STAFFORDSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE Copyright: Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Authority 2011

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1 STAFFORDSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE Copyright: Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Authority 2011 TITLE: RISK BASED INSPECTION PROGRAMME AND GUIDANCE. DOCUMENT: New document CONTENTS Introduction Risk Based Inspection Programme Assessment of Risk The Audit Process Table 1 Fire Frequencies for Buildings Table 2 Relative Risk Matrix INTRODUCTION The development and management of a Fire Safety (Protection) Risk Based Inspection Programme will provide important data to assist in the development and evaluation of the Service s Safety Plan. Audits undertaken by Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service will reflect the objectives of the Safety Plan for the Service. This will enable Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service to fulfill its duty to manage the fire risk in the community. The final decision on the level of enforcement to be taken following an audit and assessment of risk in any premises will embody the principles, expectations and methodology of the Enforcement Management Model (EMM) produced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which is considered national best practice. The use of the EMM will allow Inspectors to make consistent and fair enforcement decisions based on clear guidelines, which will be robust if challenged, and auditable when required. RISK BASED INSPECTION PROGRAMME Determining the level of risk The Risk Based Inspection Programme forms part of the Service s overall integrated approach to management by prioritising the visit by Fire Service staff to the premises. It will initially be necessary to determine the level of risk in the premises in question. This will be determined by carrying out a premises audit or a remote audit using information held on file, or new/updated information. This process will, on completion indicate a risk level. The risk to individual persons will be of concern to Inspectors carrying out the audit, and it will be the potential for the loss of life or serious injury based on the Fire Frequency National Statistics for Buildings taken from Fire Report data (Table 1 Fire Frequencies for Buildings) that will have a major influence on the level of risk determined. Whilst the risk to the relevant persons that may be present is the prime influence, an assessment of the risk in the premises and its inclusion in the inspection programme can be made for a number of other purposes, such as: Property/business loss. Loss of heritage. Loss to the community. Environmental damage. Firefighting operations. Risk Based Inspection Programme Job No: 384 Issue date: 28 November 2013 Page 1 of 6

2 When determining the risk presented by a particular premises the following list of factors will be considered. The list is not exhaustive, and each premises must be assessed on an individual basis using all relevant factors: Type of construction. Use. Vulnerability and number of occupants. Furniture, fittings and surface finishes. Processes undertaken/materials stored. Potential sources of fire (accidental or deliberate). Potential fire spread internal and external. Structural fire protection. Compliance with parts B1-B5 of Approved Document B. Fire precautions provided. Standard of fire safety management. Location. Access. Water supplies. Operational needs. Safety of firefighters. Environmental impact of any fire. Note: When a Protect Officer`s competence prevents completion of any area of the process, consultation with the Delivery Group Protect Manager will take place. When considering these factors it will also be necessary to utilise information from current firefighting practice, at a national and local level ensuring best practice is followed. Current fire intelligence and a review of the historical experience of the premises will be taken into account before a final determination of risk level can be made. Professional judgment will be required as part of the overall process to determine the life and relative risk each building has. Relative risk is when comparisons are made between different types of buildings. From data collected a determination can be reached on the risk of a fire occurring and to persons. An example might be: A low risk hospital may have a relative risk rating of 5, the same as a very high risk office. In the case of the hospital the Protect Officer needs only to document the inspection. However, in the case of the office, the Protect Officer, when faced with conditions that present a high/very high risk may need to take immediate enforcement action. An initial estimation of the levels of risk, for most occupancy types, can be undertaken according to variations in the following: The provision of active and/or passive fire safety systems. The level of fire safety management provided, or the size of the premises. Using the provision of active and/or passive fire safety systems that would normally be expected in any particular occupancy type as the bench mark then the level of risk could be varied as follows: Severe under provision Very High Risk. Under provision High Risk. Risk Based Inspection Programme Job No: 384 Issue date: 28 November 2013 Page 2 of 6

3 Normal provision Medium Risk. Over provision Low Risk. Significant over provision Very Low Risk. The same approach would apply to the level of fire safety management provided or the size of the premises. As increasingly sophisticated community risk models are developed to support the Corporate Safety Plan, the audit process for a premises must be compatible across all areas of Fire Service activity, particularly a correlation between the levels of risk for a Risk Based Inspection Programme and the Fire Cover Review process. In order to demonstrate that the Fire and Rescue Authority is meeting its legislative responsibilities, it is critical that at every stage the processes by which the levels of risk and the resulting audit and enforcement activity have been determined are reasonable, are recorded, transparent and auditable. ASSESSMENT OF RISK The risk from fire in the premises should be assessed by the responsible person (either as part of a general review of health and safety risks or as a specific exercise). The following checks should be included: That a fire can be detected in a reasonable time and that all relevant persons can be warned. That relevant persons who may be in the premises can get out safely. That reasonable firefighting equipment is provided. That relevant persons in the premises know what to do if there is a fire. That all fire safety equipment and systems are checked and maintained at the required time periods, and to a satisfactory standard. Where a responsible person: Employs 5 or more persons (whether or not they are at work in the premises at any one time, or at separate premises). Where a license under an enactment is in force in relation to the premises. An alterations notice is in force in relation to the premises. When hazardous materials are stored on the premises. Then he/she must keep a record of the significant findings of the risk assessment and the associated control measures in respect of each premises, and any group of persons identified in the assessment as being especially at risk. THE AUDIT PROCESS The process for carrying out the fire safety inspection of premises in Staffordshire is determined by the level of risk presented by those premises regardless of what other legislation might apply to them. The principle of audit will form the basis of the inspections (see Assessment of Risk). The process of auditing premises, assessing risks and making the necessary enforcement decisions will embody the principles, expectations and methodology of the Enforcement Management Model (EMM) produced by the HSE, which is considered national best practice. Risk Based Inspection Programme Job No: 384 Issue date: 28 November 2013 Page 3 of 6

4 Whilst Table 1 Fire Frequencies for Buildings and Table 2 Relative Risk Matrix gives general guidance on determining the level of risk for a premises, that level can be varied according to local circumstances such as: Historical information on the premises concerned. Visits to buildings under Fire and Rescue Services Act Reports on fires attended. Provision of Operational Risk Information System (PORIS). Local trends or socio-economic factors. Fire risk assessments by or on behalf of responsible persons or other bodies such as HSE, local authorities and Environment Agency. Table 1 Fire Frequencies for Buildings. Is the Relative Risk Level Matrix and may be used to determine the relative risk level for the premises when carrying out a remote audit. It will be noted that the types of premises are in line with those used in the Communities and Local Government (CLG) model, Fire Services Emergency Cover toolkit (FSEC). The Matrix may be used to assist with the prioritising of audits as determined by Delivery Group Protect Managers. Premises having a higher risk value should be prioritised for audit over and above the lower risk ones, however, continued sampling of lower risk premises should be carried out at the discretion of the Delivery Group Managers having regard to the resources available to complete the time based audits. The numerical values 2-8 provided in the relative risk rating column (Table 2 Relative Risk Matrix) represent levels of risk and are a guide to overall priorities for inspection. They cannot be used to dictate the enforcement action to be taken. Whatever the relative risk rating of a premises, a Very High or High Risk will warrant some form of action to reduce the risk. Risk Based Inspection Programme Job No: 384 Issue date: 28 November 2013 Page 4 of 6

5 Table 1 FIRE FREQUENCIES FOR BUILDINGS Occupancy FSEC Societal risk fire rate per 1,000,000 buildings Very High 1 = 10+ High 1 = 9 to 3 Hospitals (A) 588 > Hostels (E) 167 > Care homes (B) 128 > HMO s ( C ) 106 > Houses converted to flats (G) 106 > Purpose built Flats (D) 106 > Hotels (F) 77 > Shops (N) 63 > Other sleeping 34 > accommodation (H) 5.01 Schools (M) 11 > Further Education (J) 11 > Public Buildings (K) 11 > Other buildings open to the 11 > public (P) Licensed Premises (L) 10 > Factories/Warehouses (R) 4 > Other Workplaces (T) 4 > Offices (S) 3 > Medium to Low to Very low 1 = -10 <4.77 <4.22 <4.11 <4.03 <4.03 <4.03 <3.89 <3.80 <3.54 <3.02 <2.62 <2.62 <2.47 Risk Based Inspection Programme Job No: 384 Issue date: 28 November 2013 Page 5 of 6

6 Premises Use Group Hospital Care Home HMO Tenement Purpose Built Flats =>4 Storeys Hostel Hotel House Converted to flats Other Sleeping Accommodation Further Education Public Building Licensed Premises School Shop Other Premises Open to Public Factory or Warehouse Office Other workplace Table 2 RELATIVE RISK MATRIX Relative Risk Level Matrix - Fire Safety Inspections Rules applied to display data - Relative Risk Rating box includes lower integer value, if 2 values from table fall into same box default to higher risk, VH and VL range keeps 2 boxes to allow for > or < values FSEC Group A B C D E F G H J K L M N P R S T Relative Risk Rating VH 6.5 H 6.25 H 6 M VH VH VH VH VH 5.75 M H H H H VH H VH 5.5 M H H H H H H VH H 5.25 M M M M M H M H H 5 L M M M M M M H VH VH VH VH M VH 4.75 L M M M M M M M H H H H M H 4.5 VL L M M L M M M H H H H M H VH VH 4.25 L L L L L L M M M H M M M H VH H 4 L L L VL L L M M M M M L M H H H 3.75 VL VL VL L VL L M M M M L M M H M 3.5 VL L M M M M VL M M M M 3.25 VL L L L L L M M M 3 L L L L L L M L 2.75 VL VL VL VL VL L L L 2.5 L L L 2.25 VL VL VL 2 Risk Based Inspection Programme Job No: 384 Issue date:28 November 2013 Page 6 of 6

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