All care home operators should, by now, have heard of the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order (RRFSO), but how many are clear about their obligations under this order and the consequences of failing to meet them? Don Scott, Fire Engineering Consultant with Siemens Building Technologies, Fire Safety, provides valuable guidance on these issues.

Introduced in October 2006, the RRFSO is the legal framework for fire safety in non-domestic premises throughout the UK. Its introduction swept away the old regime of fire safety certificates issued by the Fire Service and, in its place, established a new approach to fire safety based on risk assessments carried out by a “competent person” acting on behalf of the “responsible person”.

Let’s take a look at what this means. The “responsible person” is defined as the person who is responsible for the premises being used for a particular activity. In a care home, this will usually be the owner or the manager.

Responsible persons can, if they wish, take on the role of the competent person themselves, but if they do, they need to be sure that they really are competent for the work involved, and that they have time to carry it out properly and consistently. In practice, most businesses choose to appoint a separate competent person. It’s worth noting that this doesn’t actually have to be a single person; an organisation with suitable accreditation to prove its competence is equally acceptable.

Of course, there are always a few businesses that fail to meet the requirements of the RRFSO, either through ignorance, or in a misguided attempt to cut costs. This is a very bad idea and, apart from putting lives at risk, it is likely to lead to swingeing penalties.

For example, in 2007, the owners of a nursing home in north London were fined £200,000 plus more than £30,000 in costs when an investigation following a fire revealed a series of offences under the RRFSO. Among the most significant were “a risk assessment that was not suitable or sufficient” and “appropriate procedures to be followed in the event of serious imminent danger to persons at work were not established”. In this case, no one died or even sustained serious injuries, so the perception that big penalties only follow death or injury is demonstrably incorrect.

To avoid situations like this, what should care home managers and owners be doing? The best advice is to appoint a suitably accredited competent person or organisation with experience of working in the care home sector. The relevant experience is important, because the appropriate fire protection measures for care homes differ in important details from those for most other types of non-domestic premises.

For example, the alarm management needs careful consideration in care homes. The usual bells and beacons to signal an alarm may not be appropriate, as they are likely to cause stress, confusion and even panic among the residents. The risk assessment may show that a better approach is to alert only the staff when the fire alarm is triggered, so that they can check whether it is a real or a false alarm and, if necessary, actively manage the evacuation of the premises.

Adopting this type of approach has further implications, however. Sensitive fire detectors must be used so that fires are detected at the earliest possible stage, to allow extra time for the staff to check the situation and organise the evacuation. However, the high sensitivity of the detectors must not mean that they are prone to generating false alarms.

False alarms are disruptive and can cause unnecessary stress and panic that may be harmful to residents in poor health. Also, if they occur regularly, the point will be reached where staff respond slowly or not at all to fire alerts, with dire consequences in the event of a real fire.

This leads to another important issue: staff training, which is explicitly required by the RRFSO. Training is particularly important in care homes, where residents are often infirm, confused or both. It is also worth noting that, while the “competent person” may be able to assist in formulating a suitable staff training programme, its day-by-day implementation is likely to remain a task for care home managers.

The RRFSO is an excellent tool for enhancing fire safety in non-commercial buildings, but it can only work if its provisions are properly implemented. Meeting the requirements of the RRFSO is, however, a legal duty that many care home managers and owners find daunting. Fortunately, help is readily available, not least in the form of expert support from fire protection specialists like Siemens Building Technologies.

For further information please contact: Don Scott on 01276 696000 or
e:  firesales.sbt.gb@siemens.com