Introduction to Fire Safety Management

5.1
Introduction
The purpose of risk assessment is to assist an employer 
and/or a ‘responsible person’ to identify the preventive 
and protective measures required to comply with the 
law and in doing so, ensure, as far as reasonably prac-
tical, the safety of their workforce, premises and those 
around them who could be affected by their activities.
This chapter aims to provide the basic principles 
which are used during activity-based assessments and 
the more general risk assessment techniques. Chapter 14 
will discuss the fi re risk assessment process which is 
based upon many of the issues discussed in this chapter.
An effective risk management strategy is a critical elem-
ent in assisting an organisation to successfully plan their 
management of safety. Risk assessments conducted by 
an organisation will help to identify and quantify areas of 
strengths and weaknesses, prioritise actions for control-
ling fi re risks and provide a basis for developing a pos-
itive safety culture.
As discussed in Chapter 1, the legal argument for 
managing fi re and health and safety is only one of the 
three reasons that an organisation should manage safety 
effectively.
The same can be said for risk assessment, in so 
far as while assessments are required by law, the moral 
argument for reducing personal injuries and incidents 
of ill health by the use of risk control measures should 
also not be overlooked. The fi nancial and economical 
5
Principles of risk 
assessment
This chapter discusses the following key 
elements:
➤
Defi nitions relating to risk assessment
➤
Risk assessment and the law
➤
Competencies required for risk assessment
➤
The process of risk assessment
➤
Risk assessment recording and reviewing 
procedures.
Figure 5.1
In order to assess risks from fi re it is neces-
sary to understand the general principles and practice of 
conducting risk assessments

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