Fire safety: Safeguarding residents in care homes

Fire safety is a critical concern for care providers, especially within residential services. The unique challenges of the care home environment mean that any lapse in fire safety can lead to devastating consequences. Ensuring robust fire safety measures is essential to protect the vulnerable residents and prevent catastrophic outcomes.

Who does this apply to?

The main piece of legislation governing fire safety in buildings, places and structures other than individual private homes in England and Wales is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 or the “Fire Safety Order” (FSO).

The responsible person must ensure that any duty imposed on it by the FSO is complied with as a failure to do so will mean it is committing a criminal offence punishable by unlimited fine and/or imprisonment.

The person conducting the assessment must be competent and capable of ensuring that the risk assessment is suitable and sufficient.  
The Government has published detailed guidance titled Fire safety risk assessment: residential care premises to assist the completion of effective risk assessments. The assessment should cover the whole of the premises and be carried out in a practical and systemic way.  This assessment must be reviewed at regular intervals and when there is a material change in circumstances. 

Case law has confirmed that fire risk assessments for residential care home premises should extend to practical considerations and not be limited strictly to risks arising from the building or premises themselves. For instance, they need to cover risk from smoking, for example.

Key duties

The key duties of a responsible person under the FSO are as follows:

• Duty to take general fire precautions;
• Conduct a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks;
• Make, give effect to and maintain any fire safety arrangements;
• Eliminate or reduce any risks from dangerous substances;
• Ensure that the premises are equipped with appropriate fire-fighting equipment and detectors;
• Ensure that emergency exits are kept clear at all times;
• Establish and, where necessary, give effect to appropriate fire safety procedures, including safety drills;
• Ensure that the premises and any facilities, equipment and devices are maintained; and
• Provide employees with fire safety information and provide adequate safety training. 

The FSO includes further duties for premises where there may be dangerous substances and hazards, which should be considered as necessary. Things like oxygen tanks, for example.

As with the risk assessment, the responsible person must ensure that a competent person assists with implementing fire safety measures.  All of your workforce will need to be informed about relevant fire safety information including information specific to their role.

New care homes will need to be fitted with sprinklers from March 2025

A new provision for sprinklers to be installed in new care homes was announced on 2 September 2024 by the building safety minister, Rushanara Ali. This is not retrospective, and therefore only applies to new care homes, however many have opted to include sprinklers in their care home designs. Sprinklers offer an enhanced protection and are particularly useful in instances of building evacuation where residents may be reliant on others for assistance. 

A version of this article first appeared in the November issue of the Caring Times journal. 

Our content explained