Fire risk assessments in care homes ‘need to be realistic’27 October 2010Planning for fire in a care home has to be more realistic, a national body for the sector has said. Speaking at Firex North today, David Vallender of the National Association for Safety and Health in Care Services (NASHiCS) said those responsible for fire safety had experienced problems in interpreting rules set out by the Fire Safety Order (2005). While fire doors, alarms and similar preventative measures were in place, testing evacuation times was difficult, and in some cases, impossible. Infirm patients or residents with a limited capacity for understanding evacuation tests meant plans needed to be more ‘innovative.’ Instead, staff should be trained as best practice dictates, but could also act as patients for evacuation planning, Mr Vallender said. “Yes, it’s playacting, but you’ve got to practise somehow. In worst-case scenarios some patients are frail and near to the end of their lives, so moving them may cause their death,” he told the audience at the Who cares? Fire safety in care homes seminar. The two-and-a-half minute evacuation time recommended guidance under the FSO was unrealistic, Mr Vallender said, and if staff wanted another way to test the process then they could time how long it took to get their residents out of rooms on a normal day. “Fire risk strategies to get people out must have a better understanding and less rigid approach to guidance,” he said. NASHiCS operates a fire safety working group which works with the Chief Fire Officers Association. Together, they have compiled supportive guidance for implementing the FSO, which is to be made available over the next year.    |
