Care Home Fire Safety

Residential and nursing care homes are amongst the highest life risk in the country due to the type of residents, from people who are independent, through to dependant or highly dependent residents, the majority have health issues and need constant support and care. This makes these types of premises very venerable should a fire occur, particularly where there are highly dependent residents and during early hours, when staffing levels maybe at there minimum.The majority operate an evacuation system called ‘phased horizontal evacuation’ known as (PHE), this is where in the event of an emergency, the staff are required to evacuate sleeping areas known as ‘fire compartments’ in an agreed sequence away from the seat of a fire, in a maximum time, as detailed in Government guidance documents. The building is usually designed around this type of progressive evacuation strategy, but the designers of the strategy usually the fire risk assessor, must be ‘competent’ and know exactly what they are doing, as to get this wrong would be a disaster in any fire situation. There is also a lack of knowledge when it comes to compartment sizes and particularly when the compartments are below the roof space and do not fall in line with fire compartments above or below.

The second common unknown fire safety element that often gets overlooked, is smoke control through internal ventilation systems. This can lead to fire and smoke spreading undetected between fire compartments and particular where a number of bedrooms are linked.

At active fire safety solutions, we pride ourselves on the experience and knowledge base we have gained in this sector, after working with numerous organisation both large and small, single and multi-site operations. Our years of exposure to the specific requirements and knowing all of the legal requirements and in-depth knowledge allow us to now share those experiences with our clients. We always look to keep costs down and that these costs when necessary are in proportion to the risks identified.

The buildings strategy is a key fundamental to ensuring your building operates efficiently under the condition of fire and that residents, staff and visitors are safe and protected should a fire occur.

Our team of experts can offer help and advice on all matters relating to nursing and care home fire safety standards.