Fire Legislation Enforcement in Scotland

This is where we keep you informed about all the latest developments at Firehouse(Scotland), what is happening within the Scottish Fire Safety Legislation enforcement circles and include excerpts of the current legislation that will affect employers.

In the event of a visit by an Officer from your local Fire & Rescue Service in Scotland intending to carry out a Fire safety audit on your premises these are some of the principal areas the audit form on which you will be marked.

Fire safety risk assessment

Has the process of fire safety risk assessment been carried out for the premises

Fire safety arrangements

Are there appropriate fire safety arrangements

Maintainence of provisions

Are fire safety provisions being maintained

Maintainence measures provided for the safety of fire fighters

Are there suitable arrangements in place to ensure that facilities, equipment and devices for use by or for the protection of fire fighters maintained in efficient state, working order and repair

Information to employers and employees

Is provision made to provide comprehensible and relevant information to employees

Co-operation and co-ordination

Is there cooperation and co-ordination between duty holders where there are two or more sharing responsibilities or ave duties in respect of premises

Below some recent successfull Prosecutions brought about by the Fire & Rescue Service enforcement

 
A factory owner in East Ham, E6, has been ordered to pay fines and costs of over £31,000 after being found guilty of ten breaches of the fire safety offences discovered by London Fire Brigade officers.

He was fined £2,500 for each charge plus £6,060 in costs. The three-storey building with a small basement storage area is occupied by several clothing/textile manufacturers and a double glazing company.

The offences arose during two Brigade inspections of the former fire-certificated factory when a number of breaches were found. These included obstructed and insufficiently lit escape routes, a final exit door which was padlocked shut, fire doors which did not self-close effectively, a fire alarm system not properly maintained and lack of fire resistant partitions.

Landlord in Norwich Fined

A Landlord in Norwich was fined £1,000 at Norwich Magistrates Court following a fire at a bedsit property in Norwich, where the fire alarm was switched off because it was malfunctioning.

THE landlord had switched off the building's fire detection system because it was not working right. He had then failed to switch it back on or call in the alarm maintenance company to fix the problem.

(3rd Aug 2009)

Owner of Hotel In Denby Prosecuted:

Lancashire combined Fire Authority prosecuted the responsible person of a Blackpool Hotel following the death of a member of the public  after a severe fire in a 20 bedroom premises. The subsequent investigation found serious breaches of fire safety including inoperative fire alarm, lack of appropriate fire separation, no fire risk assessment and inadequate employee training. The responsible person was sentenced to 12 months imprsionment, suspended for two years and given a six month curfew.

(17th July 2009)

National pub group, Punch Pub Company Limited, have pleaded guilty to serious breaches of fire safety legislation. They have been ordered to pay £17,000 in fines and costs, following a prosecution brought by the London Fire Brigade

(Sept.2009)

Fire Scotland Act 2005 as amended and current Fire Risk assessments:

Many a time during our inspection career we have come across employers who have paid good money  to have a fire risk assessment drawn up only to find that they have never bothered to read it's contents and remedial measures remain unactioned.

Employers are advised that having a fire risk assessment is only a preliminary step to good practice,  they need to be fully aware of and act on any remedial measures. Risk assessments need to be reviewed annually or earlier if there has been a signifcant change in process or alterations undertaken.

For full and detailed information on the current law in Scotland and how it affects employers and persons responsible the Local Government website www.firelaw.org.uk would be a usefull source of reference.

Any persons interested in our services should contact Firehouse (Scotland) either through our web site admin@firehousescotland.co.uk or by calling 07772610799