News - Don’t take a risk on the Fire Safety Order
“Employers must face up to their responsibilities - the problem is that it requires expert knowledge”
Experts are warning employers to check they are up to date with their fire regulation responsibilities following the news of a £300,000 fine for one company which failed to do proper risk assessments.
The prosecution was instigated by London Fire Service, who discovered breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 when they responded to a fire call at the central London UK headquarters of Shell International Ltd.
In the largest penalty yet imposed under the legislation, after pleading guilty Shell was also ordered to pay £45,000 costs.
Since the Order came into force in October 2006, every employer must comply with fire safety law. It is the responsibility of the employer to ensure the workplace reaches the required standard and that employees are provided with adequate fire safety training.
The emphasis is on risk reduction and fire prevention so detailed fire risk assessments must be undertaken by companies to identify potential hazards.
“The Fire Service are showing they mean it and employers really must face up to their responsibilities,” said Dave Simpson, director of Intruder & Fire systems at GB Security Group. “The problem for many companies is that it requires expert knowledge. Certainly we’ve seen a huge increase in requests to include this in our annual maintenance service for customers over the past couple of years.”
London fire commissioner Ron Dobson, added: "This conviction shows that major companies are not exempt from prosecution and must take their responsibilities under the RRO seriously."
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