The Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006
(“FSSR”) are regulations
that were made by Scottish Ministers under the powers contained in the
Fire (Scotland) Act 20051,
and further build upon the requirements of
that act.
Please refer to the
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 for the equivalent
legislation for England & Wales.
The Regulations finished their period of
public consultation in November 2005, were laid before the Scottish
Parliament on 7th September 2005 and took effect from 1st
October 2006, along with part 3 of the
Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (all other
parts of the Act having already been brought into force on 2nd August
2005).
This document aims to highlight some of the key parts of the
Regulations and is broken down into the following sections:
Throughout, references to the pertinent legislation have been included as footnotes. The reader is referred to the full text of the
Regulations (available
here from the
Government’s Official UK legislation site) for full details.
‘Relevant premises’ are, broadly speaking, the vast majority of premises,
including:
- shops, offices, factories & warehouses;
- pubs, clubs and restaurants;
- schools, sports centres, community halls & places of worship;
- hotels, hostels, hospitals and care homes;
- communal areas in shared housing (including houses in multiple
occupation (“HMO”) requiring a licence); and
- tents and other moveable structures,
but excluding domestic premises2.
Throughout the Regulations, reference
is made to a “person with duties”. A relevant employer is always a legal duty
holder
in this context, as is a person that “has
control to any extent of
relevant premises”
(including as occupier, not just as owner)3. For shorthand, we’ll refer
to this person (or persons) simply as the legal duty holder.
Please note that that the term ‘person’ is a legal term in this context and, in
addition to referring to an individual, it may equally refer to an incorporated
company, a partnership, etc.
The nature of the
Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, from which
the Regulations originate, is such that
responsibility is hard to avoid - indeed there may be many people (individuals,
companies or otherwise) that all have some responsibilities under
the Act. It is
perfectly conceivable that a company-landlord, his owners, his key employees, a
company-tenant and the tenant’s owners and key employees may all be in jeopardy if
the Regulations are not adhered to (see Offences, below).
The Regulations stipulate that the legal duty holder must nominate one or
more competent persons to assist in the undertaking of fire safety measures4. Of course,
in a great many cases, such competent persons will, by necessity, be external third
parties that provide fire safety services (such as Anderstore).
In this respect, it is essential to note that it is the duty of the
legal duty holder to ensure that any such third party is
competent (as set out below).
If the legal duty holder failed to nominate third-parties meeting these
competency requirements, the
legal duty holder would be in breach of the
Regulations.
The definition of competency is of key importance in the Regulations.
The
Regulations define competency as having “sufficient
training and experience or knowledge and other qualities” to enable the task in
question to be properly undertaken5.
The Fire (Scotland) Act
2005 requires the legal duty holder
to undertake a fire risk assessment6. These Regulations expand on these requirements and state that
the legal duty holder must also ensure that:
- the significant findings of the assessment together with all
measures taken or to be taken must be recorded where there are five
or more people employed7.
- the fire risk assessment must be reviewed regularly and,
additionally, whenever there is reason to suspect that it is no
longer valid or where there has been a significant change8.
See also Fire Log Books and
Other Records below regarding he legal duty holder's
obligations9 regarding the keeping
of other records.
The Regulations require that the legal
duty holder ensures that:
- the “relevant premises
are…equipped with appropriate means for fighting fire”10; and
- any such equipment is “subject to a suitable system of
maintenance and are maintained in an efficient state, in efficient
working order and in good repair”11.
The British Standard BS 5306-8 lays
down appropriate levels for the provision of portable fire extinguishers
and the British Standard BS 5306-3 lays
down a suitable system for their maintenance.
Normally, the legal duty holder
would be required under the Regulations to ensure the above measures
were properly implemented through the use of a nominated third
party (such as Anderstore) that satisfies the
above
competency requirements.
The Regulations require the legal duty holder
to ensure that fire safety training for all employees:
- is adequate, suitable and sufficient12;
- is provided to employees on starting13;
- is provided where there are new or increased risks14;
- repeated “periodically” where appropriate15.
Additionally, the Regulations also
requires the legal duty holder to nominate
competent persons to “take
measures for fire-fighting” and to further ensure that they are
adequately trained16.
Persons in these roles are often
appropriately trained competent employees and
are often referred to as ‘fire
marshals’ or ‘fire wardens’.
The Regulations requires that the legal duty
holder
ensures that appropriate emergency routes and exits are provided and
maintained17
and also requires that they “must be provided with emergency lighting of
adequate intensity in the case of failure of their normal lighting”18.
The Regulations require that the legal
duty holder
ensures that signage must be used to indicate any “non-automatic
fire-fighting equipment”19 and emergency routes and exits20.
Such signage must also meet the requirements of the
Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 which still
also apply in Great Britain.
The Regulations require that the legal
duty holder ensures that:
- “relevant premises are…equipped
with appropriate…means for giving warning in the event of fire”10; and
- any such equipment is required to be “subject to a suitable
system of maintenance and are maintained in an efficient state, in
efficient working order and in good repair”11.
As a general rule, all but the very simplest, small, single-storey,
open-plan premises with minimal risks, adequate exits, adequate exit
routes and no special considerations (e.g. sleeping residents, noise)
require some form of electrical fire detection and/or warning system.
The British Standard BS 5839-1:2002+A2:2008 lays
down appropriate guidance for the design, installation, commissioning
and maintenance of such systems.
Normally, the legal duty holder
would be required under the Regulations to ensure the above measures
were properly implemented through the use of a nominated third
party (such as Anderstore) that satisfies the
above
competency requirements.
The Regulations require that the legal
duty holder
must ensure that certain relevant information is provided to employees,
contractors & the parents of children-employees21.
Depending upon the circumstances, this information includes details of
risks, fire-safety measures, procedures, etc. so as to ensure safety.
In addition to their other obligations, the legal duty holder must also
typically keep further records in connection with fire safety
arrangements made9, amongst other things.
Further, it is of course prudent to record any relevant maintenance
undertaken in order to be able to prove that the required maintenance
has been undertaken (and noting that such records are a requirement for
compliance with most relevant codes of practice, e.g.
BS 5306-3,
BS 5839, etc.).
in part, this is most typically achieved with the use of fire log
books.
The offences in relation to these regulations are laid down in the
Fire (Scotland) Act 200522
with penalties extending up to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2
years and/or an unlimited fine22.
The Regulations are already law, having taken full effect from 1st October 2006.
It is the duty of the legal duty holder to
ensure full compliance with the Regulations.
More information on this subject can be found from the
Scottish Government
in their
fire & rescue services section.
Click
here for the full web-text of the Regulations, or
here for the full
print-version of the Regulations available from the
Government’s Official UK legislation site.
Should you wish for any further information under this subject, please feel free to contact us.
- Please refer to the
‘Power to Make
Regulations’ section of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 page.
- Please refer to the
‘Relevant Premises’
section of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 page.
- Please refer to the
‘Legal Duty Holder’
section of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 page.
-
Part
3,
section 17, paragraph (1) of the Regulations, although
refer to paragraphs (5) and (6).
-
Part 1, section 2, paragraph (1) and
Part
3,
section 17, paragraphs (5) and (6).
- Please refer to the
‘Risk Assessments’
section of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 page.
-
Part
2,
section 8 of the Regulations.
-
Part
2,
section 3 of the Regulations.
- In accordance with
part
3,
section 10 of the Regulations.
-
Part
3,
section 12, paragraph (1)(a) of the Regulations.
-
Part
3,
section 16, paragraph (1) of the Regulations.
-
Part 3,
section 20, paragraphs (1) and (2)(a) of the
Regulations.
-
Part
3,
section 20, paragraphs (1)(a) of the Regulations.
-
Part
3,
section 20, paragraphs (1)(b) of the Regulations.
-
Part
3,
section 20, paragraphs (2)(b) of the Regulations.
-
Part
3,
section 12, paragraphs (3)(a) and (3)(b) of the Regulations.
-
Part
3,
section 13 of the Regulations.
-
Part
3,
section 13, paragraph (2)(h) of the Regulations.
-
Part
3,
section 12, paragraph (1)(b) of the Regulations.
-
Part
3,
section 13, paragraph (2)(g) of the Regulations.
-
Part 3,
section 18 and
19 of the Regulations.
- Please refer to the
‘Offences’ section of the
Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 page.
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