Step 5 - Reviewing and revising the risk assessment

It is important to remember that fire risk assessment is a continuous process and as such must be monitored and audited. New and existing control measures should be maintained to make sure they are still working effectively.

However, if you introduce changes into your workplace your original risk assessment may not address any new hazards or risk arising from them. For this reason it is also important to review and revise your assessment regularly.

This doesn't mean that it is necessary to amend your assessment for every trivial change that occurs, but the impact of any significant change should be considered. For example:

• A new work process may introduce additional fuels or ignition sources.
• Changes to furniture layout or internal partitions could affect the ability for employees to see a fire and escape in time.
• Increasing the number of employees may mean that a fire exit is now too small to cope with their escape within a safe period.
• Occupying another floor of the building may mean that an electrical fire warning system is now necessary, etc.

The above list is not exhaustive and any change that could lead to new hazards or risks should be considered.

If any of the above changes occur at your premises, it is a legal requirement to carry out a revised assessment. Fire Mediation can carry out a review of your fire risk assessment and if we did your initial survey, this could be done at a fraction of the cost