Some business owners may be blissfully unaware of all the laws that affect their businesses today in the 21st century. To some extent that is understandable because there is a whole raft of laws that have been introduced in the last 20 years or so that simply didn’t exist when they began in business.
Taking a typical example, let’s assume that somebody started out in working life and trained to be an upholsterer. He, or she, became very good at what they were doing and had the incentive to break away from being an employee and start their own business. And why not? That is how this country progresses, with entrepreneurs starting from scratch and building a business which becomes a success. It is to be applauded.
So you start your own upholstery business and it goes well. After a while you find that you are getting more orders than you can handle on your own, so you take on an employee to help out and cope with all the business that is coming through the door.
Instantly, you have become an employer, and now you are subject to all the legislation that affects employers – whether you employ one person or 10,000. The problem is that you were almost certainly not aware that all this legislation existed. Why would you be? You are building a business and all your concentration is on making a profit, not on scratching your head and wondering if there are lots of laws that might affect you.
Yet, the fact is that there are, and they do.
Being an employer in the 21st century results in you living in a tough old world!
One of the laws which affects you is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. You have probably never heard of it, yet if you fail to comply with it you could finish up being sent to prison!
In short, it requires you to carry out a fire risk assessment of your workshop (in the case of an upholstery business).
So just how do you do that? You are an upholsterer. You might as well be required to conduct a service in Canterbury Cathedral or build a brick wall. Even if you actually knew that you were required to carry out a fire risk assessment, you probably haven’t a clue how to go about it. Why would you have?
This is the reason for our existence at UK-Fire Risk Assessments. First, we understand that the law exists, and second, our experts are trained and know exactly what to look for, while you may not.
Oh sure, you know not to keep upholstery materials next to a portable heater, but there are so many other things that are not obvious to anyone but an expert. That is why you need us to help you. We have a fire risk assessment check list – which we can assure you is VERY lengthy – but covers everything you need in order to keep you compliant with the law.