5 Storey Building
Leafy Lane
Kent
EXAMPLE
Fire Safety
Risk Assessment
Date:
17Th January 2013
This Risk Assessment is carried out under the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety)
Order 2005 and in line with the DCLG guide for Risk Assessment in Offices and Shops.
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Fire Risk Assessment Example V1 HR O 27.3.13 DN
Record of Fire Safety Risk Assessment
Building use and address
Office accommodation and laboratories.
Postcode
5 Storey Building,
Leafy Lane,
Kent ME12 5JW
Name of person(s) with fire safety duties
Name and contact details of Assessor
Jan Monvid
David Nicholson, Health and Safety Adviser KCC
Tel: 01622 696268
Email: david.nicholson@kent.gov.uk
Assessor signature
Date of assessment
D. Nicholson
17th January 2013
Scope of Assessment: The scope of this assessment did not involve access to any of the laboratories.
Relevant Centre Information
Construction of Building: The building consists of a basement, ground floor and 3 upper floors. It was built
in the late 60’s and constructed with a concrete frame in-filled with brick and glazed panels.
Site Information: The site consists of a number of large buildings but they are well spread out and no
other buildings are in the immediate vicinity of this building. The site access is controlled by 24 hour
security at the entrance gate and 4 hour patrols.
Building Use: The building is a mixture of office accommodation and laboratories
Occupant Profile: There are less than 60 people in the whole building, all of which are able bodied and
there is no one with any special needs. There are no young people on site.
STEP 1
Identify fire hazards
Note: Action Points should be recorded at STEP 4
Fire hazards
Sources of ignition
Sources of fuel
Source of oxygen
Higher risk areas
Comments
 Electrical equipment
 Cooking equipment
 Boiler
 Smoking materials
 Arson




Furniture and furnishings
Paper
Waste materials
Flammable Liquids in Laboratories


Natural ventilation.
No additional sources of oxygen.



Laboratories
Boiler Room
Kitchenette Area
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Fire Risk Assessment Example V1 HR O 27.3.13 DN
STEP 2
Identify people at risk
List all persons potentially at risk from fire, including employees, residents, visitors and contractors
Employees - Less than 60
Contractors
Visitors
STEP 3
Evaluate the risk and adequacy of existing fire safety arrangements
Note: Action Points should be recorded at STEP 4
a) Likelihood and consequences
of a fire starting
Comments
Accidentally
Smoking materials: There is a no smoking policy for the building
with designated external smoking areas which are provided with
suitable receptacles for cigarette disposal.
Flammable liquid use: It is possible that a fire could be started
accidentally in one of the laboratories with the use of flammable
liquids. Flammable liquids are stored correctly in the work area in
fire resisting cabinets. COSHH assessments are in place for all
hazardous chemicals used.
Kitchen: There is a possibility that an accidental fire could start in
the kitchenette area. Electrical safety checks are carried out and
the area is provided with relevant fire fighting equipment. There is
heat detection and automatic door release linked to the alarm
system.
By faulty equipment, act or
omission
Deliberately
All portable electrical equipment is PAT tested and the hardwire
installation is inspected every 5 years.
The gas installation and boiler are serviced/inspected annually.
The site has 24 hour security at the main entrance and 4 hourly
patrols around the site. There have been no cases of arson on site
or in the immediate area.
The wheeled waste bins are secured away from the building.
Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
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Fire Risk Assessment Example V1 HR O 27.3.13 DN
YES
NO

b) Adequacy of existing fire safety measures
Reducing the likelihood of fire
Housekeeping and Storage
The protected dead end corridor leading to laboratories should not contain combustible materials.
There is a possibility that contaminated waste from the laboratory could be put into one of these
plastic bins.
Action Point 1: The assessor considers that although this is a low risk, that if these waste bins need to
be kept here, then they should be replaced with metal bins which would contain any fire should it
occur.
Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
Maintenance and electrical issues
YES

NO
None identified; all PAT testing, 5 year hard-wire installation testing and equipment servicing and
inspections in place.
Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
Restricting the spread of fire and smoke
Fire separation
YES
NO

A room on the third floor has been allocated as a small kitchenette area and also contains a
photocopier. Extra fire precautions have been added in the form of smoke and heat detection and an
automatic door release system. Although this system is not necessarily required in this situation, please
note that you should ensure that the door release mechanism is included as part of the fire safety
weekly fire safety checks.
Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
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Fire Risk Assessment Example V1 HR O 27.3.13 DN
YES
NO

Cavities
No issues identified
Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
Breaches in Compartmentalisation
No issues identified
YES
NO

Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
YES
NO

Internal linings
In the protected dead end corridor leading to the laboratories on the 3rd floor, there were a number of
notice boards. These are currently well separated and do not have a proliferation of old loose
attachments but this should be monitored.
Action Point 2: The notice boards in the protected dead end corridor are currently tidy and well
separated but these should be monitored to ensure that these do not become a possible means of fire
spread. Consideration should be given to notice boards that are enclosed; this will have a two-fold
benefit of reducing sources of fuel and preventing unwanted notices being posted.
The building is of an old construction and there was wood panelling within the protected stairwell.
Today’s standards would not allow this type of surface covering as it does not fall within the Class 0
classification. In the assessors opinion this does not create any significant fire hazard as there are not
any ignition or other fuel sources in this area.
Action required (Please tick)
YES

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Fire Risk Assessment Example V1 HR O 27.3.13 DN
NO
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
From external sources
No external sources that would contribute to the spread of fire identified.
Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
Means of escape and ensuring that means of escape can be used
Escape routes
YES
NO

Requirement: Where an escape route needs to be separated from the rest of the premises by fireresisting construction, e.g. a dead-end corridor or protected stairway, then you should ensure the
following: Doors (including access hatches to cupboards, ducts and vertical shafts linking floors) walls,
floors and ceilings protecting escape routes should be capable of resisting the passage of smoke and
fire for long enough so that people can escape from the building. Fire resisting doors to cupboards,
stores and service ducts that are not self-closing because they are routinely kept locked should be
labelled ‘Fire door – keep locked’ on the outside.
Cupboard doors and a door to an electrical installation were found to be open and not locked. The sign
on the electrical installation clearly states that it should be kept locked. Uncontrolled storage could
create a fire hazard, particularly if any combustibles were stored in the electrical cupboard. Any sparks
from the electrical equipment could ignite the combustible materials and cause a fire which could
compromise the escape route, especially with the door being left ajar as it was at the time of the visit.
Action Point 3: Cupboard and electrical installation doors on the protected stairwells were found to be
unlocked. These doors should be kept locked shut to prevent uncontrolled storage of possible
hazardous or combustible items. All these doors require signs on the outside stating, ‘keep locked
shut’.
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Fire Risk Assessment Example V1 HR O 27.3.13 DN
Fire resisting doors from the laboratories should be kept closed as the notices indicate, to prevent the
spread of smoke and flames should a fire occur in the laboratory. Smoke would easily spread into the
escape corridor, first along the ceiling then downwards making this route untenable in a very short
space of time. This corridor does not have smoke detection and therefore occupants of other rooms
may not be aware of the developing condition of the corridor.
Action Point 4: Management should ensure that laboratory doors are kept closed and not left on the
latch.
Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
YES

NO
Escape route lighting
Adequate emergency lighting appears to be in place on escape routes. Monthly/six monthly in-house
checks are carried out and the system is serviced annually by a competent person.
Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
YES
NO

Signs and notices
The final exit doors had the ‘fire exit’ sign on the actual door. This would not be visible if the door were
open. In this case the staff using this building will be familiar with the escape routes and the doors have
self closing devices, so the doors are likely to be in the closed position unless people are already exiting
by this route. The assessor therefore considers this acceptable.
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Fire Risk Assessment Example V1 HR O 27.3.13 DN
In the basement lobby there was a proliferation of signage, some of which were redundant and not
required. This will cause confusion and may mean that the signage which is important could be
ignored.
One office door which was marked ‘fire door keep shut’ was left open. There is no need for the
corridor that it leads onto, to be protected so if it is desirable to have these doors open the signage
should be removed. Signs should either be observed or removed if not required, or people may
become dismissive of them.
Action Point 5: Remove any unnecessary signage to prevent staff from becoming dismissive of
important signs.
Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
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Fire Risk Assessment Example V1 HR O 27.3.13 DN
YES

NO
Means of detecting fire and giving warning
System type
The building is covered by an electrical fire alarm system with battery back-up.
The system appears to be an L5/M category. There are manual call points throughout with additional
smoke detection in the protected stairways and adjacent to an automatic door release for the
kitchenette are. The escape corridors leading to the protected stairwells are not covered by smoke
detection. BS 5839 L5/M category is detailed below:
Classification L5 System is designed for buildings that have a particular fire risk identified which
warrants some special attention. For example if there is an area of high fire risk which is considered
worthy of having some automatic detection but a manual system is also needed, then this will be
termed as L5/M.
The system is regularly maintained with in-house weekly call point checks and 6 monthly inspections by
a competent person. Zones are simply divided by floor and listed below the fire alarm panel located in
the reception area.
Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
YES
NO

Means of fighting fire
Fire fighting equipment for use by persons
Portable fire extinguishers are provided throughout the building. Suitable types are used for risks
within the building. Weekly in-house extinguisher checks are carried out with annual servicing and
inspection by a competent person.
The building has previously been provided with hose-reels, but these have now been removed. This is a
suitable course of action to discourage employees from going back into the building from a place of
safety to fight a fire.
Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
Fire fighting facilities and access for fire-fighters
YES
NO

Good access is provided for the fire service to get within close vicinity to the building. Service shut-off
valves suitable signed. Two protected stairwells are provided which will allow access to upper floors.
Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
YES
NO

Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
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Fire Risk Assessment Example V1 HR O 27.3.13 DN
YES
NO

Fire suppression systems
Not Applicable
Managing fire safety
Fire safety policy
Suitable fire safety policy in place
Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
Emergency fire action plan
YES
NO

YES
NO

A suitable emergency fire action plan is in place.
Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
Fire safety information and training
Records of all fire safety training kept locally with within various departments throughout BRE.
Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
YES
NO

Fire drills
Fire drills are carried out at least once a year with records maintained. There is a system in place
throughout the BRE site whereby designated trained personnel sweep their area of responsibility and
collect a sweeper disc to be placed on the sweeper disc board at the assembly point.
Note: it is stated on the disc that where personnel do not evacuate, inform the safety officer at the
designated assembly point. Are there any circumstances where non-evacuation is acceptable? The
responsible person may wish to consider if this is an appropriate instruction for the whole site.
Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
Maintenance of fire safety measures
YES
NO

All in house fire safety checks are in place and six monthly and annual inspections by external
competent contractors are in place including: Fire Warning and Alarm System, Emergency Lighting, Fire
Extinguishers, Gas Safety and Electrical Safety.
Action required (Please tick)
YES
NO

If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
Recording information and keeping records
All records in good order and kept on site.
Action required (Please tick)
If you answered yes, record action at STEP 4
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Fire Risk Assessment Example V1 HR O 27.3.13 DN
YES
NO

Priority Attention
High priority
immediate action
required for
legislative
compliance
STEP 4
Medium priority
required for
legislative
compliance
Low priority,
considered good fire
safety practice
Action points
Priority
Action Point 1: The assessor considers that
although this is a low risk, that if these waste bins
need to be kept here, then they should be
replaced with metal bins which would contain any
fire should it occur.
M
Action Point 2: The notice boards in the protected
dead end corridor are currently tidy and well
separated but these should be monitored to
ensure that these do not become a possible
means of fire spread. Consideration should be
given to notice boards that are enclosed; this will
have a two-fold benefit of reducing sources of fuel
and preventing unwanted notices being posted.
L
Action Point 3: Cupboard and electrical
installation doors on the protected stairwells were
found to be unlocked. These doors should be kept
locked shut to prevent uncontrolled storage of
possible hazardous or combustible items. All these
doors require signs on the outside stating, ‘keep
locked shut’.
H
Action Point 4: Management should ensure that
laboratory doors are kept closed and not left on
the latch.
L
Action Point 5: Remove any unnecessary signage
to prevent staff from becoming dismissive of
important signs.
L
Person
Responsible
Completion
Date
Review the fire risk assessment if there is a reason to suspect it is no longer valid or if there has been
a significant change in the matters to which it relates.
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STEP 5
Review date
Reason for review
Assessment review
Review by
Outcomes of review
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