Third Party Certification & Registration Schemes for Fire ...Gareth Evans BSc(Hons), FIFireE,...
Transcript of Third Party Certification & Registration Schemes for Fire ...Gareth Evans BSc(Hons), FIFireE,...
Gareth Evans BSc(Hons), FIFireE, .Grad.IOSH
IOSH Event
12th October 2017
Aztec Hotel,
Bristol
Third Party Certification & Registration Schemes for –
Fire Risk Assessors
Aim……….
To provide an overview and facilitate awareness of fire
risk assessment services third party certification
schemes and approved registers.
“The matter of competence of fire risk assessors
has become the big issue in fire safety.
“There is gradual recognition of the value of
registration and certification schemes for fire risk
assessors, use of third party certificated persons
and companies not only provides reassurance to
those in need of suitable and sufficient fire risk
assessments, but the use of these fire risk
assessors may well, one day, assist in
establishing a defence of due diligence if things
go badly wrong.”
IFP Journal May 2016-
“An independent fire risk assessor has been given a four month jail
sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to pay £1,000 costs
after 'paying lip service' to assessing a Cheshire care home.”
“A private fire risk assessor has been found guilty of failing to provide an
adequate risk assessment to a large Newton Abbot restaurant. Mr S--------
was prosecuted by Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service appearing at
Torquay Magistrates Mr S--------- had pleaded guilty was ordered to pay a total
in fines and costs of £7,383.”
A fire safety consultant
who gave "valueless" risk
assessments has been
given a six month
suspended sentence and
180 hours of community
service.
Hold that
thought……
South Wales Fire and Rescue
Service said it hoped the conviction
would help bring in new rules to
regulate the industry.
Article 3….
The employer
The person who has control of the premises, or the owner
Article 5…
Any duty ……..shall also be imposed on every person, other than the
responsible person .. ….. who has, to any extent, control of those premises
so far as the requirements relate to matters within his/her control.”
…..if the responsible person is misled by a report produced by a contractor
that safety is delivered, when in fact safety is not delivered, the Order
provides for the consultant to be liable to prosecution and not the
responsible person.
Art 32 - (10) Where the commission by any person of an offence under this
Order, is due to the act or default of some other person, that other person is
guilty of the offence, and a person may be charged with and convicted of the
offence by virtue of this paragraph whether or not proceedings are taken
against the first-mentioned person.
Has the “responsible person” demonstrated due diligence….. done all that
would be reasonable in the circumstances ??
Q. Please explain article 32(11) in relation to due diligence?
A. 32(11) qualifies article 33. In essence a responsible person cannot claim to
have taken all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence if an
offence is due to the act or default of an employee (something they did or
something they should have done but did not) or is due to the act or default of
a nominated or appointed “competent person”. In the latter case this is
because the onus is on the responsible person to make sure the competent
person is indeed ‘competent’ for the task they have been nominated or
appointed for.
FSO Article 9 Risk Assessment
Must be suitable & sufficient, and
carried out by a Competent Person
‘Competent Person’ –
‘sufficient training and experience’ or
‘knowledge and other qualities’ to
enable him/her to properly carry out the task
at hand.
Who is competent to carry out a fire risk assessment?
FIRE RISK ASSESSMENT COMPETENCY COUNCIL A Guide to Choosing a Competent Fire Risk Assessor
Can I do it myself?
Duty holders – particularly in small or low-risk premises - may be able to
carry out their own fire risk assessment………
….You need, however, to know your limits…….
There are two principal methods by which people can demonstrate their
competence;
• Professional Body Registration schemes
• Certification by a Certification Body that is UKAS accredited for the
activity. (Third Party Certification)
It is important that the
person who carries out
the fire risk assessment
is competent.
It is also important that the company for whom the fire risk assessor works
has adequate management systems in place, even if the fire risk assessor is
self employed. Competence of a company to deliver fire risk assessments
can be demonstrated by third party certification of the company by a UKAS
accredited Certification Body.
Third Party Certification Scheme or Register?
BAFE SP 205 part 1 – “Life Safety Fire Risk assessments”
Fire Risk Assessors Certification Scheme (FRACS)
Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE)
Institute of Fire Safety Managers (IFSM)
Institute of Fire Prevention Officers (IFPO)
Registers of Assessors
IFE Register
IFE Register
Personal details & CV
Qualifications, FRA specific Courses,
Experience, Current Employment,
CPD
Details of FRAs carried out over last 12 months
IFE Register
Professional Review Interview
Registration
Periodic Reviews 2-3 yearly
The role of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is to accredit
third party Certification Bodies for the certification work they carry out. UKAS
is the national accreditation body recognised by Government for this
purpose. UKAS accredit Certification Bodies, against agreed standards, to
confirm they are assessing correctly against ‘scheme’ requirements.
(v) had a suitable and sufficient
risk assessment been
undertaken the deaths, or some
of them, would have been
avoided.
OF6 It is a fact relevant to the circumstances of the deaths that there was
at the time of the fire no statutory requirement as regards the qualifications
of persons who provide services in connection with the risk assessment of
care homes.
RQIA (NI) – Require
third party accredited
FRAs in all registered
premises
“This could be driven forward
across the Principality through
the all Wales protocol between
the FRS and CSSIW.”
July 2016, open letter to
SWFRS & CSSIW….
“Limited powers of WG…
…ruling out the need for risk
assessors to be accredited.”
South Wales Fire and Rescue
Service said it hoped the conviction
would help bring in new rules to
regulate the industry.
March 2017….
‘The Scottish Government should introduce a requirement for third
party fire risk assessors to be certificated or registered to ensure
competency and to help businesses receive a satisfactory and
consistent service. This could in the first instance focus on those
offering assessments/assessors working in high risk sectors,’
states the review.
Regulatory Review Group
Third party Certification
Reference to the value of third party accreditation schemes is prominent
throughout the fire safety sector.
For example:-
• Section 8 of all HMG FSO guides
• Throughout ADB of Building Regulations
• Purpose built flats guide and draft specialised housing
• DoH HTM 05-01 “Managing Healthcare Fire Safety”
3rd July 2007
5.7.2 Areas for consideration
Consideration should be given to
conducting a review as to how the
responsible person under the FSO can
be assured that their assessment of risk
is suitable and sufficient, particularly
where the premises is of higher risk. This
assurance is particularly important where
the RP may be relying on using someone
else to undertake the risk assessment
14th June 2017
FSO Guides section 8
Third-party quality assurance can
offer comfort, both as a means of
satisfying you that goods and
services you have purchased are fit
for purpose, and as a means of
demonstrating that you have
complied with the law.
Third party certification schemes for fire
protection products and related
services are an effective means of
providing the fullest possible
assurances, offering a level of quality,
reliability and safety
Section 53 Third-Party Certification
“Third-party certification schemes for fire
protection products and related services
are an effective means of providing the
fullest possible assurances, offering a level
of quality, reliability and safety that non-
certificated products may lack.”
SHG Section 73
Third Party Certification..
“the use of firms that are third party
certificated by a UKAS-accredited
certification body is strongly
recommended.”
5.21 Users of this Health Technical
Memorandum are advised to
consider the benefit of third-party
certification.
Users seeking assistance in
identifying appropriate conformity
assessment bodies or schemes
should contact UKAS for advice and
further information.
Third-Party Certification is evidence that a service or product adheres to certain standards. An independent expert, the third party, has assessed the service or product and certified that it complies with those standards.
The certificated organisation is permitted to claim compliance with the scheme, display copies of their certificate and, in most cases, display the logos of the scheme and the certification body.
Depending on the scheme, the certificated organisation will also issue certificates of conformity for the product/service they provide, such as a complete fire risk assessment.
In the UK, the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) validates the authority of the certification body. It is an internationally recognised organisation appointed by the government to accredit certification bodies and the schemes they deliver.
Under the criteria and other than in the case of simple, low risk premises, fire risk assessors would need to show “evidence of specialist training and experience, or membership of a professional body, or certification by a third party certification body.”
The certified assessor must show appropriate knowledge of…………
• The assessment of risk from fire (appendix A)
• Applicable legislation (appendix B)
• Appropriate guidance (appendix C)
• Behaviour of fire in premises (appendix D)
• Effects of fire on people and behaviour of people in fire
situations (appendix E)
• Means of escape (appendix F)
• Fire prevention (appendix G)
• Fire protection (appendix H – includes passive and active)
• Management of fire safety (appendix I)
BAFE
BAFE is the independent, third party certification registration organisation for the fire protection industry, bringing the benefits of third party certificated quality fire protection companies to the responsible customer.
• completely independent
• totally unbiased party to help competent companies and people in need of fire protection services find each other.
• Registering companies across the UK, both large nationals and smaller regional businesses who have all achieved the same high quality standards.
Ultimate responsibility for the adequacy of the fire risk assessment under the RRO rests with the responsible person rather than with the fire risk assessor.
However there has been enforcement action taken against Fire Risk Assessors if the responsible person has been considered to have taken all reasonable steps when appointing an assessor, but the assessor has been proved not to be competent. BAFE SP205 recognises the importance of providing fire risk assessments that comply with an acceptable set of criteria.
NSI Gold BAFE SP205 part 1, “life safety fire risk assessment”
The process…………………. ……………………………………..FRAQS123 – THE NSI QUALITY SCHEDULE FOR THE APPLICATION OF BS EN ISO 9001:2015 TO THE NSI LIFE SAFETY FIRE RISK ASSESSMENT CERTIFICATION SCHEME.
Initial application and fee payment….
……..Audit of documented Fire Risk Assessments of ALL organisations fire risk assessors……..
Initial 2 day physical audit of ISO 9001 systems, scrutiny of all policies and procedures required to attain certification.
All of the above in addition to the ISO 9001 requirements.
Then, the Certification body carry out direct end to end observation audits of
the organisations fire risk assessors and Validator.
Assessor competency requirements being a foundation element.
From arriving on site right through to production of report and document
issue.
After initial audit, assessors are audited every 6 months and office based
surveillance audits 6 -12 monthly.
*The Validator is a named person with the competencies of a fire risk assessor
and who has the responsibility and delegated authority to validate documented
fire risk assessments on behalf of the Certificated Organisation.
ALL FRAs produced by the certificated
Organisation must be Validated*.
Also subject to audit reports on 10% of all
high risk FRAs
Validator also carries out direct observation
audits of all assessors at least 6 monthly
Audit objectives: • To conduct a Surveillance Audit to determine continued
conformity of the Company’s Quality Management System with BS EN ISO 9001 and verify compliance with the product standards listed under the audit criteria.
• To evaluate the continued effectiveness of the Management System in meeting the Company’s specified objectives.
• To identify as applicable, areas for potential improvement.
Audit criteria: • To verify conformity with the requirements of BAFE SP205-1
Version 4a July 2015 and NSI Quality Schedule FRAQS123, iss3, June 2014
Report distribution: Improvement Needs and Improvement Observation Reports entered onto the NSI System.
• Cost to certified organisation - around £2200 per year
https://www.bafe.org.uk/
Actively encourage risk assessors both Companies and Individuals to seek recognised Third Party Certification/Registration
Moving forward, raising standards…………
Refer RPs to where guidance on competency of risk assessors may be found
Was the FRA “suitable and sufficient”?
Moving forward, raising standards…………
We already have an example of where it clearly was not….
Aim……….
To provide an overview and facilitate awareness of fire
risk assessment services third party certification
schemes and approved registers.
Questions
?
Thank you