Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant of the Answer of 3 September 2020 to Question 81490 on Hygiene: Products, whether the National Fire Chiefs Council’s press statement setting out the low risk of alcohol-based hand sanitisers takes into consideration the Health and Safety Executive’s guidance on storing alcohol in workplaces across the UK.

The consideration of guidance that informs National Fire Chiefs Council’s (NFCC’s) press statements is a matter for the NFCC.

Under the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR) 2002, employers must assess and eliminate or reduce risks from dangerous substances so far as is reasonably practicable in order to keep people safe.

As outlined in my answer to Question 81490, those responsible for premises are also required by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 to consider the fire risks on that premises and ensure that these are mitigated to as low a level as reasonably practicable.