Responsibility for complying with the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the associated Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006 rests with the Duty Holder.
In a workplace, this could be the employer as well as any other person who may have control to any extent of any part of the premises, for example, the occupier or owner. Employees have a duty to cooperate with employers to ensure the safety of others from fire.
If you are the Duty Holder, you must carry out a fire risk assessment of the premises, which must focus on the safety of all 'relevant persons' in case of fire.
Your fire risk assessment will help you identify risks that can be removed or reduced and to decide the nature and extent of the general fire precautions you need to take to protect people against the fire risks that remain. If you employ five or more people, you must record the significant findings of your risk assessment.
A management commitment to fire safety is essential to assist with achieving suitable fire safety standards in premises and to maintain a staff culture of fire safety.
It is a management responsibility to have both an emergency fire action plan and arrangements to implement the plan. A written emergency fire action plan should be kept on the premises, be available to and known by staff, and form the basis of the training and instruction, which is provided to all staff. This plan should be available for inspection by the enforcing authority.
The Scottish Government has produced a suite of guidance documents to assist the Duty Holder in keeping his/her premises safe from fire.
These guidance documents are free to download from the Scottish Government's website.
You can access documents about the following types of premises:
- Fire safety guidance for care homes
- Fire safety guidance for existing premises with sleeping accommodation
- Fire safety guidance for existing non-residential premises
- Practical fire safety for existing specialised housing and similar premises
- Practical fire safety guidance for existing high rise domestic buildings
- Fire safety guidance for evacuating disabled people from buildings
In addition, SFRS summarised some specific advice in relation to Caravan and Mobile Home Sites. Which reflects updated model standards for such premises types and reflects the requirements of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 as amended.
