The majority of fires that take place within workplaces are preventable if proper fire safety procedures are followed.  With many employees working from home for over a year it is important that as businesses begin to move back into premises, either fully or partially, they revisit their Fire Risk Assessments and make sure that employees are reminded of what to do in the event of a fire.

We’ve recently helped one of our long-standing clients to assess their fire safety processes as part of an office move, read more to see how we’ve supported their team.

Moving into New Offices

The client, a Marketing Company is in the process of moving into new premises and realised that as well as the legal paperwork and organising the move itself they needed to consider the various health and safety aspects involved particularly as their previous offices were serviced and so many of the responsibilities fell to the managers of the building.

As a self-contained office the business would be responsible for all aspects of fire safety and so they looked to our team for advice, support and training.

The First Step – Fire Assessment Report

As with any element of health and safety, the first task is to assess the risks involved. To do this we sent one of our team out to the new premise to inspect the building and identify any key fire safety issues that might need to be addressed prior to taking on and moving into the building as well as guidance on their fire safety procedures once in occupation.

Following our visit, we sent a detailed report highlighting all that we had found relating to fire safety and the elements which would need critical or urgent attention.

What Did the Report Include?

The report gave the business a detailed review of all elements of fire safety procedures and equipment they would need from general housekeeping, to reviewing means of escape through to testing and maintenance of fire safety equipment.

At the top of the report were a list of actions to be taken and these were colour coded to clearly indicate the level of urgency required.

For example, some of the critical tasks we advised that needed completing before they moved in were:

• An emergency 3 hour drain down test – to ensure all the emergency lighting is working correctly and will turn on in the event of an emergency situation.
• Maintenance of any fire equipment such as fire extinguishers – this must be maintained by a professional once a year.
• A fixed installation certificate for the wiring – this must be done every 5 years for a commercial property.

What happened next?

Following receipt of the report the business were able to take appropriate action on the urgent considerations to enable them to move into the new offices.

They then continued to work with our team to ensure their Fire Safety procedures were adequate and relevant for the space, their size of team and working patterns and provide fire safety training for their team members to raise awareness of general fire safety as well as more specialised training for the appointed Fire Wardens.

Support and Professional Advice When Needed

“Having always operated from serviced offices, getting the support and guidance from Sureteam now that we are taking on full responsibility for Fire Safety has been invaluable. 

The Fire Risk Assessment was extremely helpful giving us a clear summary of things we needed to action prior to moving in and the reassurance that we hadn’t missed anything.  They are now continuing to provide support as we detail our fire safety procedures and ensure our team are fully trained. 

Having the team at Sureteam on hand for professional advice on all aspects of our health and safety means we can focus on delivering great campaigns for our clients knowing that the safety of our team, customers and suppliers is covered.”

Helen Moloney, Managing Director, All Things Web

Sureteam there to Support Your Business

Whether you are organising an office move or just re-configuring the space, or simply returning your teams to your building after months of working from home reviewing your fire safety procedures is just one of the health and safety priorities you need to consider.

To get help with this or any aspect of your health and safety call our team on 01666 503686 or contact us using this form. We tailor our support packages for each business so that you have the support that is right for you.