A Fire Risk Assessment Is the Law — But on Its Own It's Only Half the Job

Every business and landlord that gets a professional fire risk assessment has taken the most important compliance step there is. But the same law that requires the assessment also requires something many duty holders overlook: that staff are trained in fire safety. A perfect assessment sitting in a folder, with a workforce that has never had fire safety training, is a gap an inspector will find.

This guide explains the two duties, how they fit together, and why the assessment and the training are two halves of the same legal obligation.

What the law actually requires

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is the main piece of fire safety law for non-domestic premises in England and Wales. It places duties on the "responsible person" — usually the employer, owner or occupier — and it requires two distinct things:

• Article 9 — a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, carried out by a competent person, kept up to date and reviewed.
• Article 21 — that staff are provided with adequate fire safety training, at the time they start and on an ongoing basis.

The professional fire risk assessment — the kind Eco Assets Manager carries out in person, identifying hazards and setting out a clear action plan — discharges the first duty. But Article 21 is a separate, standing requirement. The assessment tells you what the risks are; the training makes sure the people in the building know what to do about them.

Why the training half gets missed

It is easy to see why. The assessment is a defined event with a report at the end — a box that visibly gets ticked. Training is ongoing, applies to every member of staff, and has no single deliverable that lands on the desk. So it quietly slips.

But in an actual fire, it is not the assessment that saves lives — it is whether the people present know how to raise the alarm, evacuate calmly, and use the right extinguisher on the right fire. That knowledge comes from training, not from a document.

What "adequate training" means in practice

The Order does not prescribe a single course, because a small office and a care home have very different needs. In practice, adequate fire safety training usually means:

• Fire safety awareness for all staff — how fire starts and spreads, how to prevent it, how to raise the alarm, and the evacuation procedure for the building. Foundational fire safety awareness training covers exactly this.
• Fire wardens or marshals — named, trained people who help manage an evacuation, carry out sweeps, and take charge at the assembly point. This needs the more detailed fire warden training.
• Extinguisher awareness — knowing which extinguisher suits which class of fire, and when tackling a fire is safe versus when to get out. Fire extinguisher awareness covers the PASS technique and the limits of first-aid firefighting.

The right mix comes straight from the findings of your fire risk assessment — which is exactly why the two work best together.

Risk assessment is a discipline, not a one-off

Fire is one hazard among several that a responsible person has to manage. The same underlying skill — identifying hazards, judging who could be harmed, and putting proportionate controls in place — applies to manual handling, hazardous substances, working at height and more. Building that broader capability through risk assessment awareness training helps a duty holder see the whole compliance picture, not just fire in isolation.

Getting both halves right

The straightforward path to real fire safety compliance is:

1. Have a competent, in-person fire risk assessment carried out — this is Eco Assets Manager's core service, and the foundation everything else is built on.
2. Act on its findings — the physical measures, signage and equipment it identifies.
3. Train your staff to the level the assessment indicates — awareness for everyone, wardens where needed, extinguisher training where appropriate.
4. Keep both current — review the assessment when things change, and refresh training on an ongoing basis.

Do all four, and you are not just holding a document — you have a building full of people who know what to do. That is what the law is actually asking for.

Eco Assets Manager carries out professional fire risk assessments, asbestos surveys and EPCs for landlords, businesses and public premises across England and Wales. The staff fire safety training referenced above is provided by Nexis CPD, an independent UK online CPD training provider — the two together cover both halves of the fire safety duty. These are CPD-accredited awareness courses and general guidance, not legal advice; always work to your own fire risk assessment and current fire safety law.