An independent fire risk assessor has been given a four month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to pay £1,000 costs after \’paying lip service\’ to assessing a Cheshire care home.
The fire risk assessor, a retired firefighter was given the sentence after he had been appointed by Minster Care to provide a fire risk assessment for Croft Wood Care Home and failed to give adequate advice and information. Judge Tina Landale summed up his sentence by saying: the assessment almost entirely misses the point and the inadequacies are patently obvious.
Minster Care who appointed the fire risk assessor pleaded guilty to four breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 when the company appeared a Judge at Warrington Crown Court on Thursday June 23.
These related to provision of fire alarms, duty to take general fire precautions, evacuation procedures and training.
We urge all companies to take their fire safety obligations seriously to avoid prosecution.It is important that anyone employing a fire risk assessor must take all reasonable steps to ensure the assessor is competent. We advise that only third party accredited consultants are used .
