Details of the fire safety risk assessment programme Background The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 places a statutory duty on each employer to carry out an assessment of the workplace for the purpose of identifying any risks to the safety of the employees, students, visitors and others in respect of harm caused by fire. The Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006, detail the arrangements that are required to meet the requirements of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and include specific directions for; • Fire safety arrangements • Elimination or reduction of risks from dangerous substances • Means for fighting fire and means for giving warning in the event of fire • Means of escape • Procedures for serious and imminent danger from fire • Maintenance arrangements • Safety assistance • Information for employees • Training Programme To facilitate the risk assessment process all relevant premises within the University’s estate will be categorised based on the risk posed to life and to property. The property risk will be assessed in accordance with the categorisation shown in Table 1. Additionally, risk assessments must be reviewed on a regular basis and whenever any material changes are likely to impact on the fire safety provision. Risk assessments will be completed for all relevant premises and reviewed in accordance with the target frequency shown in column 3 of the table below. Fire risk safety risk assessment frequency Risk category Building type Review frequency A All Sleeping Risks Buildings with high occupancy and/or storage of dangerous substances 2 years B All buildings not falling within Risk Category A or C 3 years C Storage Premises Non relevant premises Buildings with less than 5 employees 4 years The management of Fire Risk Assessments and reviews will be the responsibility of the Fire Safety Unit. A report will be produced with specific recommendations for the improvement of fire safety provisions within the relevant premises concerned. These will include actions required to be undertaken by the building manager (e.g. improving housekeeping) as well as actions that may possibly require structural modifications to the buildings, which will the responsibility of the Estates dept. These recommendations will be prioritised in terms of urgency on the basis of the following risk matrix:- RISK Actions required Timescale (rec) Trivial No action necessary None Tolerable Monitor the area and manage appropriately As required Moderate Efforts are required to reduce the overall risk 4-12 weeks Substantial Urgent action requires to be taken to reduce the overall risk 1-4 weeks Intolerable Access to the premises (or part) should be restricted Immediately Notification of the risk assessment findings will be forwarded to the Head of School, Estates, and the nominated local Fire Coordinator. A copy of the fire risk assessment for every building must be held in the Fire Safety Log Book for the premises located within each relevant building, for viewing by any relevant person. This article was published on 2024-07-22
