Care homes in London are still not getting the message about their fire safety responsibilities, according to a BBC report.
29 care homes have had enforcement action taken against them since 2010, according to the investigation.
Some of the homes had up to eight individual breaches of fire safety legislation. Common breaches included a lack of staff training, no escape plans and unmarked fire exits.
According to the BBC, there are 1,976 care homes in London, with 663 having been audited since 2010. Enforcement action was taken at 4% of those.
Steve Turek, assistant commissioner for the London Fire Brigade, said: "It’s important for owners of care homes to take their responsibilities seriously.
"I don’t think it’s acceptable for anyone who receives an enforcement notice to say it was for minor infringements. We don’t issue enforcement notices lightly."
London Assembly member Jenny Jones described the findings as “quite horrifying” and called for care home fire risk assessments to be available on a public register.
Responding to the findings, the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA) said they showed how “legislation is failing the most vulnerable in our society”. A 2010 BAFSA report based on research by Arup Fire “presented a compelling argument for the incorporation of sprinkler protection in residential care premises”.
Earlier this month, an investigation by the Guardian found that care homes in England are “routinely” breaching fire safety legislation, with 135 of them the subject of enforcement action between January 2010 and March 2011.
In April an enquiry concluded that some or all of the deaths of 14 residents in a fire in 2004 at the Rosepark care home near Glasgow were avoidable.
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