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Adam Bannister is a contributor to IFSEC Global, having been in the role of Editor from 2014 through to November 2019. Adam also had stints as a journalist at cybersecurity publication, The Daily Swig, and as Managing Editor at Dynamis Online Media Group.
September 27, 2016

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Poorest in society at greatest risk from residential fires, research reveals

People on the lowest incomes tend to be the most vulnerable to the risk of residential fires, research launched during Fire Door Safety Week has revealed.

Just a third (35%) of the lowest income households who rent flats say they have been given information about an emergency fire plan for the building in which they live, compared to 88% of tenants whose incomes exceed £100,000 a year.

The research, which surveyed 1,001 tenants living in flats, also identified an income-related gulf in terms of perception of risk. Only 27% of those with incomes of £25,000 or less feeling safe from fire, compared to 44% of those earning above £80,000.

Twenty-two percent of rented households in the lowest income bracket who expressed fire safety concerns felt unable to move for financial reasons.

A majority of tenants of all incomes (58%) were unaware of the identity of their building’s ‘responsible person’ – the person responsible for fire safety in a given building under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. This figure rises above 70% for lower income tenants.

In more heartening news, 85% of all tenants living in blocks of flats with fire safety concerns have reported their concerns about fire safety.

If you see a problem, don’t walk past – that goes for doors that are wedged open, damaged or badly fitted. Report it to your building manager or landlord or to your local fire and rescue service.” Peter Holland CBE, Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser

“Fire safety in private and public sector rented housing, especially Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and older, less well maintained blocks of flats, continues to be a serious challenge,” says Hannah Mansell. “Yet these are often homes for the people with the fewest choices about where they live and the least opportunity to move.

“We frequently see fire doors in blocks of flats in a poor state of repair; fire doors that won’t close; fire doors that have been wedged open. This is, of course, just one aspect of fire safety in these buildings, but good fire doors are often a sign of good fire safety generally. We are urging all tenants to carry out a simple 5-step fire door check as a matter of urgency, and to report any concerns to the responsible person, most likely their landlord, straightaway.”

Fire Door Safety Week, which runs from 26 September to 2 October 2016, sets out to raise awareness of the critical role that fire doors play in protecting property and saving lives and to stamp out bad practice. The campaign is organised by the British Woodworking Federation, the BWF-Certifire Scheme and the Fire Door Inspection Scheme, in partnership with the Government’s Fire Kills safety campaign .

Says Peter Holland CBE, the Government’s Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser: “Fire doors perform a vital role, but only if they are properly specified, installed, managed and maintained.

“The message is simple. If you see a problem, don’t walk past – that goes for doors that are wedged open, damaged or badly fitted. Report it to your building manager or landlord or to your local fire and rescue service.”

London Fire Brigade is seeking to redress this lack of awareness about the emergency plan through the Know The Plan campaign which targets tenants in high rise or purpose built blocks of flats.

Dan Daly, Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety at London Fire Brigade, says: “Living in a high rise or purpose built block of flats is no more dangerous than living in a house, but it’s important to know that your fire plan should be different.

“If there is a fire elsewhere in the building but not inside your home you’re safer staying in your flat unless the flames, heat or smoke are affecting you.

“Flats and maisonettes are built to give you some protection from fire: a minimum of 30 minutes and up to 60. Walls, floors and well maintained fire doors will hold back flames and smoke for a time. If you leave your flat you could be rushing into choking smoke, the fire itself or firefighters using equipment to bring the fire under control in another part of the building.”

The survey was conducted by Atomik Research on behalf of Fire Door Safety Week.

Are you a tenant or a landlord? Find out more about fire doors and fire safety in residential buildings tenants on the Fire Door Safety Week website.

 

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ZIP PANELLING
ZIP PANELLING
October 6, 2016 4:52 pm

With the new building materials now available, Zip Panelling for instance it will make all new homes totally fire and water proof safer for all to live in and cut the costs of building and running new homes as well.