News on 27 September 2000
Research carried out by Continental Research and sponsored
by BT RedCARE shows that 36% of small UK businesses are unaware of their
legal obligations to organise a workplace fire risk assessment, resulting
in £2m daily fire related losses for businesses.
Although
64% of the companies participating in the survey were aware of their risk
assessment responsibilities, 30% admitted to not proceeding in carrying
them out. Wholesale and property companies were the most aware however
with all companies meeting safety requirements.
The alarm signalling service BT RedCARE which is sponsoring National Fire
Week (23-30 September) will urge companies to review their current procedures.
BT RedCARE’s fire sector manager James Winter said that as well as
using intelligent fire detection monitoring equipment that can raise an
alarm and call for an immediate fire brigade response, even when a building
is unoccupied, there are many simple precautions that can be taken to
reduce the risk of fire, including good housekeeping and building maintenance.
The Federation of Small Businesses Health Safety and Risk Management’s
spokesperson Jaqueline Jeynes, pointed out that companies are often unable
to recover sufficiently after a fire to resume operating out of the same
premises. This is a problem for small businesses like any other and can
lead to a serious loss of revenue and even closure.
Peter Cowland, the Fire Protection Association spokesperson, said: "Every
business is required to carry out a fire risk assessment and we are working
hard with companies like BT RedCARE to promote the benefits of doing so."
