FIRE SAFETY CHECKLIST PERMANENT STRUCTURES

See www.firescotland.gov.uk for details of fire laws

Please tick (✓) as appropriate including the first question on Risk Assessment.

IMAGE: The checklist form shows the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service logo, the title “FIRE SAFETY CHECKLIST PERMANENT STRUCTURES”, the website “www.firescotland.gov.uk”, applicant and premises information fields, and the complete checklist with Yes, No and N/A response columns. The text in the form is transcribed above.

Declaration

IF YOU HAVE ANSWERED NO TO ANY QUESTION THEN YOUR FIRE SAFETY PROVISIONS ARE INADEQUATE AND REQUIRE IMMEDIATE ATTENTION

I agree to the information provided in this form being shared with the Fire Authority.

DECLARATION: I declare that the above Fire Safety Checklist has been completed accurately and that all inadequate provisions have been rectified.

Signed…………………………………………………….(Applicant)

Date…………………………………….

Print name……………………………………………..

You are requested to complete this Fire Safety Checklist and send it to your local Fire and Rescue Service at Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, 16 Harbour Road, Inverness, IV1 1TB.

Failure to do this may result in delay in the processing of your application and/or objection by the local Fire and Rescue Service.

IMAGE: The declaration page shows the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service logo, the warning “IF YOU HAVE ANSWERED NO TO ANY QUESTION THEN YOUR FIRE SAFETY PROVISIONS ARE INADEQUATE AND REQUIRE IMMEDIATE ATTENTION”, the agreement to share information with the Fire Authority, the declaration, signature, date and printed-name fields, and the postal instructions to Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, 16 Harbour Road, Inverness, IV1 1TB. The text in the form is transcribed above.

GUIDANCE NOTES

For FIRE SAFETY CHECKLIST

For compliance with

• The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 Part 3
• The Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006

To the Applicant

You have received a Fire Safety Checklist form as part of the application pack for your licence/variation. Please complete the form and sign the declaration at the end. By doing so you will declare that your premises are safe for your customers and staff, and you have complied with the fire safety regulations above. Please note:

• The Fire and Rescue Service may inspect your premises to confirm your compliance, or to enforce the regulations if necessary
• Your application will not be processed without a completed Fire Safety Checklist.

These guidance notes are intended as a basic guide to help you complete the Fire Safety Checklist. The notes contain basic guidance only. For guidance that is more detailed you should read the sector specific guidance within the information on (www.firelawscotland.org) or ask your local Fire Safety Enforcement Officer for advice.

Who should complete the Fire Safety Checklist?

You, the applicant, should complete the form. Within the regulations above you are considered the Responsible Person, as you will have responsibility for the management, including fire safety management, of the premises. You should also be the person most able to complete the Fire Safety Checklist (Appendix 1 or 1(a)) due to your knowledge of your premises, and to rectify any deficiencies before submitting your application. If you choose to nominate someone else to complete out the Checklist, you must still sign the declaration and take responsibility for any deficiencies.

How should the Fire Safety Checklist be completed?

The Fire Safety Checklist is a basic survey of the fire safety measures in your premises. It asks the same questions that you should ask when carrying out a full risk assessment. Answers are limited to Yes, No or Not Applicable (N/A) and you simply tick the relevant box. To help you, some boxes are blanked out, as these answers would be incorrect.

Take time to read these guidance notes and the form and then inspect/review the Fire Safety provision within the premises. Review your fire safety risk assessment (you could review it at the same time), log book and other relevant records. If you do not personally carry out any tests or training, speak to the person who does. These simple steps should give you all the information you need.

How do I know what is inadequate?

Most fire safety precautions are based upon common sense. For example, if a self-closing fire door is wedged open it is inadequate, but can be fixed by removing the wedge and instructing staff. Competent persons should maintain more complex precautions, such as fire alarm systems, and you should have records of this in your logbook. If in doubt, you could test a system to make sure it works.

If any fire safety precaution is inadequate, or you are not sure, answer NO. After the survey, you should plan how you will rectify the inadequacies.

Completing the Fire Safety Checklist Form

Applicant Information

Please ensure that your name and address are clearly legible.

Fire Risk Assessment

The fire safety Regulations above require a Responsible Person to carry out a fire risk assessment in the workplace. This is usually the person responsible for management in the workplace. The risk assessment should:

• Assess the risk of fire in the premises, and any control measures that can reduce risk,
• Check that fire can be detected in a reasonable time and people can be warned of fire,
• Check that all people in the premises can evacuate safely,
• provide suitable fire fighting equipment,
• Ensure that those in the premises know what to do in the event of fire, and
• Ensure testing and maintenance of fire safety equipment and systems takes place.

As you are applying for Licence under an enactment, there must be a written record of the significant findings of the assessment. Any action plan resulting from the assessment should also be recorded. The fire risk assessment should be reviewed at least once a year, or when there are significant changes in staff, layout process or fire loading in the premises. Note the checklist does not constitute the full Fire Risk Assessment required by the 2005 Act.

Escape Routes and Doors

All escape routes must be kept clear and available for use at all times that the premises are occupied. You should not store anything that would obstruct or any flammable materials on an escape route, even temporarily. For guidance, an escape route should not be narrower than any doorway on the route. Fire exit signs and notices are used to direct people to the escape route and as such must be visible and legible. If in doubt, try following the escape route yourself.

For security reasons an emergency exit door can be secured with a push bar/pad or similar device. These must work easily, without undue pressure on them. Emergency exits must not be locked when the building is occupied.

Some doors are fire resisting and self-closing. These are designed to stop fire spread, giving more time for escape and reducing damage. They are only effective if they are a good fit in the frame, close fully from any angle and are not wedged or held open.

Fire Fighting Equipment

The number, type and location of fire extinguishers should be determined by the fire risk assessment. Usually you will need to provide fire extinguishers for general firefighting and to cover special risks. If you have a kitchen, you will also need a fire blanket for the hazards associated with cooking.

General

The most common general fire extinguisher is the water type. As a rule of thumb, you should provide one 9-litre water extinguisher per 200 square metres of floor area, with at least two extinguishers per floor (or one per floor if the floor area is less than 100 square metres). Other types that can be used are foam, AFFF (sometimes-called light water or spray foam), dry powder or carbon dioxide, but the size needed varies according to the type and size of risk. Fire extinguishers for general firefighting should be sited on escape routes, at or near the final exit.

Special Risk

Risks such as computer rooms, electrical equipment, large fridges etc. will need fire extinguishers that are appropriate to the risk, do not cause injury to the user, or cause undue damage to the equipment. You should seek specialist advice about fire extinguishers for special risks.

Fire Warning Systems and Automatic Fire Detection

All registered premises should have a means of warning staff and customers that there is a fire, so that they can make their escape. The type of system is determined by the fire risk assessment and must take into account the layout, background noise, staff locations etc. and whether any person (staff or customers) can use the system without putting themselves in further danger.

The type of system can range from simple break glass call-points, with a bell or siren, to complex systems with automatic smoke or heat detectors, a control panel, automatic calling of the fire and rescue service and bells or sirens in the building. The alarm signal must be capable of being heard throughout the building, and in any outbuildings. All fire warning or a competent engineer, to the current British Standard or equivalent, should install detection systems. Mains electric systems must have a battery back up for the sounders and usually this will power the entire system in the event of a mains failure. If you doubt the existing system is adequate, either test it, or seek specialist advice.

All fire alarms should be backed up with a 999 call to the fire and rescue service, even where automatic calling is fitted. Members of staff or residents should be delegated to do this from a safe location.

Response to avoidable unwanted fire signals (false alarms) places an unnecessary burden on the resources of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and endangers the safety of fire crews and the general public. Disruption caused in your premises by false alarms places similar unnecessary burdens on your business, your employees and (where applicable) your residents. It is your responsibility to prevent false alarms, however the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is committed to reducing unwanted fire calls and will offer support and advice if requested.

Emergency Lighting

All escape routes, including external routes, must be provided with sufficient lighting for people to see the way out safely. In normal conditions, this can be a mixture of artificial lighting inside and street lighting outside. To test this, you could turn off the lights at night and find out whether you can walk the escape route safely.

To allow for power failure the fire risk assessment should include provision of emergency lighting. This will depend on layout and size of the premises, but should be sufficient to allow anyone in the premises to find the escape route and walk out safely.

Emergency Fire Action Plan and Staff Training

Your fire risk assessment should ensure that people in your premises know what to do if a fire occurs. You should work out a simple emergency fire action plan including:

• What to do if you (or a user or one of your staff) discover a fire
• How to sound the fire alarm
• How to call the fire and rescue service
• What to do if you (or users or staff) hear the fire alarm i.e. escape from the premises
• Where to assemble outside, in a place of safety

You should provide fire routine notices (sometimes called fire action notices) in public areas, staff rooms and corridors. These can be bought as pre-printed notices or notices with blank spaces that you fill in with information relevant to your fire routine.

All Staff should be trained regularly to ensure that they know what you expect them to do if fire occurs. Anyone with a special responsibility e.g. calling the fire and rescue service, or checking rooms, should be specifically trained to carry out their designated role. The emergency actions in the event of fire should be tested with regular fire drills. There are no fixed intervals for staff training, but all staff should receive training on their induction, and refresher training should be provided as appropriate. It is recommended that staff fire training be carried out at least once a year after the initial training. Details of the training and who received it should be recorded in the logbook.

Fire Drills

The frequency of drills for each building will be different and should reflect the level of risk. Fire drills should take place at least twice a year with each member of staff participating at least once a year.

Log Book

You are responsible for ensuring that all fire safety systems and staff training are fully effective. The best way to do this is regular maintenance and training, and the best evidence of this is a fire logbook that is used to record this. There is no fixed format for a logbook, but it should contain all relevant information e.g. dates and results of tests, dates and names from training sessions.

Testing and maintenance is usually covered by codes of practice and a competent, adequately trained or experienced person should always carry out tests. A competent person should carry out staff training. You may be competent to carry out some or all of the tests and training, but if in doubt you should seek advice.

WARNING: Failure to adequately maintain or manage any fire safety system may also be deemed to place employees and others in danger, which contravenes the Fire Safety Regulations above. This may lead to criminal prosecution.

Recommended frequency of testing and maintenance

*Staff training must be provided on induction. Permanent night duty staff require training that is more frequent.

Advice is also available on www.firelawscotland.org.

IMAGE: The final page contains the heading “Recommended frequency of testing and maintenance:” and a table listing Escape Routes and Doors, Fire Notices, Fire Extinguishers, Fire Warning System, Automatic Fire Detection, Emergency Lighting, Staff Fire Training*, Fire Drill and Fire Risk Assessment against weekly, monthly, three-monthly, six-monthly and annual testing or maintenance intervals. The table entries and footnote are transcribed above.