Current affairs


guilty to four breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order [FSO]. It was fined £360,000 plus £100,000 costs, the case resulting in new guidance.


Legislation and FRAs


FPA principal consultant Howard Passey discussed legal requirements for care home fire safety, asking what the FSO requires and noting similarities between it and the Care Home Regulations 2011. Measures must be included in a statement of purpose, and drill and test records kept ‘at all times’.The statement of procedure ‘sounds easy but can be lengthy’, with Care Quality Commission (CQC) audits featuring sections on safety and effectiveness for ‘key lines of enquiry’. Safety includes looking for certification regarding tests of gas, electricity, appliances and lifts, as well as fire system certificates, equipment check, and test records and building control certificates. Checks and audits include hazardous materials (under the COSH Regulations), information on drills, FRAs and tests alongside management issues, Mr Passey warning ‘these things are looked at, and auditors are all trying to look for the same things – it’s important to get things right’. Effectiveness includes whether fire exits are clear, if obstructions are signposted, and accessibility, with responsibility examined under different notional levels and laws. The responsible person is ‘generally’ the employer, and the law looks to upper level management. If you ‘dig further’, it is possible to show ‘who else might be responsible’, including anyone who has ‘to any extent’ control of the premises, though those contracted to maintain a site ‘are also responsible’. Duties include a ‘suitable and sufficient assessment of risks’ that depend on a ‘raft of factors’, but which are ‘only suitable at the time the premises is visited’. FRAs must be kept up to date, and arrangements recorded and put into place that ‘specifically deal with the relevant premises’. Information relating to maintenance, training,


cooperation and coordination must be provided to all on site including contractors. The ‘elimination or reduction’ of risks from dangerous substances is covered, and the responsible person needs to provide the fire and rescue service (FRS) with information under the DSEAR Regulations 2002. The risks of such substances need to be investigated, but this does not apply to areas for patient treatment. Responsible persons ‘need to ensure they have


considered the risks effectively’, while competent persons require sufficient and effective training, including evacuation procedures. Competent products and job roles must be listed, including best practice and relevant certification. There is FRA guidance including a government document, and assessors must understand relevant current best practices and have an awareness of the limitations of their own knowledge and experience.


FOCUS


In turn, they must have a willingness to supplement existing knowledge with advice and training, have ‘appropriate knowledge’ of the risk from fire, and be aware of applicable legislation, appropriate guidance, the behaviour of fire, means of escape and fire’s effects on people and their behaviour, alongside fire prevention, protection and management of fire safety. They must also ‘inspect sample areas of construction’, and specifically compartmentation, said Mr Passey, citing guidance on inspecting passive protection, discussing the four FRA types and the challenges of modular construction. In terms of progressive horizontal evacuation, this must include an assessment of risk, he said, indicating elements a care home FRA should contain.


Person centred


Ged Devereux of the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) noted that the sector ‘invariably knows the health issues’ at the centre of risks and responsibilities, adding that there ‘should be a collaborative approach’ with care homes and FRSs due to ‘changing circumstances’, because buildings and individuals ‘change constantly’. Discussing the journey FRSs have taken to the person centred approach, Mr Devereux covered the ‘evolution’ of the home safety check into safe and well visits, as well as the ‘underlying control risk factors’ for fire and poor health. FRSs know this information but ‘have not been good at looking at this in the past’, now taking homes and their own capabilities and capacities into account. Over 580,000 home visits have been undertaken,


but reduced resources make this a challenge, as ‘visits need to be stratified with partners’. Mr Devereux gave background to NFCC work on regulations and collaboration ‘in this time of austerity’ since 2014.


www.frmjournal.com JULY/AUGUST 2018 53


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