Fire Safety in Your Business: Clear Duties, Practical Advice, Real Benefits

A chat with Tim Meadows, Station Commander, Fire Safety Enforcement – Protection, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Focus on prevention rather than dealing with devastation.

I have seen firsthand, the devastating damage to businesses and people’s livelihood from the effect of fire.

Conversations with small and medium-sized business owners highlight that fire safety is not typically a priority, due to the challenges of running a business, but ignoring this can cause irreversible damage if not addressed before any incident occurs.

The purpose of this article is to provide you as the business owner (duty holder) with clear guidance and support to manage your duties and ensure all of your hard work building a brand and business is not thwarted by poor fire safety management.

Although the Fire Safety Enforcement role is ‘enforcement’ — our aim is prevention, protection, and partnership.

For small and medium business owners, fire safety is not simply about compliance. It is about business resilience and risk management.

What’s the benefit to you?

A single fire can result in:

Significant interruption to trading and income streams
Loss of stock, data and infrastructure
Increased insurance premiums
Reputational damage
Investigation under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
Enforcement action from SFRS

Conversely, strong fire safety management demonstrates leadership, protects staff and customers, and safeguards continuity.

Fire safety should not be seen as a regulatory burden, but more a strategic business protection measure that smart and responsible business owners undertake.

Who is Responsible? (Hint: More Than One Person)

One of the most common misconceptions we encounter during audits is around who is responsible.

Under Scottish fire safety law, duties apply to anyone who has control — to any extent — over non-domestic (commercial) premises so there is rarely only one responsible person. This may sit with:

Landlords
Tenants
Employers
Managing agents
Directors with financial control

In multi-occupancy premises, responsibility is often shared. Being a landlord does not absolve duty, and likewise being a tenant does not transfer it entirely elsewhere.

Cooperation and coordination between parties is not optional — it is a legal requirement.

If responsibility has not been clearly discussed and documented between landlord and tenant, that is a risk in itself and should be clearly outlined and communicated.

The Fire Risk Assessment: The Foundation of Compliance

Most commercial business in Scotland must have a written Fire Risk Assessment (FRA).

A suitable and sufficient FRA must:

Identify fire hazards
Identify people at risk
Evaluate and reduce risk
Record significant findings
Be reviewed regularly and after change
It is not simply a template exercise. It must be:
Suitable and sufficient
Specific to your premises
Reflective of actual operations

Templates and guidance are available from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), the Health and Safety Executive and the Scottish Government.

As SFRS are the enforcing authority, we cannot complete your Fire Risk Assessment for you as this responsibility lies with the duty holder (persons with control over daily activities).

If your premises are complex, higher-risk, or multi-occupied, engaging a competent and suitably qualified Fire Risk Assessor may be appropriate.

An unsuitable FRA is one of the most frequent deficiencies identified during audits. Think of it as evidence that you are aware of the hazards and risks within your premise and have made adequate steps (control measures) to reduce risk and harm to you, your employees and members of the public.

Your Emergency Procedures – Who does what?

Every business and their employees should be able to answer this clearly and confidently.

In the event of the fire alarm system operating, or any sign of smoke or fire being evident, your emergency fire procedure should clearly define:

Who calls 999? Best practice is not to rely solely on an ARC (alarm receiving centre if one is used) – A back up call to 999 is key to help SFRS’ operational response
Who investigates an alarm (if safe to do so)?
Who meets SFRS on arrival?
Who conducts a roll call?
Where is the muster point?
Are Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) in place where required?

Create a Fire Safety Folder containing:

Up-to-date layout plans
Isolation points for gas, electricity and water
Fire alarm panel location
Keyholder and Duty holder details
Information on suppression systems, if relevant

Clear emergency planning reduces confusion during possible panic, supports operational response, and protects life. An emergency procedure is great, but it needs to be tested it to see if it works and robust, step in fire safety drills.

Staff Training: Your duty to keep your staff safe

Fire safety training may seem a nuisance but is critical in ensuring emergency procedures are followed to ensure the safety of all occupants, employees and the public is maintained.

Fire Safety training includes:

Induction training for all new staff
Regular refresher training
Specific tasks for fire wardens/marshals
Practical fire drill exercises (top tip – use your imagination when setting up fire drills, how about a fire near the entrance or requiring someone to investigate the source of the activation?). This is your chance to test the emergency procedures and check everyone carries out their assigned role – who calls 999 – who investigates, if safe to do so, who does roll call?

All fire safety training should be recorded and signed by employees.

Preventing Fire in the First Place

As the saying goes, “Prevention is better than Cure” and stands true here as most fires can be prevented from starting in the first place.

Common issues we find during audits and post fire inspections:

“Daisy-chained” extension leads
Overloaded sockets
Combustible storage in electrical cupboards
Poor housekeeping
Lint build-up in tumble dryers
Inadequate cleaning of kitchen extraction systems
Outdated EICR or PAT testing
Gas safety certification not current

Simple control and maintenance significantly reduce ignition likelihood.

Best practice would be to collate all Fire Safety maintenance records with reminders in your Fire Safety Folder, e.g. PAT every June, Gas safety every September, Fire Alarm every November.

Preventing Fire Spread: Compartmentation Matters

If a fire does occur, containing it is critical. Fire and hot smoke rise rapidly. Buildings are designed with compartmentation to prevent spread, allow safe evacuation and reduce building loss. Common issues reducing compartmentation include:

Wedged fire doors
Damaged self-closers
Missing ceiling tiles
Unsealed service penetrations
Damaged loft hatches

Fire doors are a part of the buildings fire strategy and typically ensures a means of escape for people will not be compromised.

A wedged door can convert a small, contained fire into a full-building loss and impact on the ability for people to escape quickly and safely.

Understanding Fire: The Fire Triangle

Fire requires three elements:

Heat
Fuel
Oxygen

Remove one — and fire cannot start or continue.

For business owners and duty holders, this translates into practical control measures:

Reduce Heat Sources

Maintain electrical systems (EICR & PAT)
Avoid overloading sockets
Maintain equipment
Control hot works and smoking materials
Safe charging of lithium battery devices

Control Fuel Sources

Good housekeeping
Proper waste management
Safe storage of flammables
Reduce combustibles
Cleaning lint and grease build-up

Limit Oxygen (Containment)

Maintain fire doors
Protect compartmentation
Repair ceiling voids and service penetrations
Closing doors behind you and when leaving buildings.

Final Thoughts: Fire Safety as Business Continuity and Resilience

Fire Safety Enforcement is only one part of what we do. Our broader aim is to help and guide businesses across Stirling to:

Protect their staff
Protect their business and income
Remain operational and resilient
Comply with legislation

Fire Safety Legislation shouldn’t be seen as a complicated maze of legal jargon but simply taking steps to ensure you are carrying out your legal responsibility and reducing risk of harm from fire to your people, business and community.

A proactive approach today avoids enforcement tomorrow — and protects your business for the long term.

I’ve created a quick checklist for an overview of Fire Safety for your business and use the appropriate links for support and further guidance if required.

The 10-point Fire Safety Checklist for small and medium businesses:

Do you have a current written Fire Risk Assessment?
Do you have a clear emergency procedure in place with allocated roles?
Are all fire doors free from wedges and closing fully?
Are escape routes clear and adequately lit?
Are extension leads free from “daisy chaining” and no sockets overloaded?
Are PAT testing, EICR and gas safety checks up to date?
Is your fire alarm system tested weekly and recorded?
Have staff received fire safety induction and refresher training?
Do you have a clearly identified muster point and means of undertaking roll call?
Is housekeeping reducing combustible build-up (including lint, waste and packaging)?
If you answered “no” to any of these, lets get it sorted and make yourself a responsible business owner that won’t fall foul of HSE or SFRS investigation.