If you are the ‘responsible person’ within your organisation, you must ensure that your business has proper fire safety measures in place.
As the responsible person, you also need to take every possible precaution to reduce the risk of fire. You must also put steps in place for efficient evacuation in the event that a fire does start.
As part of this, it’s a legal requirement for your organisation to have a business fire escape route in place. In this fire escape route guide, we’ll tell you everything you need to know.
Ensuring legal compliance
Due to its critical role in the protection of life and property, fire safety is governed by stringent legislation.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 covers general fire safety in England and Wales. In Scotland, requirements on general fire safety are covered in Part 3 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, supported by the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006.
The above legislation applies to the majority of commercial premises, including:
- Offices and shops
- Premises that provide care, including care homes and hospitals
- Community halls
- Places of worship and other community premises
- The shared areas of properties that several households live in (housing laws may also apply)
- Pubs
- Clubs
- Restaurants
- Schools
- Sports centres
- Hotels and hostels
- Factories and warehouses
If you do not follow fire safely legislation and fail to put business fire escape routes in place, then you will face serious consequences. Potential penalties include unlimited fines and up to two years in prison.
Fire escape routes guide
Your business fire escape route plan must show how your business has:
- A clear passageway to all escape routes
- Clearly marked escape routes that are as short and direct as possible
- Enough exits and routes for all people to escape
- Emergency doors that open easily
- Emergency lighting where needed
- Training in place for all employees
- A safe meeting point for staff
On top of this, you should also carry out at least one fire drill per year, recording and keeping the results as part of your fire safety and evacuation plan.
How we can help
Here at JLA, we can support you and ensure compliance. We can provide one-off engineer visits, installations and ongoing servicing plans that have been designed to give you complete peace of mind when it comes to business fire escape routes, fire alarm systems, fire doors, emergency lighting, signage and AOVs – all of which are critical in enabling safe escape if a fire breaks out or an emergency occurs in your building.
To discover more about the fire escape route equipment your business needs, contact our experts today. We’d love to help you plan your business fire escape routes and ensure that you’re meeting all of your obligations.