“The fire safety regime introduced by the FSO is very similar in concept and practice to the UK’s established health and safety regime, in that It places an absolute duty on the "Responsible Person" to comply.
Ignorance of legal responsibilities or statutory requirements is no defence. All fire safety measures should be based on the findings of a “suitable and sufficient” fire risk assessment undertaken by (or onbehalf of) the Responsible Person.”Extract from Devon Fire & rescue service handbook
As the responsible person you must:
You’re responsible for fire safety in business or other non-domestic premises if you’re:
(Page 14 of 164 Enforcers’ Guidance - FSO 2014)
The Order clearly states that there are two means by which competent persons might be identified. He6 must have both ‘sufficient training and experience’ or alternatively he must possess ‘knowledge and other qualities’, which will in both cases, enable him to properly carry out the task at hand. The nature of ‘competent person’ is clearly associated with ‘competence’.
The qualities present in the person must be akin to those expected of any person in that profession, but will by definition be limited by training, experience, knowledge or other qualities; in accordance with the complexity of the task at hand. It follows that as a task increases in complexity, so the expected ability of the competent person will also increase.
Displaying an awareness of the requirements does not inherently meet the requirements of the role. “…when relevant competencies absent, it shows in the end result and this, as the recent case
[Lockwood7] shows, is proof enough for the courts … The guidance associated with the [Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999] makes it clear that the level of knowledge and experience involved must be tied to the complexity of the problems to be tackled.
Displaying an awareness of the requirements does not inherently meet the requirements of the role. “…when relevant competencies absent, it shows in the end result and this, as the recent case
[Lockwood7] shows, is proof enough for the courts … The guidance associated with the [Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999] makes it clear that the level of knowledge and experience involved must be tied to the complexity of the problems to be tackled.
We install, test and maintain all manner of emergency lighting systems for compliance to BS 5266/BS EN 50172
Building regulations state that all non-domestic buildings should be fitted with a a well signposted disabled toilet and that each toilet needs to have a toilet alarm system in place.
