Introduction to Fire Safety Management

2
Regardless of the type of organisation, its activities
and the specifi c management issues that it faces, clear
unequivocal policies relating to general health and safety
matters as well as fi re safety matters are needed in order
to establish effective organisational control of its activities.
Management policies that organisations implement
are likely to include those for: quality, environmental,
safety, equality and fairness. Many of these policies are
required to enable an organisation to comply with the law.
A policy is the basis of an organisation’s management
strategy; providing direction, enabling it to organise, plan,
set targets and implement its organisational objectives.
However, a policy in itself cannot be effective unless the
words are turned into actions.
When managing fi re safety (in common with
managing all health and safety issues) it is vital that a
clear and effective management system is developed
and implemented. The model provided by the HSE in the
guidance document HSG65 – Effective Health and Safety
Management – recommends that the fi rst step to effective
management is to have effective policy, a policy that sets
the aspirations and direction for an organisation.
This chapter discusses the following key
elements:
➤ The importance of setting policy in safety
➤ The key features and appropriate content of
an organisation’s safety policy
➤ Specifi c fi re safety-related arrangements
within a policy.
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Safety policy
2.1 The importance of setting policy
2.1.1 Satisfying the law
As has been explained in the previous notes a key feature
of any safety management system will be the preparation
and implementation of a policy if an organisation
is to effectively manage its safety obligations.
The law establishes a minimum standard for the
requirements of any health and safety policy. Section
2(3) of the HSWA requires that every employer prepare
and revise a written statement of his general policy for
the management of health and safety. The requirement
extends to ensuring that employees are provided with
information in relation not only to the policy statement
but also the organisation and arrangements for managing
and carrying out the policy.
The requirements for recording the policy inevitably
revolve around the size of an organisation. Such a policy
should therefore be recorded when fi ve or more employees
(or an aggregate of that number) are employed.
In addition to the HSWA, the RRFSO and MHSW
Regulations also place a duty upon the responsible
person and/or employer to ‘make and give effect to
such arrangements as appropriate to the nature of his
activities and the size of his undertaking, for the effective
planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of
the preventive and protective measures’.
The Approved Code of Practice to the MHSW
Regulations go on to state that employers should set
up an effective health and safety management system
to implement their health and safety policy which,
as discussed in Chapter 1, is as good (quasi legal) as
requiring a policy in law.