harmed and how. It’s also key in this second step of the assessment to decide who is most at risk from the identified hazards.
- Reduce – The third stage will be to reduce these risks to a level that is as low as possible.
- Evaluate – Analyse and evaluate the safety precautions that need to be put in place and implemented.
Involving Tenants
As well as conducting the four key steps above for your fire risk assessments, it’s also important to get tenants involved and in particular, make them aware about the important steps regarding creating a safe living environment.
For example, it can be good practice to educate tenants about fire safety practices, evacuation routes and the location of fire safety equipment. Moreover, ensure that you are encouraging all tenants to report and potential fire hazards immediately.
Regular Reviews and Updates
Once you have your fire risk assessment complete, that’s a great start, but it’s not time to rest on your laurels. It’s important to keep on top of your fire risk assessment through conducting regular reviews and updates.
For best practice, it’s a good idea to review at least once annually. However, if there are any internal changes to the property in the meantime, you should review immediately.
Fire risk assessments are a fundamental responsibility of landlords to protect the lives and well-being of their tenants. By understanding the process and following the guidelines outlined in this post, you can create a safer living environment and meet your legal obligations.
Remember, fire safety is not just a requirement; it’s a commitment to the safety and security of those who call your rental property their home.
Contact Us Today
If you’re looking for a 5-star-rated and trusted fire risk assessment company for your properties, look no further than Business Safety Solutions.
It all starts by contacting us which you can do in a number of ways. You can give our team a call directly on 01244 455277 which we monitor regularly. You can also use the contact form.
