Good fire safety management is essential in a premises that caters to large numbers of people in a restricted amount of space. You should ensure that your premises comply with fire safety legislation and licensing objectives, if applicable.
Make sure that all of your fire safety provisions are in place and in working order. This includes having the correct signage and emergency lighting and keeping your escapes clear to allow everyone in your premises to escape to a place of total safety easily and quickly in the event that a fire does occur.
Fire Risk Assessment
If you employ five or more people or if you are a licensed premises, you should keep a written record of your fire risk assessment and any significant findings. It should also be reviewed regularly, especially if any changes to the premises are made. This will identify what you need to do to reduce the fire risk and keep you, your employees and your patrons safe. You need to have an emergency plan for dealing with any fire situation, and it should be based on the outcome of your fire risk assessment. The purpose of an emergency plan is to ensure that people know what to do if there is a fire and that the premises can be evacuated safely. An evacuation drill should be carried out regularly to ensure your emergency plan works.
The guide below is for all employers, managers, occupiers and owners, both professional and amateur, of premises where the main use of the building (or part of the building) is a theatre, cinema multi-screen cinema or a combination of these. This guide also includes buildings converted into cinemas or theatres.
The pro formas here are intended to be used as guides for carrying out a fire risk assessment. Should you adopt one of these for your business premises, then it is important that the content captures any unique aspects of the premises' design, as well as how the building is actually used.
If you want more information on fire risk assessments, fire extinguishers and risk information boxes click here.
Calculating Occupancy Figures
As the owner of a licensed premises, you will need to calculate the occupant capacity in order to assess the means of escape. We have produced some guidance on how you should do this.
Other Guidance
For further guidance on your responsibilities as an employer, business owner or landlord, please see:
