Fire and Safety Consultancy Services
INTRODUCTION
Recent years have seen a major expansion in the fire and safety consultancy services field, ranging from small, sole trading businesses through to large enterprises. Running parallel with this growth has been increasing concerns regarding the quality and professionalism of firms operating in this sector and the need for regulation. As a direct result, the Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register has been formed. Details of this initiative, together with other UK registration or accreditation schemes in the fire safety and health and safety consultancy field are set out below.
THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH CONSULTANTS REGISTER (OSHCR)
OSHCR has been established in response to the Government’s “Common Sense - Common Safety” report, which recommended that all Health and Safety Consultants should be accredited to a professional body and a web-based directory be established. The register which began operations in January 2011 aims to assist businesses to find advice on general health and safety management. It applies to named individuals and not consultancy companies.
The register, which is administered by the HSE, was developed in conjunction with the following professional bodies:
Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH)
Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH)
Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS)
International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM)
British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS)
Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (IEHF)
For consultants to be eligible to apply to join the register, they are required to satisfy the eligibility criteria set out for each of the above-mentioned professional bodies and must have Member, Fellow or Chartered status as appropriate. In addition, all consultants wishing to join the register will be asked to declare that they will:
Demonstrate adequate continuing professional development;
Abide by their professional body’s code of conduct;
Provide sensible and proportionate advice; and
Have professional indemnity insurance or equivalent to cover the nature of their duties.
The OSHCR register can be searched at www.oshcr.org.
INSTITUTION OF FIRE ENGINEERS (IFE) REGISTER OF FIRE RISK ASSESSORS AND AUDITORS.
This scheme, which was the first of its kind, has been running for over 15 years and has been held in high regard within the fire safety community. The register is open to both members and non-members of the IFE that are able to demonstrate to an IFE Professional Review panel that they have suitable education, training and experience in the principles of fire safety and fire risk assessment, supported by the submission of examples of their work.
Every two years registrants are required to submit a further fire risk assessment (carried out within the previous six months of that request) and asked to supply a record of continuing professional development undertaken.
The IFE register can be searched at https://www.ife.org.uk/Fire-Risk-Assessors-Register
WARRINGTON CERTIFICATION FIRE RISK ASSESSORS’ CERTIFICATION SCHEME (FRACS)
Warrington Certification operates a fire risk assessors certification scheme for both individual consultants and fire safety consultancy companies.
The FRACS register can be searched at www.warringtoncertification.com/fracs.html.
THE INSTITUTE OF FIRE SAFETY MANAGERS (IFSM)
Another fire risk assessor’s registration scheme based on a three tiered system is operated by the IFSM. A new scheme known as the Nationally Accredited Fire Risk Assessors Register (NAFRAR) has been introduced involving independent third-party accreditation of assessors involved with high risk and complex buildings, with links to the FRACS scheme operated by Warrington Certification.
The IFSM register can be searched at https://ifsm.org.uk/fire-risk-assessors/
THE BRITISH APPROVALS FOR FIRE EQUIPMENT (BAFE) - LIFE SAFETY FIRE RISK ASSESSMENT SCHEME SP205
BAFE, a registration body for third party certification of fire protection products and services, has launched its scheme SP205 which is an accreditation/certification scheme for companies who provide life safety fire risk assessment services. The NSI & SSAIB have received UKAS accreditation to operate this scheme. Details can be viewed at www.bafe.org.uk.
THE FIRE RISK ASSESSMENT COMPETENCY COUNCIL/FIRE SECTOR FEDERATION
In direct response to concerns regarding the competency and professionalism of fire risk assessors, the Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council was established in 2011, consisting of a workstream of the major stakeholders in the fire safety sector as part of the activities of the Fire Sector Federation (FSF) www.firesectorfederation.co.uk.
The Council has published “A Guide to Choosing a Competent Fire Risk Assessor” which is posted in ATLAS. Not surprisingly, the recommendations in this document are very much slanted towards companies, including sole traders, which are third party certificated to appropriate schemes operated by Certification Bodies, which have been UKAS accredited to certificate against such schemes. The BAFE SP205 is one such scheme operated by NSI & SSAIB.
Within the FSF has been established a national listing of individuals or companies that can provide fire risk assessment services to a recognised industry standard, which is a compilation of details from a number of accredited third party certification and professional body membership schemes operated in the UK (primarily those mentioned above).
Arising from Grenfell, the FSF has published (dated November 2020) an Approved Code of Practice – A National Framework for Fire Risk Assessor Competency . The Code seeks to consolidate the fire industry recommendations of best practice on how to assess the competency of individuals who conduct fire risk assessments, with particular emphasis on high risk buildings.
In addition, the FSF in December 2022 published its Industry Benchmark Standard for Fire Risk Assessors providing a means to establish a set of quality standards and practice required by those employed within the UK Fire Sector in respect to the provision of Fire Risk Assessments. This document underpins the FSF Approved Code of Practice by setting out the personal qualities and attributes that Fire Risk Assessors should maintain throughout their careers. Moreover, the Standard considers the activity of the profession on three distinct risk levels, namely:
Foundation – Fire Risk Assessments within low-risk premises
Intermediate – the general requirement for Fire Risk Assessments within medium risk premises
Advanced – Conducting Fire Risk Assessments within high-risk premises
RISK IMPROVEMENTS
The main objective in the drafting this TB is to make Consultants aware of some of the main registration or accreditation schemes that exist in the safety consultancy and fire risk assessment communities, and for Policyholders to be steered towards such schemes where appropriate.
In particular, the establishment of the OSHCR represents a major advance. In cases where serious deficiencies in health and safety management are the subject of risk improvements, which are likely to require input from a health and safety consultant, risk improvements should conclude with a guidance statement based on the following:
In the event that it is decided to commission the services of a health and safety consultant to assist with the implementation of this risk improvement, it is recommended that an appointment is made from the Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register (OSHCR) administered by the HSE, details of which can be found at www.oshcr.org.
Where dealing specifically with the matter of fire risk assessment, whist expertise will undoubtedly be found amongst the registrants of the OSCHR, the following alternative wording should be employed:
In the event that it is decided to commission the services of a fire risk assessor to assist with the implementation of this risk improvement, it is recommended that such persons or companies are selected from an accredited third party certification or professional body membership scheme, such as the following:
BAFE (British Approvals for Fire Equipment) Life Safety Fire Risk Assessment Scheme SP205 – www.bafe.org.uk
· Warrington Certification Fire Risk Assessors Certification Scheme (FRACS) -www.warringtoncertification.com/fracs.html.
Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) Register of Fire Risk Assessors and Auditors – https://www.ife.org.uk/Fire-Risk-Assessors-Register
The Institute of Fire Safety Managers (IFSM) Register- https://ifsm.org.uk/fire-risk-assessors/
Further information can be found in A Guide to Choosing a Competent Fire Risk Assessor published by the Fire Sector Federation, available at https://www.firesectorfederation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/FSF_Guide_V2.pdf
In a severe case where the services of a previous health and safety consultant and/or risk assessor have been brought into serious question, the above recommendation based on best practice for registration or accreditation shall be upgraded to a requirement.
Except in circumstances where in-house fire safety competency and experience can be suitably demonstrated, the appointment of a registered/certificated fire risk assessor must be a firm requirement for all high-rise residential buildings, care homes, hospitals, student accommodation, hotels and other risks providing sleeping accommodation. This must also apply to cinemas, theatres, nightclubs, concert halls, exhibition centres, stadia and other ‘high risk’ premises where large numbers of the public are gathered.