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Interim Sheffield
Council Housing Board
REPORT FOR INFORMATION
DATE OF MEETING
23 January 2014
AGENDA ITEM 4
PAPER C
SUBJECT
Fire Safety Communications Plan
SUMMARY
This report provides an update on communication about fire safety with Tenants and
Residents in flats.
KEY RECOMMENDATIONS:
It is recommended that the Interim Board note the report.
PAPERS
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E
Fire Safety In Your Communal Area leaflet
Sheffield City Council Fire Safety In Your Property booklet.
NB Copies of the complete booklet will be available at the Interim Board
meeting.
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Safety leaflet
Fire Safety Publicity
Letter from South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
CATEGORY OF REPORT:
REPORT BROUGHT TO THE BOARD BY:
CLEARED BY:
BUSINESS PLAN PRIORITY:
BOARD TO CONSIDER
EQUALITIES IMPLICATION
HEALTH & SAFETY IMPLICATION
VALUE FOR MONEY IMPLICATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATION
LONG TERM IMPLICATION
REPUTATIONAL IMPLICATION
TENANT IMPLICATION
SUPPLIER IMPLICATION
SHEFFIELD CITY COUNCIL IMPLICATION
EMPLOYEE IMPLICATION
COMMUNITY IMPLICATION
AREA BOARD IMPLICATION
OPEN
Gary Lund
Iain Allott
All
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Throughout
Throughout
Throughout
Throughout
Throughout
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Fire Safety on Flatted Estates: Communication and Information
with Tenants and Residents
1.0 Purpose of the report
The interim board received a presentation on 24 October 2013 and requested a report at a
future date providing information on the communication with tenants and residents about fire
safety on flatted estates.
2.0 Background
In the wake of the findings from the inquest into the Lakanal House fire in London in 2009
Sheffield considered what lessons could be learnt and what more do we need to do to for
fire safety on flatted estates.
The Lakanal House fire in July 2009 was in a high rise block and the immediate aftermath
was a wake-up call to social landlords about their responsibilities and particularly about the
implications for them of a major piece of legislation the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety)
Order 2005 (RRFSO 2005). At the time knowledge of the requirements of the RRFSO 2005
was scant with information on how to comply, what constituted a suitable and sufficient fire
risk assessment and how these standards were set and assessors competencies assessed
were non-existent in an operational delivery context. Engagement with the enforcing
authority, the fire services, further clouded the issues as they themselves seemed “unclear”.
Since then various guidance has been provided by the Local Government Office (LGO), fire
Services have crystallised their focus and organisations, both individually and in groups,
have taken steps to get to grips with the requirements of the RRFSO 2005 and apply those
requirements to their housing stock.
Sheffield has continued to build its expertise on fire risk assessments put in place the
outcomes from those assessments, communicate with tenants and work very closely with
South Yorkshire Fire Rescue (SYFR) to build understanding and carry out inspections of
blocks of flats.
The conclusion of the inquest and recommendations from the Judge, Frances Kirkham again
raised the debate about fire safety in the press and virtually makes it obligatory for those in
charge of flatted estates to re check the thoroughness of their approach.
3.0 Recommendations from the Coroner at the Lakanal Inquest
The judge made a number of recommendations in her “rule 43” letters to Southwark Council,
London Fire Service and the Secretary of State for Communities. Some of the
recommendations specifically mention high rise blocks however they should be applied
throughout flatted residential estates.
The recommendations concerned information for people and the procurement and carrying
out of construction works. These are below with my further points to provide clarification in
brackets:
1. Residents in high rise blocks must be aware of fire safety.
2. Residents in high rise blocks must be given clear advice about what to do in the
event of a fire.
3. Clarity is provided on whether “stay put” or “get out and stay out policy applies”
4. Fire safety features within the block and flat are demonstrated to new tenants of high
rise blocks.
5. Signage within the common parts of blocks is reviewed (for adequacy and location)
6. Residents are made aware of the dangers associated with fire in high rise buildings.
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7. Clear guidance is provided by the Secretary of State for Communities on fire risk
assessments including whether a sample of flats should be inspected internally to
identify possible breaches of fire compartments.
8. That people procuring or supervising construction work on existing buildings should
have better training to ensure that building materials have the appropriate fire
protection qualities. (This relates to the premature failure of materials in a fire
situation allowing the fire to spread in a manner and with an intensity not planned for
by those attending the emergency. Those failures are contained in the findings from
the inquest and relate to the panel above the door into a flat and the external
cladding panels.)
4.0 Our strategy
Over the past few years Sheffield has developed or improved its strategy to address the
requirements of the RRFSO 2005 with the key points being:
 An evacuate process for each block until this is amended to stay put following the fire
risk assessment and any remedial works to provide fire resistant compartments within
blocks of flats.
 In house staff with a technical construction background trained through an approved
course to carry out fire risk assessments
 A risk assessment template and process which has been refined over time and
includes a sample of the inside of flats and endorsed by South Yorkshire Fire and
Rescue Service (SYFRS).
 Carried out a survey of each property archetype and used this to determine the risk
ranking for that archetype.
 Compiled a programme for the carrying out of risk assessment to all blocks based on
the risk of the archetype.
 Periodic inspections of flatted estates initially on a 13 weeks frequency but moving to
a risk based frequency from 1.4.2013 including the training of staff to assess the risk
and adjust the frequency.
 Providing information and visiting tenant groups about fire cause and spread, keeping
escape routes clear of combustible materials, obstructions and what to do / not to do.
(See Appendix A, B & C).
 Joint working with SYFRS on technical building standards and compliance, including
joint inspections of blocks.
 Training for the housing repairs and maintenance contractor and other contractors on
maintaining compartmentation when carrying out their works.
 Ensure all building compartmentation is in place through a specific contract procured
to fully check and bring up to standard all necessary buildings.
Appendix E is a letter from SYFRS acknowledging the work we have been doing.
5.0 Addressing the Coroner’s Recommendations from the Lakanal House Inquest
We have taken the opportunity to review, discuss and test our strategy with the Investment
Repairs Partnering Group (IRPG) including the recommendations and findings from the
Lakanal inquest to ensure we are managing fire safety and providing clear information to
those who need it.
For this report the housing stock has been grouped into ;
1. High Rise blocks.
2. Older Persons Independent living blocks : Sheltered accommodation.
3. Low rise blocks.
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The first six points in the coroner’s recommendation as set out in 3.0 above have been
addressed under each of the above property groups as set out below.
5.1 High Rise Blocks
1. Residents in high rise blocks must be aware of fire safety. All residents have been
given information on fire safety through various communication channels i.e. Media “In
Touch”, Internet, Fire Safety Booklet (Appendix B), TARA meetings.
2. Residents in high rise blocks have been given clear advice about what to do in the
event of a fire. Tenants and Residents understood the Stay Put process but some
tenants said irrespective of the process’s and the work carried out to their homes they
would still attempt to leave their flat if a fire broke out in an adjacent property. There
are notices on each landing stating that a stay put policy is in place, There are signs in
each block stating what is allowed to be stored, this has been discussed widely at
TARA meetings,
3. Clarity is provided on whether “stay put” or “get out and stay out policy applies”
Clear signage is displayed in high rise blocks stating Stay Put.
4. Fire safety features within the block and flat are demonstrated to new tenants of high
rise blocks.
All new tenants are given the fire safety handbook at sign up and these tenants are
made aware of the home safety visit can be organised by SYFRS.
5. Signage within the common parts of blocks is reviewed (for adequacy and location)
each block has visible signage and is inspected on a risk based timescale as part of
the Health & Safety inspection of the block, this is also checked and updated as part
of the annual update/revisit of the Fire Risk Assessment.
6. Residents are made aware of the dangers associated with fire in high rise buildings.
This has been done through the TARA meetings, Area Boards, national publicity by
the Fire Service, Local Publicity through events, open days. ( Appendix D)
7. All high rise block communal areas are always left clear from combustible materials
this is in line with our “Managed Approach” ( Appendix A)
8. Each tower block gets a daily/weekly visit from the block cleaners who are trained to
identify any breaches in the communal areas which would be detrimental to the fire
integrity of the building.
9. Every Tenant/Resident has received the “Fire Safety Booklet” (See Appendix B)
10. All Tower Blocks currently receive a visit every 14 months by the Fire Risk Assessor
to ensure the Risk Assessment is still suitable, these then receive a visit from SYRFS.
To date we have not received any Improvement Notices or Prohibition Orders from SYFRS
5.2 Older Persons Independent Living blocks
1. Residents in Sheltered blocks must be aware of fire safety. All residents have been
given information on fire safety through various communication channels i.e. Media “In
Touch” , Internet, Fire Safety Booklet (Appendix B) and TARA meetings.
2. Residents in Sheltered blocks have been given clear advice about what to do in the
event of a fire. Tenants and Residents understood the Stay Put process, they know
where their assembly points are and are given regular updates by the wardens at the
coffee mornings etc. There are notices on each landing stating that a stay put policy is
in place and within the communal lounges, There are signs in each block stating what
is allowed to be stored, this has been discussed widely at TARA meetings and again
at coffee mornings.
3. Clarity is provided on whether “stay put” or “get out and stay out policy applies.” Clear
signage is displayed in all Sheltered blocks stating Stay Put.
4. Fire safety features within the block and flat are demonstrated to new tenants of the
Sheltered blocks.
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5. All new tenants are given the fire safety handbook at sign up and these tenants are
made aware of the home safety visit can be organised by SYFRS. The wardens also
go through the fire safety precautions advice with them as a new tenant to the scheme
6. Signage within the common parts of blocks is reviewed (for adequacy and location)
each block has visible signage and is inspected every week as part of the Health &
Safety inspection of the block, this is also checked and updated as part of the annual
update/revisit of the Fire Risk Assessment.
7. Residents are made aware of the dangers associated with fire in buildings providing
sheltered accommodation. This has been done through the TARA meetings, Area
Boards, national publicity by the Fire Service, local publicity through events, open
days ( Appendix D)
8. All scheme communal areas are always left clear from combustible materials this is in
line with our “Managed Approach” (See Appendix A)
9. Each Sheltered block gets a daily/weekly visit from the wardens who are trained to
identify any breaches in the communal areas which would be detrimental to the fire
integrity of the building.
10. Every Tenant/Resident has received the “Fire Safety Booklet” ( Appendix B)
11. All Sheltered blocks currently receive a visit every 14 months by the Fire Risk
Assessor to ensure the Risk Assessment is still suitable, these then receive a visit
from SYFRS,
To date we have not received any Improvement Notices or Prohibition Orders from SYFRS.
5.3 Low Rise Blocks
1. Residents in Low Rise Blocks must be aware of fire safety. All residents have been
given information on fire safety through various communication channels i.e. Media “In
Touch” , Internet, Fire Safety Booklet (Appendix B), TARA meetings.
2. Residents in Low Rise blocks have been given clear advice about what to do in the
event of a fire. Tenants and Residents understood the evacuation process as fire
stopping work has not been completed to date. There are signs in each block stating
what is allowed to be stored, and this has been discussed widely at TARA meetings
and again at coffee mornings.
3. Clarity is provided on whether “stay put” or “get out and stay out policy applies”. Clear
signage is displayed in all blocks stating evacuate until told otherwise.
4. Fire safety features within the block and flat are demonstrated to new tenants of the
Low Rise blocks. All new tenants are given the fire safety handbook at sign up and
these tenants are made aware of the home safety visit can be organised by SYFRS.
5. Signage within the common parts of blocks is reviewed (for adequacy and location)
each block has visible signage and is inspected every week as part of the Health &
Safety inspection of the block, this is also checked and updated as part of the annual
update/revisit of the Fire Risk Assessment.
6. Residents are made aware of the dangers associated with fire in Low Rise buildings.
(This has been done through the TARA meetings, Area Boards, National Publicity by
the Fire Service, Local Publicity through events, open days. (Appendix D)
7. All scheme communal areas are always left clear from combustible materials this is in
line with our “Managed Approach” (Appendix A)
8. Each Low Rise block gets a daily/weekly visit from the block cleaners who are trained
to identify any breaches in the communal areas which would be detrimental to the fire
integrity of the building.
9. Every Tenant/Resident has received the “Fire Safety Booklet” (Appendix B).
10. All Low Rise blocks currently receive a check every 14/16 months by the Fire Risk
Assessor to ensure the Risk Assessment is still suitable, these then receive a visit
from South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service,
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To date we have not received any Improvement Notices or Prohibition Orders from SYFRS
5.4 Contractors
Point 8 of the coroner’s recommendations in 3.0 above states that people procuring or
supervising construction work on existing buildings should have better training to ensure that
building materials have the appropriate fire protection qualities. This has been addressed by
vetting all Contractors including Sub Contractors to ensure that they carry Third Party
Certification for insurance purposes to demonstrate that they are competent in the installation
of fire products. All operatives working on our buildings have been on Fire Awareness
Training and are aware of the fire products they must use if disturbing or altering the fabric of
the building.
6.0 Summary of Investment Repairs and Partnering Group (IRPG) Members and Health
and Safety Manager Property Visits
A small working group of members of IRPG was agreed to help with the testing of existing
processes and to determine if these were still fit for purpose. The group established a series
of questions to ask tenants and residents on the level of understanding they had on fire
safety and what they should do if a fire occurs within their flat or communal area.
Areas of the city to carry out the surveys were determined by the group but it was a given
that a cross section of tower blocks must were inspected by council officers, these are
situated in Central, South West and North West.
A number of Older Persons Independent Living Schemes were also inspected.
A cross section of low rise blocks must be inspected from across the city.
Feedback from the IRPG members were that they were impressed with the large amount of
information given out and displayed and the high level of understanding from our residents
on what to do in the event of a fire.
6.1 Findings from Visits
a) Older Person Independent Living Schemes
Tenants and Residents understood their Stay Put process, they knew where their assembly
points were and new how to raise the alarm in the event of a fire. All schemes had clear
signage and all emergency exit routes were clearly displayed, all new tenants and residents
had an induction which covered Fire Safety this was carried out by the wardens/scheme
managers.
Alarm systems were being altered in line with the stay put process, so that the alarm only
went off where the fire was, thus not causing confusion for tenants and residents in other
parts of the scheme, this approach was endorsed by SYFRS, Schemes have been revisited
by SYFRS who have signed the schemes off as suitable and sufficient, this is reflected in the
updated Fire Risk Assessments.
b) High Rise Tower Blocks
Tenants and Residents understood the Stay Put process, but some tenants said irrespective
of the process’s and the work carried out to their homes they would still attempt to leave their
flat if a fire broke out in an adjacent property. Every Tenant/Resident has received the “Fire
Safety Booklet” (see Appendix B).
c) Low Rise Blocks
All Low Rise blocks operate an evacuation process as they are in the process of having the
fire stopping work checked and improved where necessary through a Council Contract
awarded to Kier Services. Tenants and Residents are fully aware of the need to evacuate
should a fire occur within their block, fire evacuation plans have been discussed with tenants
and Residents
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The fire safety contract is on programme to complete works to approximately 2000 properties
in its first year and all low rise properties by 2017.
The work covers all low rise properties and there communal areas and is based on any
deficiencies raised by the fire risk assessments.
On completion of work to all properties and communal areas in a block the Investment Team
will write to all households advising that work has been completed and provide information in
the form of an eleven page advice and information booklet, “Fire Safety In Your Property”
(Appendix B).
Where access to individual properties has not been gained, then we review each individual
situation and carry out a revised risk assessment.
If the risk of not carrying out this work is minimal and can be managed, then we will write to
all tenants as if work had been completed and manage the situation having a revised risk
assessment in place. At this time we will also request that those individual households
contact the team to arrange for work to be carried out. An example of this could be a ground
floor flat where work has not been carried out internally but the flat above has.
Where the nature of the work is essential and therefore access is needed then further
attempts will be made to engage the tenant/leaseholder to allow access before taking the
decision to put in pursue access through a legal route. An example of this is where a noncompliant door has been fitted and access is not being allowed to change the door. In this
instance letters and advice will not be sent to any tenants/leaseholders in that block until
such time as the work is completed to all properties. As such the existing
management/evacuation arrangements will still be applicable whilst this situation remains.
This will be reflected in the revised Fire Risk Assessment.
As part of the programme Investment Team and the contractor have entered into a
partnership with SYFRS to provide free home safety checks to all households affected. This
is initially arranged by the Customer Liaison Officer in agreement with the tenant at the time
of the initial home visit. When SYFRS personnel carry out the Home Safety Check they will
assess the occupier/household to see if they require a smoke alarm for the deaf or hard of
hearing. They will also provide flame retardant bedding and throws for those deemed at risk
from smoking in bed or falling asleep whilst smoking under the influence of drugs, alcohol or
medication where the assessment suggests this is needed.
At the end of November a total of 54 referrals had been made and 47 had been completed
by SYFRS.
In addition to the work being carried out as part of the programme KIER are contracted to
carry out four school visits over the life of the programme. As such we are looking to target
secondary schools across the city and target those areas which SYFRS have indicted are
higher risk areas. No details or timescales have been agreed as yet but the visits will be
carried out in partnership with the Investment Team, Kier Services and SYFRS.
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Appendix A
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Appendix B
Fire Safety booklet front cover. Copies of the complete booklet will be available at the Interim
Board meeting.
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Appendix C
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Appendix D
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Appendix E
James Courtney
Chief Fire Officer & Chief Executive
Date:
23.03.12
Your Ref:
Our Ref: EM2303FSCS
This matter is being dealt with by: Station Manager A. Cloke
Tel Direct line: 0114 2532471
Fax Direct line:
Email:
acloke@syfire.gov.uk
Website: www.syfire.gov.uk
Technical Fire Safety
Central Support
197 Eyre Street
Sheffield
S13 9QA
Tel: 0114 2727202
Fax: 0114 2532888
Gary Lund RMaPS, TechIOSH
Sheffield Homes
Health Safety and Facilities Manager
Kier Depot
Main Office Block 2nd Floor
Manor Lane S2 1 TR
Dear Gary
RE: Sheffield Homes Fire Safety Standards Improvement Project
The last few years have proved hugely challenging for Sheffield homes following the incident at Lakanal
House, Camberwell in 2009, and the emerging issues as a result of the re-examination of building
standards in the social housing sector.
Following the schedule of inspections carried by our officers at the Sheffield District Fire Safety Office, it
was clear that Sheffield Homes had to make a substantial commitment both from a logistical and financial
perspective to overcome the issues identified during the premises audits.
It is therefore very pleasing to note that the majority of the buildings surveyed in the initial stages can now
be regarded as broadly compliant and it is clear that Sheffield Homes continue to show the level of
commitment required to overcoming the remaining issues throughout their housing stock.
In my capacity as the Chief Fire Officer Association technical fire safety lead on the social housing and
high rise flats working group, our experiences gained in the co-operative approach between South
Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and Sheffield Homes are becoming to be regarded as best practice, and as
such discussed at national level.
It is therefore hoped that this effective working relationship between us can be maintained in the future to
ensure the sustainability of the housing stock, protect the safety of tenants, and underline the significant
commitment to safety that Sheffield Homes is undoubtedly undertaking on behalf of the communities
within Sheffield District
Yours Sincerely
SM Andy Cloke
Technical Fire Safety Central Support
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Recent Fires where we have had no fire spread.
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