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Fire Safety
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 the duty holder is responsible for carrying out fire risk assessments to ensure their premises afford adequate fire safety measures to protect persons who will be using the premises.
Fire risk assessment must be revised whenever changes are made to the layout or operation of the premises. The introduction of smoking shelters are one such example where a revision would be required to the fire risk assessment.
The following considerations are examples of where control measures may need to be introduced:
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Accumulation of paper and card from discarded cigarette packaging causing an ignition risk from carelessly discarded smoking materials.
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Location of external smoking shelters causing obstruction to existing fire exits.
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The use of highly flammable materials in creating covered areas (non-flame retardant parasols, plastic sheeting, etc) allied with heating devices (propane patio heaters, etc).
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LPG storage illicit smoking in concealed places
Failure to take action that is required to address any identified risk may place you in contravention of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 which could result in the Fire Authority instigating enforcement action.
Further guidance regarding fire safety measures can be found on the West Midlands Fire Service website – http://www.wmfs.net/. In addition you may access http://www.wmarsontaskforce.gov.uk/ where a downloadable version of our "Keep Your Business In Business" package can be obtained free of charge. For further specific advice or queries regarding measures required to comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, your contact for the Sandwell area is:
Oldbury Fire Safety Centre
Old Park Lane
Oldbury
B69 4PU
Tel: 0121 544 7209
Fax: 0121 544 7344