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Even lawyers are divided over the precise impact of responsibilities under the Fire Safety Order, and there is no doubt that some issues will have to be settled by the courts. This was one of the conclusions of fire safety law specialist Rosemarie Everton at a conference entitiled ‘Protection Tomorrow’, run by Kingfell plc.
Professor Everton outlined the main groups of people who could be considered as having duties under the legislation, but said there were grey areas in some cases.
She said it was clear that, in essence, the primary responsible person of a workplace is the employer, where it is to any extent under his control. But in other cases, it could be the person who has control of a business premises, the building owner, the occupier, or other people who have any obligation to maintain or repair a premises, or have a responsibility for the safety of the premises. This group would include managing agents, facilities managers and contractors who install, maintain or test fire safety equipment.
Less clear was whether the legislation conferred duties on designers of new or refurbished buildings, as the primary duties of what could be referred to as ‘design teams’ normally fall under Building Regulations. But a case could be argued that such people are deemed to have control or contractual duties regarding the safety of a premises, especially with alterations to an existing building.
One thing that was quite clear was that the responsible person cannot delegate or subcontract his or her duties to someone else. The Order speaks of duties being ‘also’ imposed on these other people.
Professor Everton emphasised these were only provisional thoughts on the law, and she had no doubt that it would need the courts to rule on many of these details.