Auditing fire safety management systems

A fire safety audit may be described as a periodic (typically annual), systematic and thorough assessment of the implementation, suitability and effectiveness of the fire safety management system. It is a significantly more 

The overall purpose of an audit is to measure performance against a standard, in this case the safety management system against an organisation s policy or a standard such as HSG65 or OHSAS 18001. The results of the audit provide an effective feedback loop that enables an organisation to measure its effectiveness of the safety management and areas of weakness that may require attention. 

In general, safety auditing comprises an assessment of parts, or all, of the safety management system. Typically, the safety auditor or audit team may  

The structured process of collecting independent information on the efficiency, effectiveness and reliability of the total health and safety management system and drawing up plans for corrective action. 

An effective auditing programme will be able to provide a comprehensive picture of exactly how effectively and efficiently the fire safety management system is controlling fire risks. The programme should also identify when and how each of the component parts of the system will be audited. Due to the technical nature of some of the workplace precautions (e.g. detection and alarm systems, sprinklers, etc.) these may be required to be audited on a more frequent basis than other elements of the system and the auditing process should reflect this. 

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The audit report should reflect the findings of the assembled evidence upon which the auditors have based the evaluation of the fire safety management system... 

As with audits, safety reviews are an essential part of a management system. These reviews are closely linked to the active monitoring process they assist in providing feedback of the adequacy of the fire safety management system to the management team and the responsible person. 

This accident plus the aftermath of the King s Cross fire on the London Underground prompted a move towards more sophisticated risk management systems and safety audits and the publication of an annually updated Safety Plan ... 

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