In this article, Alex Macarthur, director at North West Fire Solutions, outlines why retail premises need a fire risk assessment, the various fire safety risks in these buildings, and much more.
What the law says: A quick overview
Most types of buildings in the UK need a written fire risk assessment by law, as per The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
A fire risk assessment is a matter of compliance as well as safety, so if you’re responsible for any kind of retail premises, then you must get a fire risk assessment carried out.
Who is responsible for organising and reviewing a retail building’s fire risk assessment?
The Responsible Person, as outlined in the Fire Safety Order.
This term can refer to an entity, such as a limited company, or an individual, such as a business owner or director.
The Responsible Person must make sure that the fire risk assessment and necessary compliance measures are carried out.
Why retail premises require a fire risk assessment
A fire risk assessment for retail premises is a legal requirement, so you need to have one regardless of anything else.
The reason it’s a legal requirement is that there are loads of risks associated with retail units when it comes to fire safety.
Because retail premises tend to attract high foot traffic from staff and customers, they’re potentially ever-changing, and their fire safety needs to be managed on an ongoing basis.
The most common fire risks within retail premises
The term ‘retail premises’ covers a whole range of building types, and no two retail buildings are the same.
Factors such as size and usage will influence the specific fire safety risks within retail premises.
When we work with retail premises owners and managers, we’ll typically ask questions like:
- What is the floor space used for?
- What is the business selling?
- What service is the business providing?
As a part of the fire risk assessment process, we’ll look at a business’s policies and procedures, making sure staff understand the fire safety requirements of the premises and that these requirements are actually being enforced.
For example, are there regular fire drills? Are staff being trained adequately in how to respond in the event of a fire?
And by ‘how to respond’, I don’t just mean what staff need to do to get out of the building for themselves.
They also need to make sure they get customers out of the building safely. They may need to close down certain areas of the premises if they contain dangerous areas.
It’s incumbent on the Responsible Person to ensure that whatever fire safety measures they have in place are adequate for what goes on within their building on a daily basis. They may find they need to review their fire safety much more frequently than owners of other types of sites.
The potential consequences of retail premises not having an updated fire risk assessment
In those types of sites where a lot of people are coming and going and it’s potentially an ever-changing environment, it’s easy to miss certain things if you’re not staying on top of your fire safety management and you don’t have a suitable, sufficient fire risk assessment in place.
If this is the case and there is a fire at your premises, the consequences could be terrible with respect to people’s safety.
Also, if you have a fire that spirals out of control—even if everybody’s safe and gets out okay—if you’ve not put measures in place that would have kept that fire reduced to a minimum, it could potentially end the business. You could have to close down because the damage is so extensive.
Again, though, each retail premises is different, and you need to speak to a fire safety specialist so that they can address your specific concerns and provide a risk assessment that’s bespoke to you.
The most common fire safety gaps within retail premises
Where we find that smaller retail businesses fall short in regard to compliance is their policies and procedures.
Quite often, they only focus on the basics of fire safety, such as having a working fire alarm system, proper lighting, and fully functioning extinguishers. They overlook the importance of those policies and procedures that could make a big difference in the event of a fire.
These policies and procedures are particularly important in this day and age, as many small retail premises are situated under sleeping accommodations such as residential flats.
There needs to be coordination between the retail units amongst themselves and also with the management company or the management organisation for the residential flats above.
This communication, and getting a fire risk assessment, will help retail premises owners pick up on the gaps in their fire safety management and enable them to make the necessary changes.
What a retail fire risk assessment looks at
A fire risk assessment is almost the same for every type of premises in the sense that you’re looking for potential hazards and risks and assessing who is at risk from these hazards.
With a retail building, there may be specific recommendations of what you need to do to be compliant or safe.
It’s a workplace that could contain a lot of staff, so that’s a potential risk factor to consider.
Going back to a key point I made, retail premises can attract many potential visitors in the form of customers.
If we compare these types of buildings with commercial premises that don’t attract as many visitors throughout the day, it’s not so easy to keep track of people.
That’s why policies and procedures must be in place to ensure that, in the event of a fire evacuation, those people are accounted for.
These are the kinds of details a fire risk assessment will look at. The risk assessor will go through everything to make sure the Responsible Person can answer the question, ‘What would we do if the worst were to happen?’.
The importance of fire safety training for retail premises staff
The Fire Safety Order states that every employee needs to have adequate fire safety training, which encompasses basic fire awareness.
This training looks at:
- How a fire typically starts.
- The different types of fire.
- What to do in the event of a fire in the workplace.
Much of the training is straightforward, but it’s extremely important.
People often assume they know fire safety, but they may not know one or two crucial things. That’s why having formal training could really help them. It will get them into a position where they and others will be safe should a fire occur in their building.
If you have a lot of people on-site on a regular basis, you may want to take things up a notch by undergoing fire marshal training, which includes fire extinguisher practical training.
This training is more comprehensive and delves into fire safety, fire safety law, and fire risk assessments in a lot more detail.
In addition to these two forms of training, we also provide fire extinguisher training. This allows people to have a go at using different types of extinguishers and become accustomed to the noise and physical action involved when using them. We’ve all seen a fire extinguisher, but how many people have ever had to use one?
Once they feel comfortable using an extinguisher, retail premises staff will have the presence of mind to quickly grab it if a small fire breaks out. By putting out this small fire, they’re preventing it from spreading out of control quickly.
Don’t leave your retail premises unprepared for fire
We’ve been going for 15 years at the time of publication and have carried out many fire risk assessments across different types of retail premises.
We can provide you with a comprehensive fire risk assessment based on our experience, knowledge, and qualifications.
Our experienced assessors and trainers have extensive backgrounds in all aspects of fire safety, and we are accredited by the Fire Industry Association, the UK’s largest fire protection trade association.
To arrange for us to visit your retail premises, reach out to us at 0151 665 0124 or email info@nwfiresolutions.co.uk.