Jack Johnson

Fire safety is a major concern in business and each has to meet various safety standards and regulations. These shouldn’t be looked upon as unnecessary and frustrating. Compliance to fire safety regulations is very helpful in ensuring safety of lives. This might require acquiring a fire safety certificate and the appropriate steps to acquire them. Here’s a quick guide on how to ensure your business meets fire regulations.

What fire safety standards

These are specific rules and guidelines regarding a particular piece of fire safety equipment such as a fire alarm. Installing this equipment is a requirement for domestic, commercial, and industrial setting. Fire safety standards are a set of regulations regarding the safety of lives that everyone must adhere to. It is a form of careful quality control to save lives during a fire.

These standards aren’t made to make life hard for business owners. The most significant benefits of fire safety standards include:

• Guide to buying fire safety products
• Encourages appropriate preparation during a fire
• Guarantees relevancy to real-world risks and requirements

The fire safety rules are drafted by government officials, notable consumers, and independent researchers. These work together to come up with basic standards regarding fire safety for various safety products including fire alarms, fire extinguishers, fire shutters, and fire curtains.

Why meet fire safety standards

Manufacturers, sellers, and installers of fire safety equipment must meet fire safety standards. This requires meeting particular industry standards. You might have to become a member of the British Standards Institution (BSI) to understand in-depth knowledge about the specific requirements to meet. Perhaps you’re a business owner planning to install fire alarms in your premises. Ensure to get the fire safety certificate in London from your supplier. It’s a red flag to choose another contractor if the first one feigns ignorance about the issuance of this certificate.

Understanding fire safety risk assessment

This is a step business owners undertake to lessen the risk of fire in the workplace. Risk assessment allows pinpointing risks and how to eliminate them. The professional assessment allows identifying current strategies to prevent fires including fire alarms and escape routes. The assessment determines what is to be done to enhance fire safety. This allows issuance of a fire safety certificate when your business meets the standards.

The risk assessment emphasises on prevention and preventing the risk of fire. Taking appropriate safety measures can prevent various fires from happening. Additionally, having effective controls and procedures in your place will minimise the extent of any fire. Therefore, it’s very important to have a fire risk assessment at your premises to identify any potential dangers and risks to protect staff.

Enforcing fire and safety standards

The domestic buildings such as blocks of flats, the local Environmental Health Officer enforces fire safety standards. For sports grounds and other premises, the local authority issues the safety certificate with guidelines from the Fire and Rescue Service. Enforcing fire and safety standards for nuclear sites, offshore installations, construction sites, underground mines, and ships under construction is handled by the Health and Safety Executive.

Penalties for non-compliance

Every business owner must adhere to fire safety regulations. It protects you from an enforcement notice enforceable through the Crown Courts with criminal penalties and costly fines. You also risk two years in prison for failing to adhere to the fire safety standards. With strong vigilance to prosecute those who fail to comply, it’s very important to have the certificate handy.

Apart from getting served with an enforcement notice, you’re likely to face reputational risk. The local authorities will publish your name and business location after getting served with an enforcement order on the local fire authority website. This will put your business in a bad light since everyone will see it as not safe just in case fire happened on your premises. You also risk losing a lot of money in fines and time during the arbitration process.

Bottom line

Safety is a major consideration for any London business owner. This requires adhering to state regulations and laws regarding fire safety. You need to get a risk assessment by a qualified technician. This allows detecting any issues that might compromise safety in your workplace. It also allows appropriate remedies enforced to meet fire safety standards.