What are my Responsibilities with Fire as an Employer?

As an employer, you have a direct duty of care to each of your employees and any visitor to your premises such as suppliers, customers and members of the general public.

Under Part III of The Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 it states that, “Each employer shall ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of his employees in respect of harm caused by fire in the workplace”.

What do I need to do?

There is a procedure that you must follow. It is your responsibility as an employer to ensure that a fire risk assessment has been carried out in the workplace.

The purpose of this is to identify any risks to the safety of his/her employees in respect of harm caused by fire in the workplace.

Normally, as is the case with most employers they do not know where to begin with a fire risk assessment let alone to carry one out.

With the majority of employers not having the required skill set to do a risk assessment, they can appoint a ‘competent person’ in their place to help you meet your duties.

What is a competent person?

Someone to be defined as competent requires them to have the relevant skills, knowledge and experience, the ability to be able to apply them in the correct manner and having the necessary training to help and maintain this.

Who should I appoint?

You have several options when it comes to appointing someone. You can choose yourself, one or perhaps more of your workers or you can bring someone in from outside of your business.

How can SCT help?

SCT is a third-party accredited organisation and have a wealth of knowledge and experience in the fire, health and safety industry. We can help you with all of your fire, health and safety duties and provide guidance as and when you need it.