We were recently asked by a client to look at their Fire risk assessment following a visit from the London Fire Service who had criticized what they had in place. The Fire Service had determined that the assessment was not comprehensive enough in detail to cover the operations they were undertaking and suggested it needed redoing.

Looking through what they had we agreed that the existing assessment was indeed lacking and that we would assist the business to meet the requirements of The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. It then make us think how such a business would know whether the risk assessment it was getting was going to be good enough. They paid good money for the assessment yet were let down by the consultancy they employed.

Such as mistake could have led to a prosecution or even worse a failure to identify gaps in their controls which may have resulted in fire.

It seems that all too often businesses can be easily fooled by consultant’s claims and that they don’t do the research to find out about who they are planning to work with. It’s not always apparent as to whether the consultants really have the necessary competence and therefore we urge you to ask other businesses about the consultants you are planning to use.