There are nearly 400 care homes in Kent and each needs to provide its residents with the perfect home from home. Furthermore, there is a duty of care to your residents that extends to fire safety. A fire safety report for care homes in Kent helps business owners and care home managers understand their current fire standards and where they can improve. Risk Safety Services provides fire safety reports and risk assessments to care homes and related businesses across the county.

The government’s fire safety regulations for care homes provide a framework for effective safety provision in care home premises. The regulations also help to protect residents and staff and below we’re looking more closely at the important legislation relating to fire safety for care homes. Furthermore, we’ll explore our fire risk assessment service for Kent care homes.

Care Home Fire Safety Legislation

There are two main pieces of legislation that guide good practice in care homes in relation to fire safety. The Care Home Regulations Act 2001 lays out regulations for fire safety as a vital element of safeguarding vulnerable residents in the event of an emergency. The “registered person” is responsible for fire safety in their premises, and this includes a range of responsibilities such as:

  • Seeking advice from fire authorities on your safety provision
  • Taking adequate precautions against the risk of fire
  • Having arrangements in place for fire detection, containment and extinguishment including the most suitable fire safety equipment
  • Training staff appropriately in fire safety
  • Regular risk assessments and drills

The second relevant piece of legislation is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. This vital order determines the fire safety standards for all non-domestic premises. Furthermore, it covers important matters such as risk assessment, fire detection, enforcement, and fire safety training. Risk Safety Services works with care homes in Kent to ensure their fire safety provision is in line with this legislation. We provide fire safety report for care homes in Kent with recommendations for improvements.

Fire Risk Assessment

Fire risk assessments involve several key steps:

  1. Hazard identification: our experts will audit your premises and people to assess for hazards. As specialists we often recognise hazards you may not consider. Therefore, there are real benefits to working with professional consultants.
  2. Determining who is at risk: a risk assessment must consider the safety of each service user and their safety in the evacuation process. In care homes you may have residents with mobility issues who require additional action plans and assessments.
  3. Choosing precautions: once the hazards and the people at risk are determines, you need to put your safety measures in place. You may also need specific equipment to aid residents with low mobility in an evacuation for example.
  4. Recording and reporting: risk assessments should be appropriately recorded. Workplaces with five or more employees must keep written records of risk assessments by law. It is also best practice to do so in all work environments. Risk Safety Services provide full reports of any fire safety activities we carry out for our care home clients.
  5. Reviewing and updating: your risk assessment is not a singular, static document. It should evolve and change and develop over time. Furthermore, new residents require individual risk assessments and any changes on site also require the same

Arranging a Fire Safety Report for your Kent Care Home

Risk Safety Services is a highly experienced health and safety consultancy. Our experts also have the experience and knowledge of the care home sector to ensure we deliver comprehensive and detailed fire safety reports. Contact us today to discuss your Kent care home and its health and safety needs.

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