Fire safety audit
Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service have a team of officers, who carry out inspections and offer advice to persons responsible for premises which fall under the Fire Safety Order. In accordance with our own risk based inspection programs or perhaps following a fire or complaint, one of our officers may contact you to arrange a fire safety audit.
A fire safety audit is an examination of the premises and relevant documents to ascertain how the premises are being managed with regards to fire safety. You will need to demonstrate to our officers that you have met the duties required by the Fire Safety Order.
When trying to establish whether the legislative requirements are being complied with, our officers will use the NFCC FSA Audit form to record their findings. The audit form references the different articles of the Fire Safety Order and you will be expected to show that you taken into account the ‘Areas of Consideration’ noted within the form.
It is good practice to document your fire safety measures and during the audit our officers will request to see the following:
- Fire Risk Assessment
- Action plans related to any significant findings of the fire risk assessment
- Emergency plans for the premises (what to do in the event of a fire)
- Records of staff training and fire drills
- Records of testing and maintenance for the fire alarm system
- Records of testing and maintenance for the emergency lighting
- Records of testing and maintenance of firefighting equipment (e.g. extinguishers)
In addition our officers may also wish to talk to members of staff to confirm their level of fire safety awareness.
The audit will typically conclude with a walk around your premises. The purpose of this is to confirm the validity of everything discussed previously.