Page 1465 - Xmo Strata - Bulletin Archive

Health, Safety & Environmental Bulletin No 541

10 November 2016

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

Our emergency preparedness safety documentation is designed to ensure the safety of our employees, other
contractors and site patrons and staff, as well as protecting our clients against prosecution relating to the
Regulatory Reform Order (Fire Safety) 2005, which was effective in the UK from 2006. It is now 10 years since we
incorporated procedural checks into our management control procedures and started encouraging our
employees to exercise vigilance to offer protection to and add value to our clients.

In order to understand the severity of the fines that can be imposed on our clients, we have detailed 3 fines
imposed on UK retail businesses that best represent the sort of Blue Chip clients we work for.

1. High Street fashion retailer receives £400,000 fine

This company have a chain of UK high street shops and received a £400,000 following a fire that gutted one of
their outlets in 2007. 35 engines and 150 fire-fighters were needed to tackle the blaze and crews remained at the
scene for the three days. The company pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety)
Order 2005 following prosecution by the London Fire Brigade.

Fire Safety Breaches

▪ Insufficient staff training
▪ Storage blocking escape routes

Good business management includes taking responsibility for fire safety, knowing the law and acting on it. This
conviction shows that large companies are not exempt from prosecution and that the London Fire Brigade will
take action when businesses do not take their fire safety responsibilities seriously. Failure to comply with the law
can, as this case has shown, result in a substantial fine. – Councillor Brian Coleman AM FRSA, chairman of the
London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority