Fire risk assessment: a simple guide for small businesses
Every non-domestic premises in England & Wales needs a fire risk assessment — yes, including the small ones. It's less daunting than it sounds: five steps, in order.
Who has to do it
The duty falls on the responsible person — usually the employer, owner or occupier. Under Article 9 of the Fire Safety Order, you must make a "suitable and sufficient" assessment of the fire risks, and act on what it finds. Having fewer than five staff doesn't exempt you; it only changes whether you must write it down.
The five steps
- Identify the fire hazards. Sources of ignition (heaters, electrics, cooking, smoking), sources of fuel (paper, packaging, flammable liquids, clutter), and sources of oxygen.
- Identify the people at risk. Staff, visitors, contractors — and especially anyone who'd need help to evacuate, or who works alone or near a hazard.
- Evaluate, remove or reduce the risk. Cut ignition sources and fuel, then protect what's left: detection and alarm, the right extinguishers, clear escape routes, signage and lighting.
- Record, plan, inform and train. Write up your findings, make an emergency plan, and train your staff on it.
- Review regularly. Revisit after any change — new layout, new equipment, a near-miss — and periodically even if nothing's changed.
If you employ five or more people (or hold a licence, or it's an HMO), the assessment must be written down. Under five, you still have to do it and act on it — writing it down is simply best practice, and the record an inspector will want to see.
Doing it yourself vs bringing someone in
For simple, low-risk premises, a capable responsible person can carry out the assessment themselves using free GOV.UK guidance. For larger, complex or higher-risk buildings — sleeping accommodation, care settings, anything with tricky escape routes — a competent fire risk assessor is the sensible call. PAS 79 is the recognised methodology professionals follow.
Why it's the document everything hangs off
A fire risk assessment isn't paperwork for its own sake. It's the thing that decides everything else: which extinguishers you need and where, what signage and lighting, how often you drill, and what training your people get. Get the assessment right and the rest of your fire safety follows from it.
Sharpen the first step
Every round of Hazard Hunt is a mini risk assessment — spot the hazard, judge the risk, act before it becomes a fire.
Play Hazard Hunt →This guide is for learning and applies to England & Wales. Always work from the current regulations and your own fire risk assessment; Scotland and Northern Ireland have equivalent regimes.