Introduction to Fire Safety Management

Introduction to Fire Safety Management
➤ Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment)
Regulations 1992*
➤ Control of Lead at Work Regulations 1998
➤ Ionising Radiation Regulations 1999
➤ Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres
Regulations 2002
➤ Control of Substances Hazardous to Health
Regulations 2002
➤ Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005
➤ The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
*As amended by the Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations
2002.
5.4 Competency to conduct risk
assessments
Employers and responsible persons need to determine
who should be part of the risk assessment team. A team
approach is often the most effective way to ensure that
all the appropriate risks have been identifi ed, this is
because:
Perception – individuals’ perception of risk will be
different. Depending upon age, experience, attitude,
knowledge of the area, etc., one person may have a
completely different view of what constitutes a tolerable
(acceptable) or intolerable (unacceptable) risk than
another person. Some people are happy to accept risks
which another person would not tolerate, and so a different
assessment of risk in the same area would be made
Figure 5.4 Training to support risk assessment
86
by different people. To reduce this element of subjectivity
inherent in any risk assessment, it is recommended that
the team approach is adopted and the majority decision
is accepted in areas where disagreements occur.
Limits of knowledge – one person does not have
the overall knowledge required of each process, person,
activity, machine, area, etc., to be able to adequately
identify suffi cient hazards. More than one pair of eyes is
necessary to ensure that nothing is missed.
Familiarity – a person carrying out a risk assessment
in their own area is likely to miss a number of the
present hazards due to familiarity or complacency. They
may also be likely to accept certain risks as tolerable
either because that it is the way they have always been
or because they know they will be the person responsible
for implementing any necessary controls.
Teams – a team approach may be used to involve
the people who actually carry out the task or work in the
area and thereby gain their input into any likely hazards
that could be identifi ed together with any current risk
control measures. If the workforce is able to suggest
control measures which are later implemented, this not
only makes the controls more likely to be complied with
but also has positive effects on the whole organisation’s
safety culture.
An effective risk assessment team could therefore
involve any or all of the following:
➤ Health and safety/fi re safety advisers
➤ Department managers
➤ Supervisors
➤ Workforce
➤ Competent risk assessors