Shipping container storage company

[JakeNcfc1]

Hi,

I was wondering if you can advise please. We are a small shipping container storage unit with 14 containers for public hire. As there is only me and my wife and no other employees we don't fall under the H&S policy, but i would like to create a general risk assessment for all site activities. There is 4 shipping container that are double stacked and we provide a steel movable staircase so they can access the container.

What safety signage would i need in place?
Customer safety?
Do i need a fire risk assessment?

[The devil]

I will deal with this in stages.

General risk assessment

https://www.hse.gov.uk/simple-health-sa ... amples.htm

What safety signage would I need in place?

This wont be cheap, signs cost a bomb. Exit signs, route signs, copy of the hse health and safety at work act 1974. This goes on and go on.

Fire risk assessment?

You can find an online fire marshal course for about £25. This will show you how to do a basic one.

Customer safety? Hmmm.....public lability insurant will cover this.

And by law in the UK you need a health and safety officer. You can find free lancers who for a small fee will give your business the once over. A lot of the small hotels and garages use them. Find one you can get on with and they love talking down the phone for hours......

[witsd]

Under five employees, so no need for (almost) anything to be written down. No need to display the HSE poster either (though you should print off the HSE leaflet and hand it to your wife! )

However this doesn't mean that you don't have to do the relevant risk assessments, but in your position, a single written general risk assessment should be more than adequate to cover everything.

For fire, it really depends on the site. It sounds like there are minimal indoor spaces, so potentially very little is needed. How would an alarm be raised - is shouting "fire!" adequate? It may well be. I would spend more time thinking about wilful fire raising / security or any potential for fire to spread between storage units. Also, I assume there are certain rules as to what can and cannot be stored (I'm thinking gas bottles etc.)?

Signage-wise, again, quite possibly very little, depending upon the layout of the site. Indoor areas tend to need more, as do alternative escape routes that aren't used as often, as people will want to retrace their steps even if that's the longer route. To test what you have, imagine someone who's never been there before has been placed on site randomly. Would the way out be obvious from most places? If not, pop in a directional sign.