Fire Safety in the Workplace

Advice and guidance for businesses on fire safety. Information about fire safety law changes from October 2006.

New Fire Safety Regulations

New fire safety laws came into force on 1 October 2006, which:

• Emphasise preventing fires and reducing risk

• Make it your responsibility to ensure the safety of everyone who uses your premises and in the immediate vicinity

• Do away with the need for fire certificates

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, businesses need to carry out a fire risk assessment and act on the findings - see more information in this section.

Fire certificates are no longer valid. However a fairly recent fire certificate will be a good starting point for your fire risk assessment.

Guides to Download

An introductory booklet and a series of 11 guides for different types of businesses are available to download in PDF format - see Related Pages.

The series of Fire Safety Risk Assessment Guides include:

• Offices and Shops
• Factories and Warehouses
• Residential Care Premises
• Sleeping Accommodation - hotels, guest houses and holiday flats

See also our fire safety pages for pubs, clubs and other licensed premises and for landlords of rented accommodation.

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service

Fire safety law is enforced by East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. You can download a colour presentation about the service below.

Under the new legislation, the Fire and Rescue Service may still inspect your premises, particularly higher risk premises. However, they cannot carry out your fire risk assessment for you.

For more advice in Eastbourne, contact East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service - phone 0845 130 8855 or email eastbourne.firesafety@esfrs.org