Fire Safety and housing September 2011

John ThornhillSenior Policy and Practice Officer

About the CIH

• Professional body for people working in housing and communities

• 22,000 individual members• Provide services to 100,000

professionals annually• Not a regulator or an enforcer• UK wide reputation for education,

training, events, best practice information and lobbying

• Growing role in terms of practice dissemination: new on-line hubs

CIH, fire safety and partnerships• Culmination of series of Seminars

with CIH, WMFS and CFOA 2009-2011

• CIH practice brief June 2011: illustrate what is going on in practice: focus on partnerships and communities

• Prepare ground and support but different from Local Government Group technical guidance on fire safety in purpose built blocks of flats (July 2011)

At joint events: •I’ve done a risk assessment but how do I know if it’s any good?•I’ve got a risk assessor, but how do I know he or she has done it properly?AND: Inside Housing •Safe as Houses campaign revealed that 282 blocks of four or more storeys across England had not received formal fire risk assessments before July 2009•14/35 fire authorities found problems with some blocks when they conducted checks, despite landlords’ responsibilities

Problems identified at events 1: risk assessments

Inside Housing’s investigations found: •Doors left, or wedged, open meaning they are ineffective in preventing fire from spreading•Doors without without intumescent strips•Doors found to be in poor condition due to age, and in some cases flat doors changed to uPVC instead of fire- resistant types•Holes had been cut into existing fire doors to insert letter boxes•Older tower-blocks with permanent vents•Alterations made by occupiers of properties compromising fire safety, e.g. new kitchens, re-wiring, satellite dishes

Problems identified at events 2: physical

At joint events: •I don’t know if my tenants know what to do in the event of a fire?•I don’t know who lives in our properties?•I don’t know what has been done inside the homes of multi- occupancy dwellings?•On a day to day basis residents keep parking scooters, paper boxes, bikes, etc in halls and that’s hard to manage•Fire safety has never been something my tenant’s have talked about?

AND: vulnerability indicators: •31% of households in the social housing sector are of retirement age•43% of people living in social housing have a long term disability•20% of people living in social housing are children•Growing risks of fuel poverty

Problems identified at events 3: occupants

Problems identified at events 4: partnerships

• I don’t engage with my local Fire Authority

• I don’t create opportunities to get my local Fire Authority to engage with my tenants

KFocus of the CIH practice brief : partnership working

Fire and rescue: advice and

enforcement

Tenants:

Co-operation and responsibilities

Landlords: responsible

person

• Staffordshire Fire Service working in partnership with Stafford and Rural Homes (SRH)

• The Fire Service and SRH offer every new resident a Home Fire Risk Check upon occupying a home

• In addition each resident is issued with a Fire Safety leaflet in the home

Practice examples 1: incentives

Hereford & Worcester Fire Service (HWFRS) working with Worcester Community Housing (WCH) •New tenants to offered a free Home Fire Safety Check as part of their tenancy agreement •Housing officers highlight households at risk when doing tenancy welcome visits •Worcester Community Housing owns and manages over 4,700 homes in Worcester •Many residents are older people living in supported housing

Practice examples 2: identifying risk

North Lincolnshire Homes (NLH) works closely with the Humberside Fire Service on fire safety assessments for all sheltered schemes and other blocks of flats•Flats in multi-storey blocks have been provided for Fire Service training•NLH is also planning to provide a 'hazard house' to show common household fire hazards. It will be used for fire safety training of NLH staff and tenants as well as more generally by the Fire Service to educate school children and the public •Effective partnership working helps protect the health and safety of residents in blocks of flats•The Fire Service offers all new tenants home safety checks•Over 3,000 residents in sheltered units and bungalows have had home safety checks as well

Practice examples 3: community

Staffordshire Fire Service and Trent and Dove Housing Association (TDHA)

•In 2008/2009 East Staffordshire Area Command attended a series of Crime and Prevention Roadshows organised by TDHA in six wards within East Staffordshire •The Roadshows proved to be extremely successful with 185 Home Fire Risk Check requests being generated.

Practice examples 4: community

Stockport Homes and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service

•Regime of inspections on multi-story blocks•Red box system: identify vulnerable people in high-rise and share with fire service•Vulnerable people referred to fire service at sign- up and they receive a home visit and fire alarms are installed

Practice examples 5: partnerships

• Bedfordshire Borough Council developed a Good Practice Guide which contains information private landlords and tenants of rented accommodation need to know about safety standards that apply to all rented housing

• All landlords and letting agents involved in the private rented sector have access to this guide

• Council have also facilitated fire safety workshops

Practice examples 6: PRS

(Stockport) Mobility scooter policies•consult with their Housing Officer or Scheme Manager in the case of Sheltered Schemes

– Scooters should not be stored in corridors, staircases or in communal areas, where they may cause an obstruction or block a fire escape route

– stored and recharged in designated areas authorised by the Scheme Manager or Housing Officer

– Worcester Community Housing: provides purpose built shelters

Practice examples 7: mobility scooters

• Worcester Community Housing• Worked with Hereford and Worcester

Fire Service to install sprinklers in the flat of one tenant found with multiple cigarette burns around her furniture

• Fitted a heat detector on hob of one tenant who caused fires and smoke damage to her kitchen

Practice examples 8: interventions

Practice examples 9: customer insight in the sector

• Develop customer insight

• Use information to plan for service delivery:

4. Identify the tools

that you will use

5.Undertake

the analysis to inform

3.Identify the

data you need and where

you will get it from

2.Work out

how understandi

ng your customers will better

help

6. Review impact to inform further work

1. Identify anobjective,

question or issue

• Who you allocate to where

• Know who is where• Target safety information• Special risk measures

• Identify a person (persons) in your organisation with responsibility for ensuring compliance with the Regulatory Reform Order and for assessing fire risk

• A comprehensive risk assessment should identify fire hazards, identify people at risk, remove, reduce and protect from risk, provide information to plan and train to minimise risk and should be continuously reviewed

• Place fire safety information into all tenancy handbooks or tenancy start- up packs

• Liaise with your local Fire and Rescue Service to raise awareness of fire safety in the communities with which you work and to offer free home fire risk assessments

• Consider making a requirement for all existing and new tenants to agree to have a free Home Fire Safety Check as part of their tenancy agreement

• In blocks of flats or maisonettes make sure all residents are aware of appropriate action to be taken in the event of fire

• Take particular care to make sure residents whose first language is not English have access to clear and understandable fire safety information

• Fully assess and respond to the needs of vulnerable residents in relation to fire safety

• Consider installing domestic and residential sprinklers into homes• Know your tenants

References: CIH practice checklist

• Housing Act 2004: The Housing Act 2004 introduced the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). This looks at 29 categories of potential hazards, one of which is fire. Under the HHSRS, a residential property should provide a safe and healthy environment.

• The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 became law in October 2006. It introduced the need for employers, building owners and occupiers as 'responsible persons' to carry out, implement and maintain a fire safety risk assessment.

References: Legislative framework

• Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998: It is the responsibility of landlords to ensure that gas fittings and flues are maintained in a safe condition. This includes gas appliance servicing and an annual safety check.

• Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994: Electrical equipment supplied by a landlord should be safe. All electrical equipment supplied after 9 January 1995 must be marked with an appropriate CE symbol and appliance instruction booklets should be supplied.

• The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1998: Furniture and furnishings provided by a landlord must meet levels of fire resistance set out within the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations (1998)

• Vale of Clwyd AM Ann Jones won an assembly ballot to be the first individual AM to introduce a Legislative Competence Order (LCO)

• Wales will be first country to introduce legislation to ensure that from 2012, all new homes will be built with domestic sprinklers included

References: Legislative framework

• Step 1 - Identify the fire hazards within your premises: Sources of ignition, fuel and oxygen such as forced air circulation or medicinal or commercial oxygen supplies

• Step 2 - Identify people at risk: People working in close proximity to fire hazards or alone, or vulnerable people including people with disabilities, older people and parents with children

• Step 3 - Evaluate, remove, reduce and protect from risk: Replace highly combustible materials with less combustible ones and ensure adequate separation between combustibles and ignition sources

• Step 4 - Record, plan, instruct, inform and train: Record the hazards and people identified and make an emergency plan, tailored to specific premises. It should include the actions that need to be taken and tell key people

• Step 5 – Review: Fire risk assessments should be up to date. Re-examine fire risk assessment every time there is a significant change to the level of risk in specific premises

References: Assessing risk: 5 steps