As Christmas comes and passes for another year and as we plan how we make our church buildings COVID safe, we must make sure that we have an up to date Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) in place as well. This is particularly important as we change the layout of our buildings and the routes people can follow because of COVID. These routes might also have implications for access to fire fighting equipment. Suffice to say, the FRA really matters and if you have one already you will need to re-assess what it says in the light of any changes you have made in your building. If you do not have one yet then you do need to get one now.
Church Growth Trust has a Fire Risk Assessment Template for you to use if there is someone within your fellowship who feels able to complete it without difficulty. However, if there is no-one who can do this for you then we would suggest asking the firm who maintains your fire extinguishers and other fire-fighting equipment including alarm and smoke detection systems if they can produce one as part of their service. Alternatively you can use a Health and Safety specialist. If you type “Fire Risk Assessor” followed by your post code into a search engine on the internet you should see a choice of specialists who can help and there is often an indication of their charges. Having an FRA is an essential document.
