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What this means for your business

20 obligations

18 penalties

18 can imprison

42 guides

Applies to: United Kingdom
On this page: 20 compliance obligations, 42 practical guides across 3 topics

Read full text on legislation.gov.uk

What you must do

20 compliance obligations under this legislation — 18 can result in imprisonment.

Risk assessment 2

You must produce a thorough fire risk assessment for your premises, update it whenever there are changes or you suspect it’s out‑of‑date, and record the findings (including any groups especially at risk). You also cannot start any new work involving dangerous substances until the assessment is done and required safety measures are in place.

Occupier s.9 HSE

Whenever you carry out a risk assessment for any hazardous substance in your premises, you must look at all of the items listed in the Fire Safety Order – things like the substance’s properties, supplier safety data, amount used, how it’s stored, potential explosive atmospheres, ignition sources, and any extra information you need. This ensures you have a full picture of the risks and can put the right controls in place.

Occupier Schedule 1 HSE When handling or storing dangerous (hazardous) substances at work

Management duties 13

When you put any fire‑prevention or fire‑protection measures in place at your premises, you must base them on the specific principles set out in Part 3 of Schedule 1 of the Fire Safety Order. In practice this means checking those principles before you choose or install alarms, sprinklers, fire doors, compartmentation, etc., and ensuring the chosen solution follows them.

Any Person s.10 HSE Whenever you implement any fire‑preventive or protective measure

If more than one person (for example an occupier, landlord or employer) has fire‑safety responsibilities for the same premises, you must find out who the others are, share your contact details and which part of the building you’re responsible for, and work together to meet the fire‑safety requirements. You also need to tell them about any risks you create, and where there is a risk of an explosive atmosphere one person must take overall responsibility for coordinating the safety measures.

Occupier s.22 HSE where two or more responsible persons share or have duties for the …

If dangerous substances are on your premises, you must make sure they do not create an unreasonable fire risk. You need to try to remove them, replace them with safer alternatives, or put in practical control measures, safe handling, storage and transport, and keep those measures working at all times.

Any Person s.12 HSE when a dangerous substance is present in or on the premises

You must make sure that all the fire safety duties set out in the Fire Safety Order (such as fire risk assessments, fire prevention measures and maintenance of fire safety equipment) are carried out at any workplace or other premises you control. If you share control of a premises with others (e.g., a landlord, contractor or tenant), they must also meet the same duties for the parts they control.

Any Person s.5 HSE

If your fire safety arrangements fail and an employee is injured or suffers damage, that employee can sue you. This provision reminds you that breaches of the fire‑safety duties you’re legally required to keep in place can lead to civil claims. So you must make sure you actually meet those duties – it’s not just a fine‑box exercise.

Employer s.39 HSE

You must make sure that any routes leading to emergency doors and the doors themselves are never blocked, lead straight to a safe place, and can be opened quickly in an emergency. This includes having the right number and size of exits, outward‑opening doors, clear signage and, where needed, emergency lighting.

Occupier s.14 HSE

You must keep any equipment, devices or systems that help or protect fire‑fighters on your premises in good working order. This means carrying out regular checks, servicing and repairs, and, if the building is shared, arranging with other occupiers so that the same standards are met throughout.

Any Person s.38 HSE If fire‑fighter protection equipment or systems are present or required on your …

You must put in place a suitable system to keep all fire‑related equipment, devices and the building itself in efficient working order and good repair. If the building is shared, you can arrange with other occupiers to share the maintenance duties, but you still have to make sure the work gets done.

Occupier s.17 HSE

You must make sure your premises have appropriate fire‑fighting equipment and fire alarms that match the size, use and any hazards present. Any non‑automatic extinguishers must be easy to reach, simple to use and clearly signed. You also need to appoint suitably trained people to implement fire‑fighting measures and keep contact details for the fire service.

Occupier s.13 HSE If fire risks are present due to the premises’ features, activities, hazards …

If your building contains two or more separate homes, you must give the people living there clear, easy‑to‑understand information about fire risks, what is being done to prevent them, and who to contact. You also need to keep a record of the information you have provided.

Employer Provision of information to residents of domestic HSE Building contains two or more separate domestic premises

You must develop fire‑safety arrangements that are suitable for the size and activities of your business and then put them into practice. This includes planning, organising, controlling, monitoring and reviewing the preventive and protective measures. You also need to keep a written record of these arrangements.

Any Person s.11 HSE

If your business stores or uses dangerous substances, you must have clear emergency information, warning and communication systems, and evacuation routes ready. You also need to share this information with the fire service and display it on site, and take immediate action to control any fire involving those substances, allowing only essential, protected staff to enter the area.

Occupier s.16 HSE When dangerous substances are present on the premises and the risk assessment …

You must put in place fire safety measures that, as far as reasonably practicable, keep your employees and anyone else on your premises safe. This includes installing, maintaining and testing things like fire detection, alarms, escape routes and other precautions suited to the specific risks of your building.

Occupier s.8 HSE

Payments and fees 1

You must not make any employee pay for work that is required by the Fire Safety Order – this includes training, fire‑risk assessments, fire‑extinguishers, alarms, evacuation drills and any other fire‑safety measures. All costs for complying with the Order have to be borne by the employer, not deducted from pay or otherwise charged to staff.

Employer s.40 HSE

Training 4

If you are the fire‑safety responsible person for a premises, you must give clear, understandable information to any external employer (and to the workers they send) about fire risks, the measures you have taken and who to follow in an evacuation. This has to be done before the outside staff start work and kept up to date.

Any Person s.20 HSE When employees or self‑employed persons from an outside undertaking work on your …

You must give your staff clear, easy‑to‑understand information about fire risks, how to prevent and protect against them, the fire safety procedures, who the appointed fire‑safety people are and any other risks that have been reported. If you have dangerous substances on site, you also need to supply details of those substances and safety data sheets. Before you hire a child, you must give the child’s parent the same fire‑safety information.

Employer s.19 HSE

You must give all your staff fire‑safety training when they start work and whenever their role, equipment, technology or way of working changes the fire risk. The training should cover what they must do to keep themselves and others safe, be refreshed regularly and be delivered during working hours.

Employer s.21 HSE When an employee is first hired or when they are exposed to …

Every employee must look after their own safety and that of anyone who could be affected by their actions at work. They must also cooperate with the employer on any fire‑safety duties and immediately tell the employer (or the person responsible for safety) about any serious or immediate danger or any shortcoming in the employer’s safety arrangements.

Employee s.23 HSE While at work