Nurseries – 5 easy steps to satisfy any fire safety inspector or auditor

photo of a nurseryFirst things first thanks for blogging with us. 

After talking with many nursery managers / owners we thought that it could be useful to you if we wrote a blog post to put together as much useful information on one page about fire safety for nurseries as we could.

We decided to do that so you can see what’s changed in Scotland  and who is responsible for fire safety since it all changed in 2005 with the introduction of the “Fire Scotland Act 2005“.

We wanted to put as much information on one brief, easy to read article, where you can  find all the publications and links provided by the Care inspectorate and the Scottish Government about “Educational and day care for children premises”. 

Fire Safety Check

  fire training at oran mor glasgow

 

What do I have to do to comply and make my business  fire safe for the future?

5 easy steps to satisfy auditors or inspectors:

  1. Fire train my staff at least once a year.
  2. Have a fire risk assessment  (FRA) done or reviewed by a competent person on an annual basis.
  3. Have in place a written emergency fire action plan that is understood by my staff.
  4. Have a fire safety policy.
  5. If I have a member of staff that has a disability or someone that comes to my premises regularly with a disability then have a PEEP (personal emergency egress plan) in place.

 Useful Links:

Care Inspectorate

Firelaw Scotland

Educational & day care for children premises guide

 

The Care Inspectorate doesn’t inspect or regulate anything to do with fire safety.  The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service will inspect services for fire safety issues and will inform the Care Commission of any formal and informal enforcement notices and any alteration to prohibition notices.

 

safer scotland logo

 

From 1 October 2006, fire safety law in Scotland has changed. The following is a list of “top ten facts” regarding the changes:

 

Fact 1.

Existing fire safety legislation has been repealed and replaced with a new fire safety regime.

Fact 2.

Fire certificates have been abolished. If you have an existing fire certificate it is no longer valid.

Fact 3.

The new fire safety regime is based on the principles of risk assessment and the requirement to take steps to prevent fire and mitigate the detrimental effects of a fire on the premises to ensure the safety of persons.

Fact 4.

The new fire safety regime applies to nearly all non-domestic premises in Scotland along with those Houses in Multiple Occupation which require a licence.

Fact 5.

If you have any degree of control over premises covered by the fire safety regime then you are likely to have some responsibility for fire safety but this responsibility will be in direct proportion to your level of control i.e. the more control you have, the greater your responsibility. But additionally, an employer will always retain responsibility for the safety of his or her employees.

Fact 6.

More than one person can have fire safety responsibilities for the premises. For example, an employer, owner, landlord, tenant or a contractor carrying out repair work may each have fire safety responsibilities for the premises and are required to co-operate with each other and co-ordinate their fire safety measures.

Fact 7.

If you have responsibility through having some degree of control, you are required to undertake a fire safety risk assessment in respect of the premises to the extent of your control and you need to consider the outcome of this assessment and take appropriate action as necessary.

Fact 8.

You must review your fire safety risk assessment regularly and update it if required.

Fact 9.

The fire safety risk assessment will have to be recorded, such as where, a licence or registration is required for the premises, the enforcing authority has issued a formal alterations notice’ requiring this or where an employer employs 5 or more employees.

Fact 10.

Premises covered by the fire safety regime may be inspected or audited by an enforcement officer to ensure compliance with the law (in most cases the enforcing authority will be the local Fire and Rescue Service).

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