Adequate fire safety provision in residential care homes is of paramount importance.  The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order covers the legal requirements for fire safety provision in all types of business premises but it’s a hefty and complex document.
Consequently the government also produced a series of guidelines for all types of business premises and which offer guidance over conducting a risk assessment, the preventative measures which can be taken, the types of equipment available, fire strategy management and record keeping etc. These are available from the Communities and Local Government’s website.

The Reform Order defines the person responsible for general fire precautions (normally the employer or owner of the business)and states that he or she must conduct a fire risk assessment to identify the fire precautions required and that,  if more than five people are employed, the findings of the fire risk assessment must be recorded.

Classic Fire Ltd is such a specialist company and also a member of the British Fire Consortium, a trade association comprising more than 200 independent fire safety companies which, between them, specialise in the manufacture, installation and maintenance of all types of fire safety equipment including portable fire extinguishers, fire alarms,  sprinkler systems and safety signage.   Classic Fire’s MD, Mart Rogers, provides fire safety services to a number of care home establishments in the South West. He says, “Using a ‘competent person’ is a particularly pertinent recommendation for anyone running any type of residential premises as lack of specialist knowledge about how fire behaves can lead to either inadequate or unnecessary measures being put into place.

However in my experience the care homes we work with are all well aware of their obligations relating to fire safety legislation and take these obligations very seriously.”
In Cornwall, a condition of a care home’s licence is the provision of quarterly staff training sessions. Mart Rogers endeavours to make these as exciting and as engaging for the staff as possible.
“We try to cover different aspects of fire safety in each session whilst always emphasising the ACES principle - ‘raise the ALARM, CALL the fire service, EVACUATE the building, if SAFE to do so, tackle the fire with the right extinguisher without taking any risks’. We often tour the premises with staff checking for ‘associated risks’ such as magnifying glasses or glass bottles on window sills - both of which can start fires by reflecting strong sunlight on to combustible materials, aerosols left too close to hot radiators, non-PAT tested appliances which may have been brought in by visitors.

We also set up evening evacuation exercises in one part of a premises. This is normally arranged with the manager but other staff will not be told. To make it as realistic as possible we sound the fire alarm, switch over to emergency lighting only and use a fog machine to fill a corridor with smoke. Questions such as ‘Who left that hoist there?’ can then be raised during the debrief!  At other sessions we concentrate on the types and use of portable fire extinguishers which will include live demonstrations outside.

False alarms tend to be a feature of our work in care homes and in the past we’ve been called out after the fire brigade have attended to ascertain the reason.  Often it’s due to water leaks which have affected the system but once it was caused by a resident spraying a strong perfume to conceal the smell of cigarette smoke in her room, and which badly corroded the contacts of the optical smoke alarm!”

Care home manages cannot be expected to have an in depth knowledge of physical fire prevention measures.  Mart Rogers says a common problem today is the incorrect application of door guard release units, sold in and fitted by companies working outside of Classic’s Fire’s remit. These are devices which close fire doors automatically when they detect a fire alarm sounding at 75dB. Mart explains, “We’ve come across several of these systems having been fitted without a proper survey of the premises using sound meters and the decibel level is not sufficient to activate the devices.  This problem emphasises how important it is for care homes to only work with properly competent companies.”

The registered manager of Porthgwara Nursing Home near Helston, Cornwall provides initial in-house fire safety training for all new staff in conjunction with the maintenance team.  This training is supplemented by Classic Fire which provides the mandatory quarterly training sessions, supplies and maintains some fire safety equipment and also provides an annual fire safety risk assessment.  The registered manager said, “The safety of our residents and staff is of paramount importance and an external competent company such as Classic Fire ensures our training remains updated in line with current legislation.” 

Like Classic Fire, most members of the British Fire Consortium offer a full range of fire safety services to help all types of business comply with the Regulatory Fire Reform Order.  Members are either BSI/BAFE approved or subject to third party audits to ensure high technical standards and working practices are maintained.
 
To locate a British Fire Consortium member company please call the BFC secretary on 0333 123 5306 or visit www.britishfireconsortium.org.uk