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It used to be that there were no formal prerequisites to get into fire safety and become a fire risk assessor. Many fire risk assessors were employed due to their previous experience in relevant occupations such as firefighters or fire alarm fitters.
In the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire however, there is now only one route to get into fire safety and become a fire risk assessor with the new British Standard and that’s to complete a Level 3 Fire Risk Assessor course.
A Level 3 course is tricky to attack without any previous knowledge of the subject matter, so it is still common for people with relevant backgrounds to take the course. If they have decent fire safety knowledge from a building perspective for example, they will know about compartmentation and fire stopping or where detectors should go, which is useful base knowledge.
Learn from experience
Having a Level 3 qualification doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re ready to go as a fire risk assessor, you need to be mentored. Anyone can enrol on the course, but they then must have someone to mentor them, for up to six months afterwards to get into fire safety.
Every building is different. Each building is constructed differently and will have different risks that need to be considered, so to have experienced assessors on hand is vital in the early days of this new career.
A Level 3 graduate might start with a small unoccupied commercial unit, followed by shops or libraries. Each different type of building brings different fire concerns so it is crucial to look at each building individually, due to the unique combination of building structure and the people using it.
Career progression
When it is deemed appropriate, a Level 3 fire risk assessor might wish to progress to Level 4 to take on the challenge of more complex buildings, such as schools or hotels.
From there, Level 5 takes in high risk buildings like high rise flats or hospitals. There is a clear career progression structure now in the industry, that wasn’t there before Grenfell and it is important to have a mentor at every stage.
Before, fire safety was seen as an add on to Health & Safety but now it’s a stand alone profession with qualifications and professional membership to consider with a National Register that fire risk assessors must renew each year to prove their continued professional development.
Acorn Safety’s fire safety manager Lorna Smith said: “Fire safety has come on a long way and is now a good career in its own right, because there’s progression opportunities to work your way up. While it’s a new profession, it’s growing.”
To get into fire safety and find out more about a career at Acorn Safety visit www.acornhealthandsafety.co.uk/about-us/
