Introduction to Fire Safety Management

Principles of risk assessment
89
➤
Location 
inspection:
➤
Site safety tours and site safety inspections
➤
Activity 
observation:
➤
Job safety analysis/task safety analysis (such as 
hot work processes).
As part of the identifi cation of hazards, it is useful to use 
HSE’s RIDDOR ‘accident categories’ as a means of iden-
tifying the hazards by considering the causes of injury 
which may arise. These categories cover slips, trips and 
fall, falls from height and falling objects, collision with 
objects or being trapped or crushed beneath or between 
objects, manual handling, contact with machinery or hand 
tools, electricity, transport, contact with hazardous chem-
icals, asphyxiation/drowning, contact with animals, and 
violence, not to forgetting of course fi re and explosion.
These categories have been adopted when trying 
to identify hazards and risks in relation to general health 
and safety; however, they may equally be applied when 
considering the types of risk in relation to fi re which may 
include:
➤
Slips, trips and falls (including those from height) 
while evacuating
➤
Handling, lifting or carrying portable fi re fi ghting 
equipment
➤
Being trapped by a wall collapsing
➤
Being asphyxiated from the inhalation of smoke
➤
Coming into contact with the release of harmful 
substances
➤
Being exposed to fi re or explosion while undertaking 
fi re fi ghting action
➤
Coming into contact with live electrical equipment 
due to degradation of wiring during a fi re
➤
Coming into contact with moving machinery while 
trying to shut down in the event of an emergency
➤
Being struck by a moving vehicle while evacuating
➤
Being assaulted by a person panicking in the event 
of a fi re.
It is likely that the above list will not necessarily be 
included in a fi re risk assessment (see later in the mod-
ule); however, each should be considered as part of a 
general risk assessment.
In the same way, categories of health risk, i.e. 
chemical, biological, physical, physiological, must also 
be considered as part of a general risk assessment 
process. Chemicals can obviously present a risk when 
coming into contact with humans, whether or not it is as 
a result of fi re, and the release of asbestos fi bres may 
also present a signifi cant risk (see Chapter 7).
Many of the physical and potentially psychological 
health risks can also be linked to a fi re scenario and thus 
must be taken into account during the risk assessment 
process.
It is also prudent when assessing hazard and risk 
to make the distinction between acute (single instant 
contact) and chronic (prolonged/repeated exposure) ill 
health. It may be that the inhalation of smoke containing 
toxic chemicals will cause death rapidly or that the inhal -
ation or exposure to less hazardous chemicals during the 
fi re process may worsen conditions of a person who has 
already been exposed over a period of time.