News of the
health and safety issues come after The Courier also revealed a
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service audit called for 21 separate improvements to be carried out at the New County Hotel earlier in December.
A fire safety audit at the New County Hotel in Perth ordered
21 improvements be made just three weeks before a blaze which killed three people and a dog.
The report listed eight areas of concern, with the issues to be addressed within 28 days.
It followed an inspection on December 12, three weeks before the fatal fire at the hotel on January 2 in which three people ? understood to be two women and a man ? died, as well as a dog.
The audit by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said existing fire safety arrangements were not considered appropriate.
It also revealed issues with emergency lighting, fire doors and escape routes at the County Place hotel.
It is not known what improvements, if any, were made between the report being sent to the hotel on December 16, and the fire in the early hours of Monday morning.
The Courier has listed these issues below, with quotes from the report:
1 ? Fire safety risk assessment
The fire risk assessment should be reviewed and any required changes made to ensure continued compliance with fire safety legislation
2 ? Testing and maintenance
? Emergency lighting system should be serviced and inspected by a competent person and any defects rectified
? Emergency lighting system should be tested monthly and results recorded
3 ? Means of escape
Following a recent inspection of the emergency lighting system, the report identified deficiencies and recommended system upgrade.
4 ? Fire doors
An inspection of fire doors found various doors did not provide the correct fire resistance.
Summarised from
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/perth-kinross/4028986/perth-new-county-fire-safety-inspection/ 5 ? Measures to prevent risk from fire
Recommendation is made that a competent person should inspect the electrical mains installation within the premises at suitable intervals
6 ? Measures to prevent spread of fire and smoke
With regard to stairwell between the first and second floor, where the integrity of walls or ceilings has been breached, fire resistance should be assessed and if required reinstated
With regard to boiler plant and electrical supply intake rooms, where the integrity of walls or ceilings has been breached, fire resistance should be assessed and if required reinstated
Air transfer grills in the bar and reception may allow the passage of smoke and fire to the first floor and fire may spread unchecked. A survey should be carried out
Each floor separating a storey within a premises used for sleeping accommodation should be a compartment floor with the fire resistance required to prevent the spread of fire to or from another part of the same building. Compartmentation can be compromised by the installation of pipework and cabling which has passed through walls and floors and where plaster/plaster board has been breached. A survey should be carried out to ensure the required fire resistance.
7 ? Fire warning and detection system
8 ? Fire drills
The
council?s improvement notices were served on owner Rashid Hussain, trading as Perth Hospitality Ltd, whose address was listed as London.
It followed a visit by a council environmental health officer.
They claimed the hotel was in contravention of various health and safety regulations.
Among the issues highlighted in one of the improvement notices was that ?guests do not feel safe within the hotel during the night as the front door is left unlocked?.
The notice said Mr Rashid, as the owner, had ?failed to properly assess the risks associated with the hotel? being left
with no ?competent? staff overnight, given its city centre location.
He was told he must ?properly assess? the risks to safety of guests, any staff that may be present, and to the hotel itself, through people who are not guests being able to access the building at night.
Meanwhile, a further notice raised concerns about windows in the hotel.
It stated that there were a number of broken window units, including in rooms 203, 106 and 101.
The officer also said a risk assessment for the premises identified that window restrictors should be fitted to all windows at first floor level and above.
