Fire Safety Regulations and Community Buildings

 The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 took effect from 1 October 2006. It reforms previous fire safety laws and covers general fire precautions and other safety duties in non-domestic property. The Order requires:

·        the appointment of a “responsible person (s)”

·        a safety “risk assessment” and requires fire precautions to be put in place where necessary and where it is reasonable and practicable to do so.

 In a nutshell the main emphasis of the new order is on reducing the risk of fire and preventing fire. Building owners / managers will be required to carry out a fire risk assessment and then take the necessary steps to reduce or remove the risk so that it is as low as possible.

  Prior to 1 October 2007 many village hall committees were able to obtain an inspection from the Fire and Rescue Service. From 1 October they will still be able to obtain an inspection but under the Regulatory Reform Order. The village hall management committee will also be required to appoint a responsible person, with some experience and knowledge, to carry out a fire risk assessment.

 There is a recommended method of carrying out a fire risk assessment and putting in place fire safety management procedures and arrangements which can be found in the Governments guide “Fire safety risk assessment for small and medium places of assembly”. This can be downloaded from www.firesafetyguides.communities.gov.uk

 Where a hall has had regular inspections in the past and sought the advice of fire officers they should be sufficiently informed and aware of the standards that they are expected to maintain. To assist them in this procedure management committees should be aware that ACRE have produced two helpful information sheets:

 Information sheet 37: Fire Safety in Village Halls

Information sheet 15: Health and safety legislation (includes a section on risk assessment)

 Copies of these sheets can be obtained from Community Action Northumberland. Please email vha@ca-north.org.uk stating which hall you represent and which sheet/s you require.

 Additionally Community Action Northumberland, in partnership with the Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service, held a number of training sessions, in November and December 2006, to explain how to complete a fire risk assessment.  Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service have produced a Risk Assessment log, which guides users through the process. The log was used during the training sessions and is freely available for download from this site (click here).