At Work

If you feel that your premises are too complex or that you are not suitably competent to carry out your own fire risk assessment, you may want to employ a qualified risk assessor. A guide to choosing a competent Fire Risk Assessor is available to download here:

Visit this website if you want to find a Fire Risk Assessor.

Under the current fire safety legislation, businesses are required to carry out and record a programme of routine inspections, tests and maintenance of all the fire safety features and equipment contained within your premises along with a programme of fire safety training for your staff. To assist in the management of this regime, you must identify and nominate individuals who have specific responsibilities for each aspect of fire safety. We have created a pro forma which may assist you with this.

For the purposes of recording all of your testing, maintenance and inspections and any staff training, we have provided a log book which can be downloaded. You can also print selected pages to supplement any existing log book(s).

Your fire risk assessment should identify the type, number and location of fire extinguishers you may need. You should ensure that if fire extinguishers are available on your premises, that you and your staff are trained in their use. To enquire on the fire extinguisher training available please view our Educate – Training Courses And Events page.

Premises Information Boxes (PIB) should provide simple and usable information for operational fire crews during an incident. As a service, we recommend using industry-recognized best practice guidance when considering the installation of a PIB or where one is already installed.

Only Fire Service information should be stored in the box, and they should be located approximately one meter from ground level and readily accessible to attending fire crews inside the primary fire service access points in the building or alongside the fire alarm panel. You will be responsible for keeping the information current, which should be reviewed at a minimum annually. Once fitted, you should inform us so that we can add the availability of the Fire Risk Information Box to our mobilising system, where the information will be used in the event of an incident at that premises.

Too many false alarms can prejudice the safety of occupants, who may not react correctly in a real fire if they have experienced several false alarms. Complacency can be a very dangerous thing at the best of times. Still, complacency that leads to an alarm being ignored simply because it is highly unlikely to be genuine could be fatal. False alarms will occur occasionally, and you must reduce them when they occur. When an alarm is activated, you must investigate the cause of the alarm before calling the fire service. False alarms can be minimised, or avoided entirely, by carrying out such investigations and through good system design, management practice, procedure, maintenance and the appropriate use of space within buildings.

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service has recently attended to several incidents in which a fire occurred in a launderette. Self-heating, also known as spontaneous combustion, has been a major part of these and, in most incidents, has been the cause of the fire starting.

Spontaneous combustion might seem strange to people; however, the circumstances that cause this phenomenon are simple and easy to prevent.

It can happen when laundry items, such as chefs' whites, aprons, tea towels and cloths, are contaminated with organic cooking oils (which can auto-ignite) and dried and stored without sufficient time to cool in the tumble dryer.

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service have advice available on how to minimise the risk from fires caused by spontaneous combustion at premises, such as:

• Launderettes and dry cleaners
• Bed and Breakfasts / Guest Houses
• Hotels
• Public Houses
• Restaurants and cafes
• Schools
• Residential care premises

Below, you will see several tips on what to do and what not to do when using tumble dryers in any of the businesses listed above.

What to do:

• Ensure wash temperatures and detergents are suitable for the optimum removal of oil-based contaminants
• Allow laundry to complete the cooling cycle in the tumble dryer
• Shake out laundry to ventilate before folding or place garments on hangers
• Ensure the stack or pile is well-ventilated
• Clean filters, remove fluff, lint and debris from dryers and keep them regularly maintained
• Test your smoke alarm – only working smoke alarms give an early warning of a developing fire!

What not to do:

• Place warm, damp laundry in polythene bags or plastic containers/baskets or poorly ventilated areas
• Leave freshly laundered fabrics stacked overnight
• Remove laundry from the tumble dryer before completing the cooling cycle
• Forget to test your smoke alarm – only working smoke alarms give an early warning of a developing fire

If you would like further information or advice, please Contact Us.