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string(20) "what-you-should-know"
string(11) "regulations"
string(26) "fire-regulations-explained"
It affects all forms of sleeping accommodation and is mandatory for those operating virtually all non-domestic premises (and places of resort in the open air) in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own Fire Safety legislation and guides.
How does it work? The law states that operators must take responsibility for fire safety themselves, so all accommodation operators have to carry out a fire safety risk assessment, irrespective of the number of people for whom they are providing accommodation, to determine the adequacy of their fire precautions in order to safeguard their guests in the event of a fire. It is the risk assessment which will determine the level of fire safety required. The questions operators should be asking are whether they have adequate means for giving warning of a fire and means of escape from the premises to a place of safety away from the premises. To answer these questions operators will need to consider the type of guests for whom they are providing accommodation. The needs of children with parents, the elderly and disabled people must especially be considered in order to decide whether their precautions are adequate to warn of a fire and to evacuate people from the premises.
In smaller and simple premises the operator can probably do their own assessment but in large complex premises a trained professional is more likely to be needed. Whatever preventative or protective measures are needed as a result of the risk assessment, these need to be installed and/or maintained by a competent person.
So how will cowboys be wheedled out? Basically whoever carries out the risk assessment (including operators themselves in smaller businesses) will be liable for anything which is found to be incorrect or if anything goes wrong. Magistrates are able to impose fines of £5000 for each offence and a Crown Court can impose unlimited fines and up to two years in jail.
Fire officers carry out spot checks, but these will in the main be risk based assessments and hotels will be seen as a greater risk, so these will be visited and checked out more often.
How will it affect quality assessments? When Quality in Tourism assessors carry out assessments, they will ask for sight of the risk assessment that the operator has carried out. Where this is not available this will be put down as a deficiency.
Where can operators get further Information? Information an all of the above can be found at Click Here
Fire Regulations Explained
What is the new law? The new law is officially called Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and came into force in the Autumn of 2006. It has replaced fire certificates and 78 other pieces of legislation.It affects all forms of sleeping accommodation and is mandatory for those operating virtually all non-domestic premises (and places of resort in the open air) in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own Fire Safety legislation and guides.
How does it work? The law states that operators must take responsibility for fire safety themselves, so all accommodation operators have to carry out a fire safety risk assessment, irrespective of the number of people for whom they are providing accommodation, to determine the adequacy of their fire precautions in order to safeguard their guests in the event of a fire. It is the risk assessment which will determine the level of fire safety required. The questions operators should be asking are whether they have adequate means for giving warning of a fire and means of escape from the premises to a place of safety away from the premises. To answer these questions operators will need to consider the type of guests for whom they are providing accommodation. The needs of children with parents, the elderly and disabled people must especially be considered in order to decide whether their precautions are adequate to warn of a fire and to evacuate people from the premises.
In smaller and simple premises the operator can probably do their own assessment but in large complex premises a trained professional is more likely to be needed. Whatever preventative or protective measures are needed as a result of the risk assessment, these need to be installed and/or maintained by a competent person.
So how will cowboys be wheedled out? Basically whoever carries out the risk assessment (including operators themselves in smaller businesses) will be liable for anything which is found to be incorrect or if anything goes wrong. Magistrates are able to impose fines of £5000 for each offence and a Crown Court can impose unlimited fines and up to two years in jail.
Fire officers carry out spot checks, but these will in the main be risk based assessments and hotels will be seen as a greater risk, so these will be visited and checked out more often.
How will it affect quality assessments? When Quality in Tourism assessors carry out assessments, they will ask for sight of the risk assessment that the operator has carried out. Where this is not available this will be put down as a deficiency.
Where can operators get further Information? Information an all of the above can be found at Click Here