Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service conducts fire safety inspections on business premises to ensure they comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
This is likely to involve a visit from one of our Fire Safety Officers, when they will assess the workplace, the activities undertaken there and your management of fire safety. This will include an audit of your fire risk assessment.
Where breaches in fire safety legislation are found, a Fire Safety Officer may take action in several ways. Minor matters may be dealt with informally by offering help and advice. For more serious matters, they may issue formal notices or – in the most serious cases – take measures to enforce the law there and then.
What should I expect if a Fire Safety Officer calls?
Audits are carried out following nationally agreed guidelines so that any advice given to you is consistent and proportionate to any risk in your premises.
We believe that prevention is better than cure and our inspectors will actively work with you to advise and assist with meeting the standard required.
Our inspectors carry out audits in a fair and open manner in accordance with the Enforcement Policy Statement. Any advice given to you will be put simply and will be confirmed in writing if required.
Fire safety inspectors
All fire safety inspectors are issued with a written warrant which will be shown to you on request.
This warrant gives the inspector certain powers. More about these powers and the legislation concerned can be viewed here.
All our staff carry identification cards which may be verified by calling our Service Control Centre on 0306 799 0019.
Documentation required during the inspection
During the audit the inspector will need to view the following documents where applicable to your premises:
- Fire risk assessment
- Written fire safety arrangements (policies and procedures detailing the effective planning, organisation and control of fire safety matters)
- Fire precautions log book
- Records of staff training and fire drills
- Records of testing and maintenance of firefighting equipment (extinguishers)
- Records of testing and maintenance for all fire safety systems including fire alarms, emergency lighting, sprinkler systems and smoke ventilation systems
- Portable appliance testing, electrical installation condition report (EICR), cleaning and maintenance of kitchen extract and filter systems
Fire safety standards within the building
As part of the audit, the inspector may wish to monitor the fire safety standards in all or part of the building. The inspector may also wish to talk to members of staff to confirm their level of fire safety awareness.
Feedback following an audit
If you have been visited by one of the team, your feedback would be most welcome. Please complete our online survey.