Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which came into effect in 2006, owners and managers of residential care homes cannot continue to deal with the issue of fire safety in the way they have in the past. They can no longer simply rely on the Fire Service to inspect their premises and advise them of deficiences: instead they will have to carry out what’s called a ‘fire risk assessment’ to make sure they have identified all the fire hazards in their premises and taken steps to protect the building and the people - not only residents, but also staff, visitors and anyone else involved. They will also have to train their staff in what to do – and what not to do – and make sure they have kept full records of everything they’ve done, so that when the Fire & Rescue Service come to audit, they will be able to show that they have properly protected everyone from the risk of fire.
With their small numbers of staff, care home owners cannot afford to allow staff to take the time out to be trained in fire safety in the traditional way. The alternative – to buy in expert advice from consultants – is not only prohibitively expensive, given the limited resources of most small businesses, but also appears inappropriate: it cannot have been the intention of the legislators that organisations should be forced to employ consultants to ensure their compliance with the law, and indeed Article 18(8) states:
‘Where there is a competent person in the Responsible Person’s employment, that person must be appointed [to carry out fire safety duties] … in preference to a competent person not in his employment.’
This comprehensive fire safety training and risk assessment package, made in liaison with a film company specialising in the production of high-quality training and information films, gives you the solution. The package comprises two discs:
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an interactive CD-ROM, containing a thought-provoking training film in which a retired firefighter plans to move into a residential care home and checks it first to ensure that it complies with the law. You will also find authoritative guidance on the law and good practice via ‘click-on’ video tutorials, PowerPoint slide shows and a variety of guidance documents including a pre-assessment checklist, a fire risk assessment form and fire safety logbook;
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a DVD, which, in response to the staff training needs of care home owners, contains the film, appropriate tutorials and PowerPoint slides.
Care home owners and managers will be able to find all the information they need on the CD-ROM to make their care homes safe, but can use the DVD to train their staff without the need for a computer, thus avoiding concerns about access to confidential information.
Format: Two-disc set: CD-ROM and DVD
