Business Fire safety

By: gardner antony21 gardner antony21


Advantages of an online fire risk assessment over traditional risk assessment

A fire risk assessment is mandatory as per UK law and no matter what the nature of the business, a fire risk assessment has to be carried out initially as well as at periodic intervals. Non compliance to the law can result in fine, or in severe cases closure of business, not to mention unsafe working conditions are a risk to both the business owner as well as the employees.

Today there are primarily two ways by which a business owner can carry out a fire risk assessment, the first and the older method is to hire a fire and safety firm to send across a private fire safety officer. The private fire safety officer usually charges by the hour, and takes a couple of days to carry out a comprehensive inspection of the premises. The advantages of using the services of a private fire safety officer are that a private fire safety officer is an experienced individual and has probably worked on a similar scenario before. In either case hiring a private fire safety officer is a good idea if you are a large firm, or have little time to be compliant with UK regulations.

In addition a private fire safety officer has probably already worked on a similar business, and has a fairly good idea as to what potential fire hazards exist. Hiring a private fire safety officer is a good idea if you are short on time, or have a very large organization. The problem is that not all businesses can afford to pay repeat fees to a fire safety organization, since fire safety assessments have to be carried out periodically.

No matter what the reasons, DIY (do it yourself) is now an option with fire risk assessments as well, all it takes is to log on to a site that offers online fire risk assessment and follow the instructions. A very good example of such a site is www.myfireofficer.com; the website gives clear and lucid instructions on how to carry out an online fire risk assessment. The advantages are immeasurable for a small business that cannot afford paying a lot of money to a fire safety organization. In addition online fire risk assessments have no time restrictions as there is no hourly charge for using the services. There is another advantage for business that likes to keep a low profile, or where confidentiality is a concern (government suppliers is a good example). In such a case irrespective of the price, an outside individual visiting various production and storage areas is not an option.

So in essence not only are online fire risk assessments cheaper, they also allow a business to carry out the fire risk assessment at their own leisure, in addition any privacy concerns are taken care of as only company employees are responsible for carrying out the fire risk assessment. If you are a small business owner, or are simply looking to save some money on hefty consultation charges, then an online fire risk assessment is a good idea.



Antony gardner is the author of this article on fire risk assessment. Find more information about fire regulationshere.