Setting up your business for a fire safe 2024

Why now is the time to do a gap analysis on your fire safety skills, ready for 2024.

As 2023 draws to a close, now is the time to make budget and human resource provisions for your 2024 fire skills training. The risks of fire in the workplace never go away, and fire safety management is essential to reduce the fire risks within the workplace and comply with fire legislation.

You should be aware that The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order was amended under section 156 of Building Safety Act 2022, and came into force on 1 October 2023 for currently England only (not Wales).

Here is a summary of the new provisions within section 156:

• All findings for FRAs should be documented regardless of how many staff (not just the significant findings or 5 or more staff as previously).
• Anyone appointed for fire risk assessments must be competent (more changes in April 2024).
• Responsible Person must keep records of relevant fire safety matters.
• Additional information is required to be supplied to domestic residents under new Article 21A.
• Information to other Responsible Persons under new Article 22 (A1).
• Handover of fire safety information to new Responsible Persons under new Article 22A.
• Requires cooperation between Responsible Person and Accountable Person under new Article 22B.
• New offences and increased penalties up to unlimited fines for non-compliance of Article 27 (powers of an Inspector).

What the new regulations ultimately mean is that employers and building owners need to be far more rigorous over their fire safety knowledge and fire emergency plans, and be prepared for significantly more enhanced scrutiny to ensure full compliance.

By mapping your existing line up of trained employees, and understanding where you need to enhance your skills and expertise, you can start 2024 with a road map to being fully compliant.

And, finally, we strongly recommend an annual review (as a minimum) of your fire emergency plan and fire policies. This too will help you identify gaps in knowledge and experience, and reveal whether it still meets the needs of your organisation, and its buildings, especially if you have expanded in size, or significantly altered your premises.

There’s a course for everyone who needs to be skilled in fire safety in the workplace, including a range of sector-specific Fire Warden modules.

Explore the full schedule here. 

And just a reminder, all our courses are accredited by the Institute of Fire Safety Managers and we also offer some courses online for delegates who can’t attend a classroom venue.