Executive Summary
Organisation: Bradford Royal Infirmary (NHS)
Challenge: Fire Risk Assessments (FRAs) were taking 5 days per building using paper-based processes
Solution: BORIS FRA module with Live Drawing, digital action tracking, and compliance automation
Result: 80% reduction in assessment time (5 days → 1 day), audit-ready documentation, real-time compliance visibility
The Challenge: Paper-Based Fire Risk Assessments at Scale
Bradford Royal Infirmary, like most NHS trusts, operates large, complex buildings with critical fire safety compliance obligations. Fire Risk Assessments are mandatory—they’re not optional box-ticking; they’re legally required under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Fire Safety Order 2005.
Before BORIS, the FRA process looked like this:
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Site survey: A competent assessor walked every floor, room, and corridor with a clipboard and paper forms, documenting hazards, existing controls, and recommendations.
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Sketching floor plans: Maps were drawn by hand—often rough, sometimes unclear, and prone to error.
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Consolidating findings: Paper forms went back to the office, were transcribed into spreadsheets or reports, and were manually cross-checked for accuracy.
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Action tracking: Recommended actions were listed somewhere (spreadsheet, email thread, or both), and nobody had a reliable way to know the status of each one.
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Re-assessment: To prepare for the next audit or fire inspector visit, the process started over—digging through old reports, trying to remember which actions were done, and potentially missing something.
Total time per building: 5 days
Challenges:
- Time-consuming and labour-intensive
- High risk of human error (missed hazards, lost forms, unclear sketches)
- No audit trail showing when assessments were done or by whom
- Action tracking was scattered across multiple documents
- Difficult to prove compliance if an inspector visited between assessments
The Solution: BORIS FRA Module
BORIS’s Fire Risk Assessment module is built specifically for NHS and compliance-critical organisations. It’s PAS 79-1 and PAS 79-2 compliant—the UK standards that fire safety assessments must follow.
1. Structured Digital Forms
Instead of paper, assessors use BORIS mobile to fill in FRA forms. The system includes prompts for:
- Building location, occupancy, and use classification
- Hazard identification (electrical, gas, combustible materials, etc.)
- Existing fire safety measures
- Recommendations and control measures
- Risk rating (low, medium, high)
Fields are guided by the PAS 79 standard—no skipped steps, no missed categories.
2. Live Drawing (Interactive Floor Plans)
Rather than sketching floor plans by hand, assessors use Live Drawing—BORIS’s unique interactive floor plan tool. They:
- Upload or create floor plans for each building level
- Mark hazard locations with colour-coded pins
- Annotate each pin with the specific hazard and the control measure
- Create visual, clear documentation that anyone can understand at a glance
Live Drawing transforms a 2D sketch into a searchable, interactive database. A fire inspector or auditor can look at the floor plan, see exactly where hazards exist, and verify that controls are in place.
3. Action Tracking and Responsibility Assignment
Every recommendation is logged as an action item:
- What needs to be done?
- Who’s responsible?
- What’s the deadline?
- What’s the current status?
BORIS’s action dashboard shows:
- All outstanding actions (automatically filtered by deadline)
- Who’s accountable for each one
- Progress updates
- Completion sign-off
This is critical in an NHS environment. When a fire inspector asks, "What actions did you identify in the last assessment, and what’s the status of each?" you have a complete, timestamped record.
4. Compliance-Ready Reports
Once the assessment is complete, BORIS generates a report that includes:
- Full site survey with floor plans
- All hazards identified and controls assessed
- Risk ratings aligned to PAS 79
- Action register with responsible parties and deadlines
- Assessor signature and timestamp
- Audit trail
This report meets fire authority requirements and is ready to send to your insurance company or present to an auditor.
Real-World Impact: Bradford Royal Infirmary
Bradford Royal Infirmary standardised on BORIS FRA and saw immediate improvements:
Time Saving
Before: 5 days per building
After: 1 day per building
Reduction: 80%
The trust went from lengthy, multi-day assessment cycles to completing comprehensive FRAs in a single day per building. This was possible because:
- Digital forms eliminated transcription time
- Live Drawing created floor plans instantly (no hand-sketching or office redrawing)
- Action tracking was built into the process (no separate consolidation step)
- Mobile assessment meant data was captured in the field and ready to report
Compliance Confidence
Real-time action dashboards meant the trust could answer, "Are we compliant?" at any moment. No digging through old emails or spreadsheets. No wondering if an action was completed. Every task had a status, a deadline, and a responsible person.
Audit Readiness
When fire inspectors visited or insurance companies requested evidence, the trust could produce timestamped, signed, comprehensive assessments within minutes—not days. This responsiveness builds trust with regulators and insurers.
Scalability
With 1-day assessments instead of 5-day ones, the trust could schedule re-assessments more frequently, catching emerging risks faster.
The Technical Details: What BORIS FRA Actually Does
BORIS FRA Module features:
| Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
| PAS 79-1 & 79-2 compliant templates | Assessments meet UK fire safety standards automatically |
| Digital forms with guided fields | No missed hazards, consistent data capture |
| Live Drawing floor plans | Visual, interactive, searchable hazard documentation |
| Colour-coded risk pins | Quick visual identification of high-risk areas |
| Action register | All recommendations tracked with owners and deadlines |
| Real-time compliance dashboard | See outstanding actions, overdue tasks, completion status |
| Audit trail | Timestamp, assessor signature, and change history on every record |
| Report generation | Compliance-ready PDF in seconds |
| GPS tagging | Assessment location automatically captured |
| Offline capability | Works even if mobile signal is lost on-site |
| Multi-site rollout | Manage assessments across multiple buildings from one platform |
Modules that work alongside FRA:
- Resource Planner: Ensures only qualified (DBS-cleared, fire safety trained) staff are assigned to assessments
- Documentation: Stores fire safety policies, training records, and historical assessments
- Notifications: Automated reminders for annual re-assessments, action deadlines, and compliance reviews
Why This Matters for NHS Trusts
NHS fire safety compliance isn’t just about avoiding fines—though the penalties for non-compliance can be severe. It’s about protecting patients, staff, and visitors.
Bradford Royal Infirmary’s approach with BORIS demonstrates that digital tools don’t just make compliance faster; they make it better. Assessments are more thorough, actions are more transparent, and the organisation has a provable commitment to continuous improvement.
When a fire safety inspector visits, the response isn’t "give us three weeks to find all our old assessment reports." It’s "here’s the complete compliance picture as of today."
Is Your NHS Trust Ready for Digital FRA?
If your organisation is:
- Still using paper-based fire risk assessments – BORIS eliminates the manual transcription bottleneck
- Struggling to track actions and deadlines – Real-time dashboards replace spreadsheets
- Preparing for fire safety audits – You can generate compliant reports in minutes
- Managing multiple buildings or sites – Centralised management, consistent standards across all locations
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is BORIS FRA compliant with NHS requirements?
A: Yes. BORIS FRA is built to PAS 79-1 and PAS 79-2 standards (UK fire safety assessment standards) and is trusted by NHS trusts including Bradford Royal Infirmary. The module is also compliant with the Fire Safety Order 2005 (England, Wales, Northern Ireland) and the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005. We work with NHS procurement and can meet DSPT (Data Security and Protection Toolkit) requirements.
Q: How long does implementation take?
A: For most NHS trusts, initial setup and staff training takes 2–4 weeks. You can run a pilot on one or two buildings first, then roll out across your estate. Because BORIS is cloud-based and works on standard mobile devices, there’s no lengthy IT deployment.
Q: Can we integrate BORIS with our existing NHS systems?
A: BORIS runs on Microsoft Azure infrastructure and can integrate with many NHS systems via API. We work with your IT team on any integration requirements. For most trusts, BORIS operates as a standalone system—it doesn’t need to integrate with anything; it just adds a new layer of compliance management.
Q: What if we have a lot of historic assessments we need to digitise?
A: We can help migrate existing paper assessments into BORIS. You can either do this gradually (scanning and uploading old reports as references) or bulk-import key data. This isn’t a blocker—many of our customers start fresh with new digital assessments and use archives as reference only.
Next Steps: Book a Demo
If you’d like to see how BORIS FRA would work for your NHS trust, book a 30-minute demo with one of our field service specialists. We’ll walk through:
- How an assessment is conducted using BORIS mobile
- Live Drawing in action on a real floor plan
- Action tracking and compliance reporting
- Implementation timeline for your estate
We can also provide references from other NHS trusts using BORIS.
Book a demo: www.borissoftware.com/demo
Or email nhs@borissoftware.com for NHS-specific pricing and support options.
About BORIS
BORIS is a compliance-first field service management platform used by construction, facilities, and maintenance teams across the UK and Europe. Founded in Leeds in 2006, BORIS pioneered digital transformation in construction and continues to lead in compliance-critical sectors including NHS trusts, local authorities, and major contractors.
The platform includes 15 modules covering digital forms, GPS fleet management, asset tracking, fire risk assessments, and more. BORIS is independently operated (no private equity ownership) and trusted by some of the UK’s largest construction and public sector organisations.
