Fire Risk Assessment

• Document No.

• Audit Title

• Client / Site

• Conducted on

  Date

• Prepared by

• Location
  Address

• Personnel

1 The Building

• No of floors:

• Floor area: (per floor)

• Brief details of construction:

• Occupancy type:

2 The occupants

• Maximum number of occupants:

• Maximum number of occupants at any given time:

• Maximum number of members of the public at one time:

3 Occupants at special risk

• Sleeping occupants: Nil

• Disabled occupants: Nil

• Occupants in remote areas: Nil

• Lone workers: Nil

• Other activities: Designing, cutting and manufacture of upvc window frames. Glazing and glass cutting. Storage of finished products. Fitting of locks for window units. Administrative and secretarial tasks associated with manufacturing upvc window units. Vehicle loading and unloading of raw materials and finished products in designated loading bays in both units.

4 Fire loss experience

• None recorded.

5 Other relevant background

• These two industrial units are in addition to the manufacturers main factory site in Torquay. Currently in the process of acquiring Unit 3 on the same complex for which a further FRA will be required in due course.

6 Electrical sources of ignition

• Are reasonable measures taken to prevent fires of electrical origin? No.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is the fixed wiring installation periodically tested and inspected?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are portable appliances tested/inspected? Some have been PAT tested in the past but these are now all out of date.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is there a suitable policy about the use of personal electrical appliances? No policy in place.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is there a suitable limitation on the use of trailing leads and adapters? No current policy and no limitations imposed.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Comments and hazards observed: See attached photographs.

7 Smoking

• Are reasonable measures taken to prevent fires as a result of smoking? No non-smoking policy observed. No designated smoking facility.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is smoking prohibited in the building? Yes, but no non-smoking policy in place.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is smoking prohibited in appropriate areas? Yes, in the units.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there suitable arrangements made for those who wish to smoke? No, No arrangements in place.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is the appropriate smoking prohibition notice displayed at the building's entrance? No sign apparent in either unit.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Comments and hazards observed: Staff were observed smoking outdoors and vaping in the loading bay.

8 Arson

• Does the basic security against arson appear reasonable? No. The large recycling skip adjacent to the unit was open and unguarded. The loading bay doors and main pedestrian entrance to both units were unsecured throughout the visit. The CCTV system is inoperative.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is there sufficient control of unnecessary fire load in close proximity to the building or available for ignition by outsiders? No. The outside recycling facility is open to the public and there is a large store of cardboard under tarpaulins in Austin's car park in between the two units.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Comments and hazards observed: Security is generally poor but the CCTV could be utilised to watch activity in the adjacent car park.

9 Portable heaters and heating installation

• Is the use of portable heater avoided as far as reasonably practicable? No. Portable heaters are used in the office of both units.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• If portable heaters are used, are the more hazardous types (radiant bars and LPG) avoided? Yes.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• If portable heaters are used are suitable measures taken to minimise the risk of ignition of combustible materials? No. See attached photographs.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are fixed heating installations subject to regular maintenance? No maintenance records available.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Comments and hazards observed: Portable electric convector heaters are in use in both offices. One was running from an extension lead. No PAT testing labels observed. The upper floor of Unit 5 appears to have an air conditioning unit in place but no maintenance records were available at the time of inspection.

10 Cooking

• Are reasonable measures taken to prevent cooking fires? No policy or signs in place.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are filters changed and ductwork cleaned regularly? Not applicable.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are suitable extinguishers available? Yes.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Comments and hazards observed: Cooking facilities in Unit 5 are limited to a microwave oven, industrial water heater and a kettle in Unit 4. No signage in any designated cooking area. No extinguishers available in Unit 4.

11 Lightning

• Has the building an effective lightning protection system? None observed.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Comments and hazards observed: To be confirmed.

12 Other significant ignition sources that warrant consideration

• List other ignition sources: Flammable hazardous materials.

• Comments and hazards observed: No separate storage facility for flammable hazardous materials.

13 Housekeeping

• Is the standard of housekeeping adequate? No.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are combustible materials separated from ignition sources? No.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is the unnecessary accumulation of combustibles and waste avoided? No.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is there appropriate storage of hazardous materials? No.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are combustible materials stored appropriately? No

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Comments and hazards observed: Flammable hazardous materials are stored anywhere in the units and were observed in the office areas. There is a redundant LPG cylinder adjacent to the main electrical distribution and fuse panel in Unit 4 - see attached photo.

14 Hazards introduced by outside contractors and building works

• Is there sufficient control over works by outside contractors (e.g. Permits to work & hot works permits)? No policy in place for these units.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are fire safety conditions and instructions communicated to contractors? None evident.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are in-house maintenance personnel sufficiently controlled? Not applicable.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Comments and hazards observed: The redundant LPG cylinder should be disposed of as soon as possible.

15 Means of escape from fire

• Is the building provided with adequate means of escape in case of fire? Yes.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there sufficient exits? Yes.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are exits easily and immediately openable where necessary? Yes.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Do fire exits open in the direction of travel? Not on the upper floors.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Have sliding or revolving doors been avoided as fire exits? N/A

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there adequate means of securing exits? Yes.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there reasonable distances of travel where there is a single direction of travel? yes

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there reasonable distances of travel where there are alternative means of escape? Yes.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are escape routes adequately protected? tbc

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there suitable fire precautions for all inner rooms? No.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are escape routes unobstructed? Yes.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there suitable means of escape for disabled occupants? N/A

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Comments and observations:

16 Measures to limit fire spread and development.

• Is there a sufficient standard of compartmentalisation? tbc

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are linings that promote fire spread avoided as far as reasonably practicable? tbc

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Comments and observations: The build standard of the upstairs office accommodation needs to be further investigated.

17 Escape lighting

• Is an adequate standard of escape lighting provided? In Unit 5 yes, but it is mostly unserviceable. In Unit 4, no.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Comments and observations: Emergency lighting in Unit 5 has 'failed' stickers attached to some luminaires. Most luminaires throughout Unit 5 have battery failure indications.

18 Fire safety signs and notices

• Are fire safety signs and notices suitable and sufficient? No

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Comments and observations: Signage in both units is poor. The Health and Safety Law poster in Unit 5 is out of date and has no contact data.

19 Means of giving warning in the event of fire

• Is a manually operated electrical fire alarm system provided? Yes. Unit 5 has a AFD system installed complete with smoke detectors and call points. Unit 4 has a wall-mounted rotary fire bell.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is automatic fire detection provided? In Unit 5 only.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is there remote transmission of alarm signals? tbc

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Comments and observations: Nobody on site during the inspection could tell me the last time they had a fire evacuation test or when the fire alarm was last tested. There are no records available for checking this. One of the call points in Unit 5 is unserviceable - see attached photo. Other call points are partially obscured by manufactured window units. There is no Action poster at any call point.

20 Manual fire extinguishing appliances

• Is there suitable and sufficient provision of portable fire extinguishers? No.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are hose reels provided? No.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Comments and observations: In Unit 5 some extinguishers are still in date and serviceable from the contract with Firewatch but will expire in December 2017. Suitable and Sufficient fire extinguishers are available in this Unit. There are only two extinguishers in Unit 4 and these are out of date and unserviceable. Furthermore, they are hidden from view by raw materials,

21 Relevant automatic fire extinguishing systems

• Type of system: tbc

• Comments and observations: The AFD was not tested in Unit 5.

22 Other relevant fixed systems

• Type of system: tbc

• Comments and observations: Consideration should be given to providing Unit 4 and Unit 3 (when acquired) with the same system.

23 Procedures and arrangements

• Person responsible for fire safety: Not recorded.

• Are there competent persons available to assist in implementing fire safety arrangements? Yes, after the relevant training.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are appropriate fire procedures in place? (including arrangements for calling the fire service) No.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there people nominated to respond to fire? No.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is there appropriate liaison with the fire service? No

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Do routine in-house inspection of fire precautions take place? No.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Comments and observations: Staff have yet to be assigned responsibilities and/or attend the relevant training. There is no Fire policy currently in place for either unit and there are no current records for any periodic checks of either fire documentation or equipment.

24 Training and drills

• Are staff given instruction on induction? No. No training records available.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Do staff receive occasional refresher training? No. No training records available.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are staff with special responsibilities given appropriate training? No training records available.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are fire drills carried out at least twice a year? No. No records available.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

25 Testing and maintenance

• Is the workplace adequately maintained? No.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is there weekly testing and periodic servicing of the fire detection and alarm system? No

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is there monthly, six-monthly and annual testing of the emergency lighting? No

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is there annual maintenance of fire extinguishing equipment? No. Previous contract with Firewatch has ended.

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is there annual inspection and test of the lightning protection system? No

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Other relevant inspection and test: No fixed wire installation tests available. No other maintenance records available for gas, compressed air or electrical systems.

• Comments and observations: There is no current regime of inspection or maintenance in this location.

26 Records

• Are there records of fire drills? No

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there records of fire training? No

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there records of fire alarm tests? No

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there records of emergency lighting tests? No

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there records of maintenance and testing of other fire protection systems? No

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Comments and observations: tbc

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