Fire safety regulations for small businesses:

Fire safety regulations for small businesses:

What you need to know

No matter the size of your business, fire presents a deadly risk.

While there are certain fire safety regulations and pieces of legislation which small businesses must adhere to in order to be on the right side of the law, fire safety is also fundamental in being a good, responsible business owner and keeping your customers, staff and your livelihood safe.

In 2024, London Fire Brigade (LFB) announced it would no longer respond to daytime activations of automatic fire alarms in most non-residential buildings from October 2024. As a result of a rise in false calls from automatic fire alarms in London, automatic calls won’t be answered by the LFB between 7am and 8.30pm in a bid to reduce the burden on the force’s resources. This puts more emphasis on business owners and individuals to ensure that their fire safety processes are clear and in line with legislation.

To make your business fire safe wherever you are, follow AXA’s guide.

These are the primary pieces of legislation for fire safety regulations for small businesses in the UK. These orders place the responsibility for fire safety on business owners, employers, building owners, and anyone else with control over non-domestic premises. The orders cover things like conducting a fire risk assessment, implementing appropriate fire safety measures, providing fire safety training to employees, and maintaining fire safety records.

Who is responsible for fire safety in my business?

Everyone has a role to play when it comes to fire safety in the workplace, whether that’s the business owner, staff or even customers.

However, the legislation lists certain responsibilities which fall to the ‘Responsible Person’, who has control of the business premises. This Responsible Person could be the owner, leaseholder, landlord of the building, or someone else.

If the premises is a workplace and under the control of the employer, the employer will be the Responsible Person. In some cases, the Responsible Person may be the building owner or landlord, or there may be some joint responsibility between the employer and the landlord, depending on the lease agreement.

The Responsible Person can sometimes even be an organisation, such as a limited company, and not a specific living person. Where there is doubt as to the identity of the Responsible Person, you can check employment contracts, lease agreements or employers’ public liability certificates to help identify the Responsible Person.

The Responsible Person has certain duties by law, including:

• Performing a fire risk assessment
• Outlining the business’ fire safety arrangements
• Identifying any other Responsible Persons who share or have duties for the same premises and sharing their contact information

How to do a fire risk assessment

A fire risk assessment is a crucial step in ensuring the safety of a business premises and is one of the key duties of a Responsible Person.

Key elements of a fire risk assessment include identifying potential fire hazards such as sources of ignition, fuel, and oxygen, understanding any vulnerable individuals who may be at risk in the event of a fire, and outlining the actions to be taken in the event of a fire breaking out. The assessment should also consider the means of escape, fire detection and warning systems.

The risk assessment should include some key sections and information. Click the arrows below to expand and learn more.

Fire hazards

Review and detail anything that could start a fire, like ignition sources or combustible materials.

This could include:

• electrical equipment or sockets
• smoking areas
• heating systems
• cooking equipment like toasters or microwaves

The types of fire hazards you may encounter in your business could change depending on what your business does. For a hairdresser, for example, a hazard could be flammable solvents like hairsprays. For a consultant, it could be as simple as a laptop plugged into an older socket.

Follow our common fire hazards and prevention methods below:

Risk: Arson
Prevention: Increased security, such as CCTV or building access restrictions

Risk: Electricity
Prevention: Regular electrical testing, turn off when not in use

Risk: Smoking
Prevention: Smoking bans in and around the premises

Risk: Cooking
Prevention: Avoid deep fat fryers, regularly test microwaves and ovens

Risk: Hazardous materials
Prevention: Paints, solvents and other chemicals need their own risk assessment under the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmosphere Regulation 2002

People at risk

Review your current employees, any building staff, common visitors to the building and so on. List how many people may be in the premises at any one time. Are there any young, disabled, vulnerable or lone workers present in the premises? If so, what would be their means of evacuation?

Evaluate

Take a second to evaluate your premises. Ask yourself: how many floors and staircases are there? Where are the exits? Do you have working smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, or emergency lighting? Document these in your risk assessment and make changes if needed. You’ll find more information on making your premises safe in the next section.

Planning and training

Failure to plan is planning for failure. Consider everything in your risk assessment and then make a clear plan of action for you and your staff to follow in the event of a fire.

• Who is the fire marshal?
• Which fire exit should people use?
• Where is your meeting point outside of the building?

Make sure your staff are well aware of the procedure for staying safe in an emergency, and hold regular training sessions and fire drills. You can also create a business continuity plan, which outlines the systems and procedures that allow businesses to maintain or quickly resume functions in the event of a major disruption.

A business continuity plan should outline procedures and instructions for staff members in the event of a disaster. Click here to read AXA’s guide to writing your own business continuity plan.

Regular review

Your fire risk assessment needs to be reviewed regularly and updated whenever there are any significant changes.

You can find more guidance on fire safety risk assessments here.

Making your premises fire safe

Once you’ve identified the fire hazards in your risk assessment, it’s time to make some changes in order to keep the building secure and people safe. In order to be fire safe, building and work premises need to have some fire safety measures in place. These can include precautions like fire doors, emergency lighting, clear passageways or alarms systems, extinguishers and fire blankets.

Escape routes and fire exits
It’s important to note the number of fire exits in the building (on any given floor) and the distance people will be required to travel in order to access an exit. As a rule, no more than 60 people should be stationed on a floor with only one fire exit.

Ideally, escape routes should always be kept clear and should not pass through additional or unnecessary rooms like kitchens or store cupboards. The shorter the distance of travel and the more exits there are the better.

Fire doors and exit signs
Fire door are fire resistant internal or external doors which block or slow the spread of a fire in a building.

Fire doors must be unobstructed at all times, should lead to a place of safety and for fire exit doors, should not be locked so that they can be easily opened in an emergency. External fire exit doors should have a push pad or push bar to open and be clearly marked.

In smaller buildings, the fire exit is likely to be the main door in and out of the building, so may not require additional fire exit signage. If there is more than one exit, however, or if the fire exit is not used on a regular basis, clear signage would be required.

Fire alarms
In most premises, a fire alarm and smoke or heat detector is required, and in work premises of more than one storey an electrical fire alarm system should be present with ‘break glass’ points and alarm sounders.

The fire alarm system might need to incorporate automatic electric fire detectors. These will generally be smoke detectors or, in places like kitchens where smoke may cause false alarms, heat detectors.

In some areas, interlinked, mains-powered domestic smoke alarms might be used to provide an early warning of a fire to people in an inner room.

Fire extinguishers
Fire extinguishers are not only beneficial in tackling a fire in its early stages, to ensure the safety of people, but they also help to protect your premises from damage.

Common types of fire extinguisher include a water-based fire extinguisher, often used to deal with fires involving combustible materials, or a carbon dioxide extinguisher which is used to deal with fires involving electrical equipment. Some ‘multi-purpose’ fire extinguishers can deal with both types of fire.

If there’s risk of fire from cooking, for example involving deep fat fryers, a fire blanket and a Class F fire extinguisher (a type of extinguisher specifically intended for use on burning fats and oils) should be provided in the kitchen or cooking areas of your business.

Fire drills and training
It’s important that your staff know what to do in the event of a fire or fire alarm. When a new staff joins the business, take them through the fire safety procedure. For all members of your staff, hold at least an annual fire drill to test the procedure and your staff’s response times.

Keep a record of any issues you encounter on these drills and practice them with staff to help them improve. It’s also a good idea to perform routine maintenance and testing of your procedures and processes, your alarms and extinguishers and so on, so you know you’re being as safe as possible.

It's important for small businesses to regularly review and update their fire safety measures to ensure they remain effective and compliant with regulations.

Insurance for protecting your property

In addition to complying with fire safety regulations, small businesses may need to consider business insurance to protect themselves in the event of a fire.

Business insurance policies can vary, but many include coverage for fire damage to the premises, equipment, and stock. Some of the main covers which you may need to consider to protect your premises in event of a fire could be:

Small businesses face many challenges, but fire could be one of the deadliest dangers any business could face. By complying with the correct fire safety regulations and taking proactive measures to mitigate fire risks, small businesses can create a safer working environment for their employees and customers while also protecting their business, and their livelihoods, in the event of a fire.

You can also download AXA’s complete fire risk management guide here.