Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Fire Safety Regulations

Hundreds of West Country hotels and guesthouses have failed to comply with fire safety regulations in the wake of the worst hotel blaze in 40 years, the Western Morning News has found.

Since the Penhallow hotel in Newquay burned to the ground in August 2007 – a tragedy that saw three people killed – 473 notices have been issued to non-domestic properties in Devon and Cornwall stating they had fallen short of legislation to save more people from death and injury.

The properties are chiefly those providing sleeping accommodation, such as hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses, which fire chiefs determined were "high-risk" after new laws were introduced in 2006.

Faults included poor fire escapes, inadequate techniques to stop fires from spreading and outdated alarm systems.

According to a publicly available register of notices, the vast majority were told by the fire service to upgrade within a set timescale.

Occasionally, fire services were moved to order hotels to shut partially or entirely, such was the risk to guests.

Seventeen such orders were issued in Cornwall since the Penhallow fire, including a Falmouth hotel which was found guilty at Camborne Magistrates' Court of ignoring the notice.

Among a number of issues, fire officers were deeply concerned that guests at the hotel would have to smash open a Perspex box to get keys to fire exits, which would cause "serious confusion and delay".

Kevin Thomas, Cornwall Fire Service area manager and senior fire safety officer, said: "I still think there are businesses out there that are less likely to grab hold of this legislation than they should.   Some people still expect us to come round and tell them what they have to do. The reality is we now don't do that."

The revelations follow the conclusion of the inquest into the Penhallow tragedy earlier this month. Coroner Dr Emma Carlyon said that all hotel and guesthouse owners needed to be reminded of their responsibility to comply with fire safety measures.

The new Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 came into force in October 2006. The order means owners of all non-domestic properties are required to carry out a self-assessment of their fire safety provision, including hotels, factories and offices.

 

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