Whilst our Fire Risk Assessors are all full Members of the IFE and IFSM, our consultants specialise in the leisure and event sectors and have no experience of High Rise Towers so declined to comment.
We have however, seen an increase in clients wanting to review their current Fire Risk Assessments to ensure that they are ‘suitable and sufficient’ and that the safety of their patrons and staff is not compromised.
The mail online reported that the Fire Risk assessor, for Grenfell Tower had advised clients of alleged ‘legal loopholes’ which can be used to avoid transparency to the Fire Brigade and ultimately save costs.
Crowd Safety would strongly advise against this approach to any current clients, future clients or others who have the duty to conduct fire risk assessments. Clients should be transparent with their legal obligations to enhance their fire safety and offer full disclosure with their local fire authority, rather than wait for enforcement action or a catastrophe such as Grenfell Tower.
It is the responsibility of the ‘Responsible Person’ to conduct due diligence that satisfies themselves that the Fire Risk Assessor they appoint, has the necessary skills, experience and sector experience to assess the fire risks and the fire safety measures required to mitigate, or minimise these risks to a tolerable level. It is then incumbent of the Responsible Person, to act upon these recommendations to limit the likelihood of fire occurring but in the event a fire does break out, to ensure that Relevant Persons are able to get to a Place of Safety.