Recently we wrote about the apparent failure of the current legal system to effect compliance, particularly in hotels and other sleeping accommodation.
It would appear that our anecdotal evidence wasn’t far from the truth. In Scotland there were 43 enforcement notices issued, with the largest number (19) being issued against hotels.
More than 20 percent of audits in hospitals, care homes, hostels, and other sleeping accommodation placed them in the “above average” risk category. In fact, in the combined categories of “above average” and “well above average” risk level, hospitals won the race to the bottom at 48 percent, with care homes at 24 percent and hotels at 18 percent.
At the other end of the scale, shops and schools each achieved 15 percent in the “well below average” risk category. And more than 30 percent of schools, offices, and other workplaces fell into the “below average” risk category.
Evidently there’s some clever targeting going on within the Scottish fire and rescue services (FRS).
Altogether, 7,994 premises were audited; an increase on previous years.
Of these, an astonishing 71 percent of all Scottish care homes received a visit in 2012/13, an increase from the 50 percent or so audited in the preceding years. Thirty-two percent of hostels and 35 percent of hotels were also audited along with 40 percent of hospitals.
At the same time just 1.5 percednt of offices and 3 percent of shops received an audit (albeit that in terms of actual numbers of visits these were still in the hundreds due to the much larger pool to choose from).
The statistics in the government’s publication distinguish between “Type A” and “Type B” audits. A “Type A” audit is “one where a premises has achieved compliant status after the initial fire safety audit is completed.” Type B audits are “those where the premises have not achieved the compliant status after the initial fire safety audit and further work is required by the FRS to assist the person responsible for the premises to make the premises compliant.”
Perhaps I’m a pessimist but I was surprised to see that 90 percent were Type A and 10 percent Type B. It makes me think that the FRS must be generous with their Type A category — surely there isn’t full compliance in fixing the weaknesses these 90 percent of businesses have been alerted to?
As described above, there were 43 enforcement notices issued, as well as 22 prohibition notices. Of the prohibition notices, the largest number (ten), were issued against shops.
In 2012-13, there were no non-domestic fire safety prosecutions in Scotland. This may explain why there was an increase in the number of visits, as inspectors will have had more time freed up by the lack of these prosecutions.
An Alterations Notice issued under section 65 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, requires the appropriate person to notify of plans to make certain significant changes such as a change of use, or increasing the quantity of dangerous substances held, a change to the premises itself or a change to the relevant services, fittings or equipment in the building.
There are of course similar provisions in the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
If you’d forgotten what these are, no wonder. It appears that in Scotland there were 13 Alterations Notices in force by the end of 2012/13 — not many at all when you consider that there are 142,822 non-domestic premises known to the FRS in Scotland. Of these ANs, four were applied to hotels and one to a care home.
For the time being at least, when booking a bed for the night, as these stats show, you need to take care. On a positive note, it does appear that the FRS in Scotland, has sleeping accommodation and care facilities in its sights and hopefully the pressure won’t let up until the message has got through.
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