New report shows huge concern for fire-safety compliance in the workplace

JLA’s 2021 Fire Safety Accountability Report has revealed that over 60% of people responsible for fire safety in the workplace or commercial believe they could be doing more to ensure the building is fire safe.

The findings show that 10% of respondents do not know how to perform a fire-risk assessment, despite being responsible for the job. The same percentage of respondents also admit to having no knowledge of fire safety, while the remaining admit to having little knowledge of it.

The survey of over 500 respondents from those who are responsible for ensuring their building/workplace is a fire-safe environment also reveals that 13.5% of respondents think they should be ‘doing more’ when it comes to ensuring their respective property is fire safe.

The main reasons for respondents not ‘doing more’ to ensure their respective building is fire safe is also due to a lack of budget (18%), added stress (18%) and lack of time (15%).

Almost half (49%) of respondents also admitted that they do not train all staff on fire safety, while 12% do not offer any form of fire-safety training to employees at all.

Surprisingly, almost a fifth of respondents also admit to turning to social media for fire-safety guidance.

Rob Harris, Managing Director of JLA Fire comments on the findings: ‘While it’s enlightening to see that some demographics have a satisfactory awareness of reducing fire risk, it is concerning that a large proportion of those surveyed are unaware of fire-safety procedures, and believe they could be doing more to protect those around them.

‘Budget constraints or added stress – or indeed the Coronavirus crisis – are not adequate reasons to avoid rectifying this awareness, as the potential damage a fire could cause would have far more costly implications on a business’s reputation and finances.

‘By identifying the gaps in people’s knowledge and fire-safety procedures, we know the areas that need significant improvement and we urge employers and fire-safety employees to conduct widespread training, equipment checks and procedural updates as a priority.’

To see the full results of the study, view JLA’s 2021 Fire Safety Accountability Report here: jla.com/knowledge