CFOA to Lead Business Engagement as RRO ‘Inconsistency’ Criticized

The Chief Fire Officers Association aim to help businesses in maintaining fire safety following feedback that current regulations are inconsistently applied.

In view of the confusion and inconsistency of approaches to fire safety standards often found in smaller enterprises, CFOA will lead a programme of improvement in the understanding of fire safety regulations and their enforcement.

Focus on Enforcement review

The CFOA’s move comes in response to the government’s recent Focus on Enforcement review, which looked at enforcement of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRO) 2005 in small- to medium-sized businesses.

The Review identified a need for more consistent application of regulation and better guidance for companies regarding how to comply with the law.

Although the Review found some evidence of good enforcement practice, and while it praised the advice and support offered through dedicated business-outreach teams by Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs), it also highlighted negative experiences of enforcement under the RRO, such as:

• inconsistency of approach and advice, with considerable variation in the approach to regulatory functions, and also examples of conflicting requirements between different areas and different officers;
• vague enforcement notices that leave businesses unsure what remedial action is required of them;
• confusing guidance, with multiple versions of common templates, a variety of guidance documents, and confusion between informal advice and legal requirements;
• no obvious route for appeals to be made;
• no simple mechanism for raising queries; and
• too many additional costly safety measures being required after each FRA visit with no real evidence of a change in risk.

CFOA’s response

CFOA welcomed the review, saying it is committed to working closely with businesses and with FRAs to address the findings and improve the way in which fire safety regulations are enforced.

The body said it recognized that more can still be done to improve the quality of service provided to the business community, while aiding consumer protection and supporting economic growth.

Improvements

CFOA’s planned remedial steps include:

• leading a business-engagement forum to help industry shape regulatory practices, raise future concerns, and generate innovative solutions;
• creating a professional, accredited, framework of competence for fire safety officers nationally;
• providing clearer and more consistent support and direction to businesses, including consistency in formal notices, clarity on addressing identified failures of compliance, and clearly distinguishing informal advice from compulsory requirements;
• promoting the use, and acceptance, of recognised professional certification and accreditation for commercial fire risk assessors;
• building on the good practice already developed by a number of FRAs in providing support to small business; and
• encouraging all FRAs to engage with Local Enterprise Partnerships to support better communication with companies.

Vij Randeniya, president of CFOA, said in a Government press release:

This is a new era for the delivery of fire safety regulations. CFOA have listened to the concerns of business contained within the [Focus on Enforcement] review and will lead Fire and Rescue Services to deliver on our commitments.

Business can be confident that we will continue to work closely with them to deliver cost-effective fire safety solutions that support economic growth, help businesses recover quicker in the event of a fire and build safer communities.

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