Fire and Rescue Service
Fire Safety Policy
1. Introduction
1.1 This statement sets out the general policy and principles that
Suffolk Fire & Rescue Service expects to follow. It provides
guidance for inspectors, businesses and members of the public and
is intended to clearly set out the aims, standards and values that
will be applied.
1.2 We aim to provide a consistently high quality service to the
commercial/business community in relation to our local community
safety targets and technical/legislative fire safety, in accordance
with the Enforcement Concordat as published by the Better
Regulation Unit of the Cabinet Office. (Details of our Technical
Fire Safety Functional Plan is available on request and on our
website)
2. Principles
2.1 SFRS (the Service) carries out fire safety enforcement work on
behalf of Suffolk County Council Fire and Rescue Authority (the
Authority).
2.2 The Service believes in firm but fair enforcement of fire
safety legislation. As a result, as is general to the Health and
Safety Commission’s Enforcement Policy Statement, we aim to achieve
this by the principles of proportionality in applying the law and
securing compliance; consistency of approach; targeting of
enforcement action; transparency about how we operate and what the
regulated may expect; and accountability for our actions.
3. Proportionality
3.1 The Service will endeavour to minimise the cost of compliance
for business by ensuring that any action taken, or advice offered,
is proportionate to the risk. As far as the law allows, we will
take account of the circumstances of the case and attitude of the
people involved when considering action. We will take care to work
with small businesses and organisations so that, where practicable,
they can meet their legal obligations without unnecessary
expense.
4. Consistency
4.1 Consistency of approach does not mean uniformity, it means
taking a similar approach in similar circumstances to achieve
similar goals. The service will therefore carry out its duties in a
fair, equitable and consistent manner. Inspectors will exercise
their professional judgement to deal effectively with specific
matters but, where possible, we will adhere to standards and
guidance, referred to below, to promote consistency. We will liase
with other authorities and enforcement bodies to co-ordinate effort
and locate best practice.
5. Standards
5.1 The Service will carry out its enforcement and advisory
functions in an equitable, practical and consistent manner. We will
adopt and adhere to policy and guidance issued by The Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), the Chief Fire Officers’ Association
(CFOA), and National and European accepted standards. National and
local targets for the quality of delivery of service will be
identified and incorporated into our procedures.
6. Openness
6.1 The Service will provide information and advice on the rules
that it applies in plain language and will disseminate this as
widely as possible. The Service will be open about how it plans its
work, including any charges that it sets, consulting business,
voluntary organisations, charities, consumers and workforce
representatives. We will discuss general issues, specific
compliance failures or problems with anyone experiencing
difficulties within the legal framework governing the Service
7. Helpfulness
7.1 The Service believes that prevention is better than cure and
that its role, therefore, involves actively working with business,
especially small and medium sized businesses, to advise and assist
with compliance. We will provide a courteous and efficient service
and our staff will identify themselves by name. We will provide
contact points and telephone numbers for further communications
with them and will encourage business to seek advice/information.
We will also strive to co-ordinate our services effectively to
minimise unnecessary overlaps and time delays.
8. Fairness
8.1 The Service will treat all people fairly; we will respect their
privacy, dignity and pay particular attention to those with special
needs.
9. Transparency
9.1 We will help those responsible (the responsible person) for
complying with the legislation to understand what is expected of
them and what they should expect from the Service. We will
distinguish between statutory requirements and advice or guidance
about what is desirable but not compulsory to meet the
legislation.
10. Accountability
10.1 The Service is accountable to the public for it’s actions.
This means we must have policies and standards against which we can
be judged, and an effective and easily accessible mechanism for
dealing with comments and handling complaints.
11. Complaints
11.1 The Service has in place a complaints procedure. Further
information is available on request. In cases where disputes cannot
be resolved, any right of complaint or appeal will be explained,
with details of the process and the likely time scales involved. We
aim to resolve issues quickly and effectively and to learn from the
outcomes.
12. Targeting
12.1 Our inspection policy will be to focus primarily on those
whose premises/workplaces and activities give rise to the most
serious societal risk. We will maintain a strategy that will
identify and assess the risks within premises/workplaces and the
community and allocate resources to carry out inspections
accordingly. Where enforcement action is necessary we will identify
the person responsible for creating the risk. This may be the
owner, occupier, employer, manager or other responsible person. We
will seek compliance and may take action against those regarded as
primarily in breach.
13. Enforcement Procedures
13.1 The Service will seek compliance with the law by offering the
responsible person information and advice both verbally and/or in
writing. This will include an explanation of why any specified work
is necessary and a time period for completion. Legal requirements
will be clearly distinguished from best practice or non-statutory
fire safety advice. We may deal with this by informal means or
where appropriate we may serve, deficiency, enforcement and
prohibition notices, issue formal cautions, and may prosecute.
Before formal enforcement action is taken (unless immediate action
is required to reduce the risk to life or to prevent evidence from
being destroyed), inspectors will provide the person responsible
with an opportunity to discuss the circumstances of the case and,
if possible, resolve points of difference.
13.2 Where immediate action is considered necessary, an explanation
of why such action is required will be given at the time and
confirmed in writing in most cases within 5 working days and in all
cases within 10 working days.
13.3 Where there are rights of appeal against formal action, advice
on the appeal mechanism will be clearly set out in writing and
issued with the documentation.
13.4 All staff that take enforcement decisions will be required to
follow the principles and guidance in the ‘Enforcement Management
Model’ (EMM) issued by the Health and Safety Commission.
14. Dealing with Contraventions
14.1 Where less serious deficiencies are discovered during a visit
to premises/workplace, a notification identifying those matters
considered to be failures to comply and the steps considered
necessary to remedy the failures, will be issued.
14.2 Premises with more serious deficiencies will, in most
instances, initially be dealt with as in 13.1 above. Where the
situation remains unresolved after 28 days, the issue of an
Enforcement Notice may follow. If however the risk in the case of
fire is such, that enforcement cannot be delayed, immediate
enforcement action will be taken.
14.3 Where dangerous conditions are found and the Service is of the
opinion that the use of the premises/workplace involves, or will
involve, a risk to persons in case of fire so serious that the use
of the premises ought to be prohibited or restricted (and that risk
cannot be remedied immediately) we will issue a Prohibition Notice
prohibiting or restricting the use of the premises.
14.4 The failure to comply with a prohibition or enforcement notice
constitutes an offence and may result in prosecution of the person
responsible.
14.5 Enforcement and Prohibition Notices may be withdrawn at any
time by the Service but should be deemed to be in force until such
time as it is withdrawn or cancelled by a court.
15. Formal Cautions and Prosecution
15.1 Formal cautions and prosecution are important ways to bring
those responsible for alleged breaches of the law to account. Where
appropriate, we will use one of these measures in addition to
issuing an enforcement or prohibition notice.
15.2 A formal caution is a statement in writing by the Service that
is accepted by the responsible person, that the responsible person
has committed an offence for which there is a realistic prospect of
conviction. A formal caution will be used only where a prosecution
could be properly brought. It will be kept on file for 3 years and
if the responsible person is convicted for a further offence in
that period, it will be introduced to the court.
A prosecution may be taken following full consideration of:
- The seriousness of the offence (the severity and scale for
potential and actual risk and the seriousness of any breach of
law).
- The previous history (including the safety performance of the
party (the responsible person) concerned).
- The willingness of the party to correct the situation and
prevent a recurrence of the problem.
- An acceptable explanation for the occurrence (the breach in
law).
- The likelihood of the accused being able to establish a
satisfactory defence.
- The public benefit of a successful prosecution.
16. Public Register
16.1 In accordance with the “Environment and Safety Information Act
1988” the Service is obliged to enter details of certain notices
called “relevant notices” into a register to which the public have
access. Further details are available on request and on our web
site.
17. Data Protection
17.1 The Service will comply with the principles of the Data
Protection Act 1998 governing the use of personal data received or
obtained and will respect the rights and freedoms of individuals
when processing their details. The following document (name of
policy document/policy statement) lays out our strategic approach
to meeting the legal requirements. (Details are available on
request and on our website)
18. Freedom of Information
18.1 Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, individuals are
given ‘a general right of access to information held by public
authorities in the course of carrying out their functions subject
to certain conditions and exemptions’. Under Section 19 of the Act,
public authorities are required to produce a publication scheme
setting out details of the information routinely published or made
available, how the information is made available (in hard copy and
on-line), and whether it is available free of charge or on payment.
Details of The Service’s publication scheme is available.
19. Education and Information
19.1 Educating, informing and advising responsible persons about
their duties under fire safety legislation will form a fundamental
element of our enforcement regime. The Service will fulfil its
obligation to give, on request, fire safety advice free of
charge.