FEATURE
Diversifying Fire Risk Assessments
Chloe Vickery, National Fire Risk Assessment Manager at JLA, explores how the diversity of residents and staff must be incorporated into fire risk assessments, to ensure the safety of residents and staff alike.
Fire safety is of critical importance within care homes, to ensure residents, staff and premises are protected from harm – plus, failure to comply with fire safety legislation leaves providers legally exposed. A crucial aspect of fire safety is a thorough fire risk assessment and evacuation plan, which must account for the diversity of all residents, staff and visitors in order to be robust.
When pulling together any fire risk assessment, it’s important to remember that fire safety is a journey. It’s an ongoing process with many stages, legalities and never a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Government advice provides a framework for fire risk assessments and one of those steps, reviewing people at risk, needs to be considered that bit further in a care environment.
Care homes are made up of a diverse array of people, whether it’s age or ability. And that’s not just amongst the residents – there are nurses, cleaners, social care staff and visitors too. That’s why it’s important to consider step two with nuance and implement an inclusive fire risk assessment accordingly.
There are operational questions you need to work through in the first instance. Are you carrying out procedures such as fire drills and practice evacuations on a regular basis so everyone’s up to speed? Do you have enough staff to carry out these procedures thoroughly?
Then there are the specific people-focussed questions: how are you liaising with your residents to understand their specific needs? If you have someone who is less able-bodied, for example, what floor do you place them on and how does this impact emergency procedures?
A people-centred risk assessment is vital to ensure everybody is kept safe, so it’s useful to assess the following risks on an individual basis.
YOUR STAFF
Carrying out regular fire drills with permanent staff members is important to ensure all of the team are educated on evacuation procedures. Your staff might be in different areas of the building
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across days and nights, so they need to be sure of where the nearest fire exits are to them. Maintenance workers, for example, are likely going to be working in more isolated areas of the building so, when conducing a fire risk assessment, it is crucial to make sure every individual worker knows how to act even if unaccompanied.
YOUR RESIDENTS
You will have a lot of residents who cannot escape unaided. Anyone working as a carer will likely have considerable experience in assisting these people day-to-day. The responsible person should assess and plan for the practicalities of an emergency evacuation in the event of a fire. In evaluating the risk to people with disabilities, care workers and the responsible person should discuss needs and record specific arrangements within the care plan for the individual.
YOUR VISITORS
Visitors could be anyone from family members to visiting social care staff they will likely be unfamiliar with the premises. That’s why all fire safety signage indicating emergency exits and equipment must always be up to date and clearly visible.
There are other factors that need to be considered for a fire risk assessment plan to be diverse. There may be language barriers, so you must factor in how you can safely evacuate someone who may not understand you verbally. Thorough processes must also be in place for dealing with neurodivergent people, who may react adversely to the sound of alarms, for example.
Ultimately, care homes must recognise how fundamental diversity is when creating thorough risk assessments. And a fire risk assessment, specifically, is only robust when it is inclusive and minimises risks for all people, no matter their ability, age or cultural background. There’s a lot to consider, but it is a collective responsibility to ensure safety, of residents, staff and visitors.
https://jla.com
www.tomorrowscare.co.uk
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