Fire safety precautions at home visits

[Guest RobTutt]

Hi - hopefully you may be able to offer me some advice or point me in the right direction. Part of my business provides domiciliary care to a range of people in their own home. This can range from the care of a young child to the elderly and cover a wide variety of care needs from assistance to the administration of medicines. At some settings, our care staff and nurses are on site and provide

24 hour care in the home environment. Some families are very accommodating, however there are instances where some families create cause for concern, one of which will be around Fire Safety. Where a home does not have or refuses to have basic fire precaution such as a smoke alarm, is there any guidance you know of that could be used to influence the home owner? We are trying to understand how far our duty of care covers our staff in a domestic premise where the family and trust refuses to pay for or implement precautions. The issue of evacuation is a bigger issue when it comes to what a nurse is expected to do by the family in the event of a fire especially if there is oxygen in the room. Fortunately nothing has ever happened, we are exploring a theoretical risk as part of our risk assessment process.

thanks for any advice you can offer, Rob

[Tom Sutton]

Most fire legislation works on the principle, a man's (or woman) home is his castle and he will protect his family therefore there is little he is forced to do. Outdated I know but the only option left is persuasion and the best website is Fire Kills there is plenty of ideas to assist you. Another suggestion is to make it a condition that before you attend a fire check from the local fire service has completed. They are free and if a fire alarm is required that is also free. Check out http://www.firesafe....rvices-details/

[Safelincs]

Hi Rob

We are no experts here, however I would guess that you are responsible for the safety of your team. If there is a substantial fire risk at the client's premises, surely this must be of as much concern as if there was a risk of personal assault. Some form of basic fire safety awareness training for your staff would probably help. Whilst not a classical fire safety risk, your staff ought to also be made aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning and how to recognise low level symptoms when they are visiting. This would protect your clients and team

Harry

[Guest Robtut]

Thanks for that - using the fire service for a free fire check sounds like an excellent suggestion and one I will be following up.

We provide our employees with comprehensive fire instruction and cautionary measures, the difficulty comes at the clients home however using the fire service is a sensible way forward and could help with our discussions - many thanks for that.

[Guest ChristineTwi]

Seeking information about fire safety in domestic dwellings where carers are employed (domiciliary care settings)

[Tom Sutton]

Christine are you talking about a domestic premises where a carers attends a member of the family or a domestic dwelling where a number of vulnerable people live with carers employed to look after them and not a family situation.

[Guest christ]

Hi Tom

Yes it is a domestic dwelling (the client's own home) and they employ their own care team. Sometimes this is for a few hours a week but in some cases our clients have live-in 24/7 care teams in place so it is obviously a place of work but primarily the client's home.

I would be grateful for your advice.

Many thanks.

Chris

[Tom Sutton]

I think the same situation that applies to Rob applies to you, there is good advice on the website "Fire Kills" and consider home checks by the Fire Service. Also there is the fire service websites, see details above http://www.firesafe....rvices-details/ , they usually include a section on domestic premises.