Fire risk assessment in industrial estate

[Guest BrianEdn]

As the owner of a medium sized site with various individual traders occupying units of various size and incorporating retail outlets and industrial outlets/stores etc is the owner responsible for providing an overall site FRA especially for public access areas or is it down to individual traders to provide their own, or both?

Thanks

[Tom Sutton]

The employer of each premises is designated the Responsible Person (RP) and is required to conduct a fire risk assessment of their workplace which can extend further than the front door of their premises, check out art 2 interpretation which defines the workplace,

"workplace" means any premises or parts of premises, not being domestic premises, used for the purposes of an employer's undertaking and which are made available to an employee of the employer as a place of work and includes-

( a ) any place within the premises to which such employee has access while at work; and

( b ) any room, lobby, corridor, staircase, road, or other place-

(i) used as a means of access to or egress from that place of work; or

(ii) where facilities are provided for use in connection with that place of work, other than a public road;

However under art 5( c ) Any duty imposed by articles 8 to 22 or by regulations made under article 24 on the responsible person in respect of premises shall also be imposed on every person, other than the responsible person referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2), who has, to any extent, control of those premises so far as the requirements relate to matters within his control.

Check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/regulatory-reform-fire-safety-order-2005/

So any matters you have control over you are subject to those articles.

[Guest Brian Edney]

Thank you for prompt response. Understand employers responsibilities within individual units. Cant quite get my head around what the site owner is responsible for. Essentially this is a small privately owned site with various leased retail and industrial units within its curtilage. Industrial units are all stand alone, and well spaced. But, various small shops all within a common structure with max 2 employees per shop are located very close to a large Garden Centre and Café. Public have access to all retail shops and garden centre. The site owner is located remotely and is not normally present, but needs to know what his responsibilities are as far as public access/Egress, fire safety etc and is he responsible for providing premises fit for role, or is it the responsibility of the tenant to ensure safe working environment.

[Tom Sutton]

I all depends on who has control and should be included in the lease agreements. The RP is responsible for his/her workplace including the access and egress to the public thoroughfare providing they have control. If the landlord has control he/she has the responsibility, for example if a fire door is hanging off its hinges who has the responsibility to repair it, who installs the fire fighting equipment/ fire alarm and maintains it, if a sink hole appears in the site who has to make it safe, in short who has control.

I would assume the outside areas are the responsibility of the landlord, therefore has control, the fabric of the buildings would be again the landlord, if the stairs need repairing then the landlord, as he/she has control. The fire risk assessments would be the RP's (employer) and most of the article 8 to 24 theirs but those under control of the landlord would be his/hers.

Check out Fire safety duties in http://www.firesafe....ety-order-2005/ and the RR(FS)O.