Fire safety: A burning issue

Employers have a legal duty to ensure they have minimised the risks from fire.

Fire is the most devastating threat to your pub. You could not only lose your business but your home. Perhaps even your life. But if that isn't good enough reason to do all that you reasonably can to prevent and contain the risk of fire, there is also legislation that is designed to ensure you have done what you can to protect the people you employ.

Since 1997 it has been a legal duty for all employers to carry out a fire risk assessment of the workplace, and it is up to the local fire brigade to make sure this has been done and that you have taken reasonable steps to minimise the likelihood and the impact of a fire.

The fire regulations now focus on workplaces, and in many cases resident managers and staff, as soon as they set foot outside their own room, are in effect in the workplace.

In Westminster the London Fire Brigade has embarked on a systematic inspection programme of high risk businesses - and pubs are top of the list.

Fire safety officers have identified hundreds of licensed premises at which they have so far had little input because of previous legislative constraints. Now they have the powers to undertake more extensive fire safety audits and because most pubs are mixed use, including accommodation above as well as the trading area, they are seen as high risk.

This is illustrated at the Guinea Grill, a Young's Brewery house on the Westminster brigade's patch which, like many old pubs, features a cosy bar and restaurant on the ground floor and a narrow twisting staircase to function rooms and the manager's flat above.

Fire officers worked closely with manager Carl Smith and Young's health and safety department to improve fire precautions at the pub - without undermining its business potential.

"The Guinea Grill is an old, character pub and you could ruin it if you applied prescriptive guidance," explained assistant divisional officer Steve Ryan, team leader for the W1 district.

"The stairs come down into the bar, and providing a protected route from the living accommodation to the exit would have halved the size of the licensed area.

"Our approach now has to be based on risk, so we have to be reasonable under the circumstances.The approach we adopt is to work in consultation with all interested and responsible parties," said Steve.

The solution was a series of minor alterations at a cost of a few thousand pounds which has made the Guinea a safer place - without destroying its character.

A fire door has been installed between the bar and the restaurant and other doors have been upgraded to facilitate an escape route.

Improvements were made to the cellar ceiling and the fire brigade also drew attention to a storage problem at the pub. In particular, spare chairs were left on the stairs - an obvious hazard to anyone trying to escape from the upper floors - and they have been replaced by folding chairs which are stored in a new cupboard in the cellar.

Staff at the Guinea have also undergone some basic training since the inspection, making sure they know what to do in the event of a fire and the use of fire doors, alarms and extinguishers.

"The fire brigade has worked with us to provide very reasonable solutions," said Carl. "They don't compromise our business at all."

For Steve, the Guinea is a model of how fire precautions could be introduced in other pubs.

"The last thing we want is for the licensed community to feel wary of our current initiative," he said. "We want to work towards a solution informally if we can. It's not a big stick approach."

Still, it's more than just another length of red tape for the pub trade. London firefighters have dealt with six serious fires in occupied pubs since mid-August this year which have involved fatalities and rescues from upper floors.

• If you have any concerns about fire safety at your pub, you can contact Steve Ryan at steve.ryan@london-fire.gov.uk

Fire risk assessments​

When they visit your pub to make an inspection, fire officers will want evidence that you have carried out a fire risk assessment, as required under the law.

If you employ five or more people this must be written down and kept on the premises. If you employ less than five people you will need to explain verbally what you have done to assess the fire risk at the pub.

A fire risk assessment should follow five key steps:

• Identify the hazards
• Identify the people at significant risk from a fire
• Evaluate the severity of the risk
• Record your findings and actions taken to reduce the risks
• Keep assessment under review

For help with assessing the risk of fire at your pub, contact your local fire brigade.

Assess your fire risk online​

A new online service is promising to assess your pub's fire risk and satisfy your legal requirements with just a few clicks of the mouse.

The Firesmart website has been developed by RiskSmart whose research among UK businesses reveals that 78 per cent have yet to carry out an assessment.

"It is astounding to realise that only 22 per cent of UK businesses have completed a fire risk assessment, especially when you consider that eight out of 10 businesses that experience a fire will go out of business within a year," said managing director Peter Wilson.

"Pubs, because they tend to have a large number of visitors, many of whom will be smoking, are a higher risk than many other businesses - consequently the chances of an inspection are greater as well."

Licensees who go on Firesmart are presented with a series of yes-or-no questions in simple language. Once you have worked through the questionnaire a fire plan and emergency procedure for the pub are automatically generated.

RiskSmart estimates the whole thing should take between 30 and 40 minutes. A hard copy of the online assessment can be kept and produced when required by law or for insurance purposes. For £149 you can use the service for 12 months and have access to a human being in the shape of an online fire consultant.

• For more information go to www.firesmart.co.uk.

Managing health and safety obligations​

Environmental health consultant Perry Scott Nash has developed a pair of manuals to help publicans manage their health and safety and fire safety legal obligations.

The Winning with... manuals were commissioned by tenanted pub group InnSpired and are specifically designed for licensed premises.

Set out in question and answer format they take licensees through a step-by-step approach covering, in the example of fire safety, legislation, risk assessments, fire precautions, emergency exits, signage, evacuation procedures, chemical storage, staff training, arson and fire safety checks.

Record sheets, checklists and forms are included as hard copies and on a CD-Rom so licensees can use them for their own record-keeping and due diligence systems.

"We believe the manuals will help licensees approach their legal responsibilities as employers and that they will save them time and worry," said Pat Perry, managing director of Perry Scott Nash.

• The manuals are applicable to all licensees and are available for purchase from Perry Scott Nash Group. Extracts can be viewed and downloaded from www.perryscottnash.co.uk or, for information, contact Liz McLaughlin on 01438 745771.