How Fire Risk Assessment Are Carried Out With Assistance From Aberdeen City Council

As the Community Centre is leased to an independent Association it is the Management Committee of the Association that is responsible for the fire safety of the Community Centre premises. It is also the Management Committee's responsibility to ensure an appropriate Fire Risk Assessment is carried out by a competent person.

To assist the Management Committee in meeting their responsibility, the Council will arranged for a Fire Risk Assessment to be carried out, free of charge, using the same process that is carried out for Council premises as long as the Management Committee agree to adhere to this process.

A Health and Safety Advisor, from the Council, will arrange an appointment to visit the Community Centre.

The Advisor will treat the premises as they would any Council premises. The Advisor will ask to see copies of fire related policies. While Council policies may not be directly relevant your Association should have similar policies. e.g. Aberdeen City Council's Fire Safety Policy will not be relevant, however your Association should have a Fire Safety Policy. You should show the Health and Safety Advisor your Association's policies.

The Advisor will expect to meet with a Responsible Person at the Community Centre. This Responsible Person can be a member of staff, a Management Committee member, or a volunteer.

The visit will take around 30 - 45 minutes with the Responsible Person going over fire safety paperwork including:

  • Review / evidence of documentation in accordance with the Council’s Fire Safety Policy and Fire Safety Management Procedure;
  • Premises specific fire safety policy;
  • Emergency Fire Action Plan – including discussion about the evacuation arrangements;
  • Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) if applicable;
  • Review of actions from previous Fire Risk Assessment.

The following require to be available for the Advisor to assess:

  • Records of testing and maintenance of fire safety systems alarms, emergency lighting etc.;
  • Evidence of maintenance of machinery where required i.e. kitchen, hoists, lighting gantry's etc.;
  • Maintenance of heating systems, etc. if applicable;
  • Access to mains electric installations, boiler and plant rooms;
  • Review of the arrangements for the use, transport and storage of flammable substances if applicable.

There will also be a walkthrough of the Centre, and it may be helpful for other individuals to be present to speak about areas where they have knowledge, for instance catering staff/volunteers in relation to kitchen areas. The walkthrough process will take up the majority of time during the assessment and will be dependent upon the size of the Centre, occupancy and type of activities carried out.

The Advisor will then prepare the Fire Risk Assessment document and send a copy to the Management Committee of the Association by email. The Fire Risk Assessment will contain aFire Risk Assessment Action Plan, which requires to be completed by the Management Committee.

The Management Committee should send a copy of the Fire Risk Assessment to the Community Centre Liaison Officer, who will make suggestions based upon the lease and management agreement in relation to the recommendations in the Fire Safety Action Plan.

Time should be set aside on the agenda of the next Management Committee meeting to consider the Fire Risk Assessment and ensure that all the recommendations in the Fire Risk Assessment Action Plan are addressed.

The Management Committee require to complete for the Fire Risk Assessment Action Plan. This should include any actions and anticipated timescales. Management Committees may choose different actions from those recommended however there is still a need to detail what, if any, action is being taken for all recommendations.

The Management Committee then require to send the completed Fire Risk Assessment Action Plan to VivienneAmakiri, Health and Safety Coordinator, where it will be logged and a follow up arranged to ensure that the Management Committee have carried out their agreed actions. Management Committees require to submit their completed Fire Risk Assessment Action Plan to ensure that they continue to receive this service free of charge from the Council.

It should be noted that some of the recommendations will be the responsibility of Aberdeen City Council as the landlord of the premises. If this is the case then there is still a need for the Management Committee to formally request that the landlord caries out any actions identified. Do not assume that any action will be taken unless the Management Committee formerly request it.

The Community Centre Liaison Officer will assist the Management Committee with any part of this process, including ensuring proper documentation is in place.

Version: 6 September 2017