How to Prepare for a Fire Safety Inspection

Fire safety is an essential consideration for any commercial site. As well as the moral responsibility, it’s also a legal requirement to make sure your building complies with the 2005 Fire Safety Order. As part of this, you may be visited by a fire safety inspector.

In this post, we’ll discuss what’s involved in a fire safety inspection and how to prepare.

What is a fire safety inspection?

As mentioned, a fire safety inspection takes place primarily to check your compliance with the relevant fire safety regulations. Inspectors will check your site and the activities that take place there with regards to fire detection and prevention.

An inspection covers all bases from the building’s structure, construction, layout and escape routes to fire detection and how an alarm is raised in the event of a fire. Inspectors will also speak to employees or tenants of a site about their fire safety roles and how aware they are of fire safety procedures.

The outcome of an inspection

If a fire safety inspection is successful, there will be no further action required. You’ll have complete peace of mind that your building is safe, so you can continue to focus on what you do best.

However, if the inspector comes across any problems, they’ll need to inform you and take action. For smaller issues, this could be done informally, providing advice on what changes need to be made.

If a more serious breach is identified, the inspector will usually issue a formal notice or even close down your site. The use of buildings can be prohibited or restricted until recommended changes are made to bring the site in line with regulations, which will obviously cause a major disruption.

Preparing for an inspection

Given the potential disruption of a failed fire safety inspection, the best course of action is to make sure your commercial site is prepared.

First and foremost, make sure your site is equipped with fully functioning fire alarms. Professional fire alarm servicing will check everything is working and flag any issues. It’s best to have this done regularly, as a fire safety inspection can happen at any time.

Next, ensure your site has a designated Responsible Person who is aware of the fire safety procedures. They should also carry out a Fire Risk Assessment of the premises at least once a year – identifying any mitigating any potential hazards and recording the changes.

Finally, you’ll need access to all of the relevant paperwork. That includes records of your Fire Risk Assessments along with a documented fire safety policy and emergency plan. It’s best to store these digitally as well as keeping physical copies, to avoid any important paperwork being lost.

Always prepared, never disrupted

Prevention is better than the cure. This is true of fires, but also of the inspections themselves. By staying prepared for a fire safety inspection, you can make sure your commercial site passes any inspection as well as avoiding the damage and costs of a fire.

At Volta Compliance, we offer reliable fire alarm servicing for businesses throughout Yorkshire. Our fully qualified electricians will carry out regular tests for your detectors, alarms, sirens and fire alarm panel to ensure everything is compliant and ready for action.

To find out more, give us a call on 0113 436 0402 or request a quote online.