Responsible Person

[Georgina]

Hi,

I am a Business Manager at a school and I have a responsibility to manage health and safety and fire. I have been speaking to the headteacher about reviewing the fire management policy. Within the policy highlights who the responsible person is. Our headteacher has stated that my name should be detailed at the responsible person. However, shouldn't this be the headteacher or the Trust, as the employer? or can you have more than one responsible person - headteacher, care taker, business mananger, Trust?

[AnthonyB]

The employer remains the Responsible Person in law. You sound like you are being asked to be a Competent Person to assist the Responsible Person.

Your employer remains legally liable, although other individuals can also be liable if a matter under their control was inadequately dealt with. For example there have been two separate care homes convicted over the years for fire safety issues where in addition to the employer/body corporate being convicted in addition in one case a fire alarm engineer and in another a care home manager were both convicted for their part in the offences.