'Horrifying' fire safety in London's care
homes
Health & Safety update 21/07/2011
A BBC investigation has revealed that many of London's care
homes are not achieving even basic fire safety standards.
Fire-fighters are said to consider care homes to pose one of the
greatest risks to life of any public building after hospitals due
to the elderly, frail residents. However, 29 care homes across
London have been found severely lacking in fire safety.
The homes have not reached basic fire safety standards since last
year, with failures to implement fire escape plans, training for
staff and marked fire exits.
Each of the homes were issued with a Legal Enforcement Order by The
London Fire Brigade (LFB) following the discovery.
Some of the homes were found to have up to eight fire regulation
breaches, each of which could have caused a serious loss of life in
the event of a fire. The Legal Enforcement Order will force the
homes to rectify the current fire safety failings.
Jenny Jones, Green Party London Assembly Member, told the BBC, “It
is quite horrifying. In care homes you have some of the most
vulnerable people in society - people who can't move around
quickly. It's crucial those homes have good fire safety
procedures.
“This sort of thing should be absolutely basic at places with
residents who are not quick on their feet. Fire safety plans, staff
training and emergency exits have to be up to date,” Ms Jones
added.
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