Is fire safety competence an issue in the care home sector?
When it comes to some of the people who carry out the maintenance of fire safety equipment and installations in care homes, is there a lack of competence? It’s a worrying thought, but this was a question raised in a report made to CROSS-UK in April after a fire and rescue service shared two incidents that exposed residents to risk – and said it believes there’s a wider issue across the entire care home sector.
What is CROSS-UK?
CROSS-UK stands for Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures UK. It’s a confidential reporting system where professionals involved in the built environment can flag up fire and structural safety issues that they’ve come across. By being able to do that, it presents an opportunity to share a concern widely and anonymously, discuss any lessons that need to be learned and wider problems that need highlighting, and bring about change to lead to safety improvements.
So what were the two incidents?
The first related to an electrical installation of a light fitting that turned out to be faulty. It was shorting which was creating smoke and overheating. The installation was subsequently checked out by a qualified electrician who confirmed that the initial installation had been done by an unqualified maintenance person. The responsible person in the care home was sent an official letter to highlight their obligations and to remind them that it’s critical to use competent people to carry out this type of activity.
The second incident was identified following a fire safety inspection in a care home for residents aged sixty five and above. The initial inspection had identified the need to upgrade fire doors by fitting them with intumescent strips and cold smoke seals. But the follow up inspection discovered that while the work initially appeared to have been carried out, it had been done incorrectly and had made the situation far more dangerous. If a fire had broken out, it would have made the intumescent strip swell and start to open the door, letting smoke through and making it easier for fire to spread more rapidly. The consequences of not having used a competent person to complete this work could have been catastrophic.
The fear is that these are not isolated instances
The reporter flagged up their concern that these two incidents are not unique cases. They could in fact be indicative of a wider danger across the care home sector. In both incidents, the people who arranged and completed the work had been well-meaning. But the management who had initiated the work hadn’t thought about the need to check competence. It was reported that at least some of the decision-making process about who carried out the work was influenced by a desire to keep costs low.
Care homes are high risk environments
There are no margins for error when it comes to getting fire safety right in care homes. They’re environments that have a whole range of fire safety risks associated with them: something that’s regularly highlighted in the news. For example, in April a blaze in Essex was quickly brought under control with no casualties but with smoke damage to the care home. A sprinkler system put out a fire that had broken out in March in a Hampshire care home. Residents had to be evacuated from a Taunton care home just before Christmas last year; thankfully there were no injuries but that’s not always the case. Just over a year ago there was a serious fire at a care home in Rhyl in North Wales resulting in eight people needing hospital treatment.
Are you and your staff clear about your fire safety responsibilities?
While care homes are undoubtedly challenging environments in many respects, it’s impossible to overstate how important it is that vulnerable residents are consistently protected from fire risks. It’s vital there’s a clear understanding of what’s required when it comes to ensuring fire safety. That starts with effective and sufficiently regular fire risk assessments, carried out by a competent fire risk assessor who takes both the environment and the types of residents and their specific needs into account.
This forms the basis of the plans and procedures that need to exist. There must be a fire emergency plan that’s kept up to date. Appropriate fire detection equipment and suppression systems should be in place and maintained by a qualified person. There should be regular fire drills so all staff know how to safely and rapidly evacuate residents.
Training is key for ensuring staff competence in all other aspects of their fire safety responsibilities too. If you have a high employee turnover, or use any agency staff, be mindful of the need to quickly provide new staff with training so they immediately understand the role they need to play in fire safety.
And, as illustrated by the incidents in the CROSS-UK reports, make sure that anyone you bring in to carry out any work connected to fire safety is fully competent to do so. Never be tempted to compromise on competence to try to save time or money. What could be perceived as a minor item on the to-do list, like remedial work that needs to be carried out on a fire door, has the potential to turn into a tragedy if it isn’t done correctly.
If you’d like to find out how we can help you fulfil your obligations when it comes to fire safety in your care home, please get in touch with us today.
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