Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1997/1840 |
| Year | 1997 |
1997 No. 1840
FIRE PRECAUTIONS
HEALTH AND SAFETY
The Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997
Made 28th July 1997
Laid before Parliament 29th July 1997
Coming into force 1st December 1997
The Secretary of State, being designated1for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722in relation to measures relating to the minimum health and safety requirements for the workplace that relate to fire safety, in exercise of the powers conferred by that section and by sections 35, 40(8) and 43(1)3of the Fire Precautions Act 19714and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:
PART I
PRELIMINARY
Citation, commencement and extent
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 and shall come into force on 1st December 1997.
(2) These Regulations extend to Great Britain.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—
“the 1971 Act” means the Fire Precautions Act 1971;
“the 1974 Act” means the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 19745;
“the 1992 Management Regulations” means the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 19926;
“domestic premises” has the meaning given to it by section 53(1) of the 1974 Act;
“employee” means a person who is or is treated as an employee for the purposes of the 1992 Management Regulations;
“employer” means a person who is or is treated as an employer for the purposes of the 1992 Management Regulations;
“enforcement notice” has the meaning given to it by regulation 13(1);
“excepted workplace” has the meaning given to it by regulation 3(5);
“fire authority” means an authority discharging the functions of fire authority under the Fire Services Act 19477;
“premises” includes any place and, in particular, includes—
(a) any vehicle, vessel, aircraft or hovercraft;
(b) any installation on land (including the foreshore and other land intermittently covered by water), any offshore installation, and any other installation (whether floating, or resting on the seabed or the subsoil thereof, or resting on other land covered with water or the subsoil thereof), and
(c) any tent or movable structure;
“public road” means (in England and Wales) a highway maintainable at public expense within the meaning of section 329 of the Highways Act 19808and (in Scotland) a public road within the meaning of section 151 of the Roads (Scotland) Act 19849;
“workplace” means any premises or part of premises, not being domestic premises, used for the purposes of an employer’s undertaking and which are made available to an employee of the employer as a place of work and includes—
(a) any place within the premises to which such employee has access while at work; and
(c) any room, lobby, corridor, staircase, road or other place—
(i) used as a means of access to or egress from that place of work; or
(ii) where facilities are provided for use in connection with that place of work;
other than a public road; and
“the workplace fire precautions legislation” has the meaning given to it by regulation 9(2).
(2) Unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in these Regulations to—
(a)
(a) a numbered regulation is a reference to the regulation in these Regulations so numbered;
(b)
(b) a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph in the regulation in which the reference appears; and
(c)
(c) a numbered sub-paragraph is a reference to the sub-paragraph in the paragraph in which the reference appears.
PART II
FIRE PRECAUTIONS IN THE WORKPLACE
Application of Part II
3.—(1) Every employer shall ensure that he complies with the requirements of this Part of these Regulations in respect of every workplace, other than an excepted workplace, which is to any extent under his control, so far as the requirements relate to matters within his control.
(2) Every person who has, to any extent, control of a workplace, other than an excepted workplace, shall ensure that, so far as relates to matters within his control, the workplace complies with any applicable requirement of this Part of these Regulations.
(3) Where a person has, by virtue of any contract or tenancy, an obligation of any extent in relation to—
(a)
(a) the maintenance or repair of any workplace; or
(b)
(b) the safety of any workplace,
that person shall be treated, for the purposes of paragraph (2), as being a person who has control of the workplace to the extent that his obligation so extends.
(4) Any reference in this regulation to a person having control of any workplace is a reference to a person having control of the workplace in connection with the carrying on by him of a trade, business or other undertaking (whether for profit or not).
(5) For the purposes of these Regulations, an “excepted workplace” is—
(a)
(a) any workplace to the extent that it comprises premises for which a fire certificate is in force or for which an application for a fire certificate is pending under the 1971 Act (other than a fire certificate deemed to have been issued under that Act by virtue of paragraph 2 of Schedule 8 to the 1974 Act);
(b)
(b) any workplace to the extent that it comprises premises—
(i) in respect of which there is in force a safety certificate under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 197510or under Part III of the Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act 198711; and
(ii) which are in use for the activity or activities specified in the certificate;
(c)
(c) any workplace to the extent that it comprises premises to which the Fire Precautions (Sub-surface Railway Stations) Regulations 198912apply;
(d)
(d) any workplace which is or is on a construction site within the meaning of regulation 2(1) of the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 199613and to which those Regulations apply;
(e)
(e) any workplace which is or is in or on a ship within the meaning of regulation 2(1) of the Docks Regulations 198814, including any such ship which is in the course of construction or repair;
(f)
(f) any workplace to the extent that it comprises premises to which the Fire Certificates (Special Premises) Regulations 197615apply;
(g)
(g) any workplace which is deemed to form part of a mine for the purposes of the Mines and Quarries Act 195416;
(h)
(h) any workplace which is or is in or on an offshore installation within the meaning of regulation 3 of the Offshore Installations and Pipelines Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 199517;
(i)
(i) any workplace which is or is in or on an aircraft, locomotive or rolling stock, trailer or semi-trailer used as a means of transport or a vehicle for which a licence is in force under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 199418or a vehicle exempted from duty under that Act; and
(j)
(j) any workplace which is in fields, woods or other land forming part of an agricultural or forestry undertaking but which is not inside a building and is situated away from the undertaking’s main buildings.
(6) The requirements of this Part of these Regulations shall not have effect to the extent that they would prevent—
(a)
(a) any member of the armed forces of the Crown or of any visiting force (within the meaning of regulation 19);
(b)
(b) any constable or any member of a police force not being a constable; or
(c)
(c) any member of any emergency service,
from carrying out their duties.
(7) Without prejudice to paragraph (6), regulation 5(2)(f) shall not apply to any premises falling within the scope of section 40(2)(a) or (b) of the 1971 Act (prisons) or any part of any other premises used for keeping persons in lawful custody or detention.
(8) Where paragraph (6) or (7) applies, the safety of employees in case of fire shall nevertheless be ensured so far as is possible.
Fire-fighting and fire detection
4.—(1) Where necessary (whether due to the features of a workplace, the activity carried on there, any hazard present there or any other relevant circumstances) in order to safeguard the safety of employees in case of fire—
(a)
(a) a workplace shall, to the extent that is appropriate, be equipped with appropriate fire-fighting equipment and with fire detectors and alarms; and
(b)
(b) any non-automatic fire-fighting equipment so provided shall be easily accessible, simple to use and indicated by signs19,
and for the purposes of sub-paragraph (a) what is appropriate is to be determined by the dimensions and use of the building housing the workplace, the equipment it contains, the physical and chemical properties of the substances likely to be present and the maximum number of people that may be present at any one time.
(2) An employer shall, where necessary in order to safeguard the safety of his employees in case of fire—
(a)
(a) take measures for fire-fighting in the workplace, adapted to the nature of the activities carried on there and the size of his undertaking and of the workplace concerned and taking into account persons other than his employees who may be present;
(b)
(b) nominate employees to implement those measures and ensure that the number of such employees, their training and the equipment available to them are adequate, taking into account the size of, and the specific hazards involved in, the workplace concerned; and
(c)
(c) arrange any necessary contacts with external emergency services, particularly as regards rescue work and fire-fighting.
Emergency routes and exits
5.—(1) Where necessary in order to safeguard the safety of employees in case of fire, routes to emergency exits from a workplace and the exits themselves shall be kept clear at all times.
(2) The following requirements must be complied with in respect of a workplace where necessary (whether due to the features of the workplace, the activity carried on there, any hazard present there or any other...
To continue reading
Request your trial