Specialised housing...

[massive1969]

After some advice please...

A residential building in has been adapted to cater for 3-4 young people, each of which have conditions such as behaviour difficulties, learning difficulties, Autism, ADHD, aggressive behaviour, cerebral palsy, etc. All under the age of 15.  There is also 2 staff sleeping.

Staff advise that all occupants are ambulant however do need some assistance as they can hear the alarm but are not aware what to do. But I'm concerned that some of the conditions can deteriorate quite quickly.

Due to safety of the individuals themselves and also others, the bedroom doors are locked from the outside with a Yale key each night.

Now there is a load of other issues with this in the fact that a] some young people require 2:1 help to control them, and they only have 2 members of staff [so what happens with the other young people if an evacuation is required??] and b] the PEEPs are very generic and dont help much.

But, do you feel its ok that the bedroom doors are kept locked overnight?? I can't see any other option but to make sure staff have a robust system to ensure that the bedroom keys are readily available in an emergency evacuation??  Or they change the mechanisms to have thumb turns on the outside of the doors which can be locked overnight, but quickly opened without a key in the event of an emergency.

Also, the doors [which appear to be FD30s but not 100% sure above fire resistance levels] have no self-closers. Again, I was going to make this a requirement to upgrade to include self-closers, as I dont feel the occupants evacuation would be hindered by these...but again, your experience and thoughts are always great to hear!

Lastly, do they HAVE to be FD's??  Someone is saying that standard doors but with smoke control (strips and seals) would be adequate??

As a guide, we've looked at HTM88, DCLG guide to sleeping risks and Fire Safety in Specialised Housing, but anyone with experience of these types of places, please feel free to chip in!

Cheers

[Tom Sutton]

What's the difference in care homes with vulnerable residents were they secure the final exit doors to prevent wandering?

[Bruce89]

Locking of individuals is not uncommon, psychiatric units with occupants with serious issues are often locked in their rooms at night both for their own safety and the safety of other "service users"

[Owain]

Secure psychiatric hospitals, prisons etc will probably be designed with fire-retardent furnishings etc in to reduce the fuel availability, and in secure hospitals access to lighters for smoking will be controlled.

This place may have more 'domestic' style furnishings, and smoking is likely to be discouraged/prohibited encouraging covert smoking.

Also do any of the residents have fire-raising tendencies?

A problem with simple thumb-turn locks outside is that a resident could be locked in a room (or released) by another resident. Locks with break-glass release might be suitable (if the glass itself isn't a hazard)

http://www.imperiallocks.co.uk/fire.htm

as discussed for 'escape rooms' here

https://www.crisis-response.com/forum/index.php?topic=7169.msg76317#msg76317

[massive1969]

Thanks for all the comments so far.

Yes, I must admit I was horrified when I first heard they locked the young people in their rooms at night, but have read to understand that this is common practice in such housing where individuals will either a) harm others or b) harm themselves.  Several of the young people in this example have anger issues brought on by their conditions and become violent without warning.  They can also self-harm so their rooms are adapted especially.

The individuals do not have tendencies to start fires, but their conditions could lead to this.

An idea someone else came up with was having electronic locks on the doors which can be interfaced with fire alarm (which is a BS5839-1 system) that releases all locks when actuated.  Also, the thumb turn idea - all young people are locked in their rooms at same time, so there is no chance of anyone other than staff unlocking the doors.

[David Rooney]

Is there a staff alarm to wake the sleeping carers or have you got a sounder in each bedroom do wake the clients? .... I could imagine that could cause a few issues at 3 in the morning !

[Owain]

Also, the thumb turn idea - all young people are locked in their rooms at same time, so there is no chance of anyone other than staff unlocking the doors.

There must be a significant chance - there are 4 youngsters, some of whom need 2:1 for control, and 2 staff. Therefore if 2 staff are controlling A, that leaves 3 others. So you could have B unlocking and going into C's room and assaulting C, then D locks them in the room together so C can't escape, D then runs amok elsewhere ... and at some point the alarm sounds.

So do the 2 staff evacuate A, go to C's room and unlock and release B and C, or go and find D, or look for the cause of the alarm?

I expect in an 'adapted residential' building the corridors aren't a sterile area either.

[wee brian]

Its not directly relevant but this is what the boys in blue use

https://www.app.college.police.uk/app-content/detention-and-custody-2/custody-management-and-planning/#fire-safety

The detailed guidance isn't on line - annoying but an attempt, I think, at keeping it from the crims.