Important news

[Big A]

FRAs cant tell you what to do in your home!

Agreed. However, a Notice of Fire Safety Deficiencies can tell the responsible person what to do in the communual areas of sheltered housing schemes

Also agreed however only a Warranted employee of a FRA can enforce the requirements of the RRFSO, as far as i am aware ops crews that carry out Home safety visits are not given the Article 27 Powers of Inspectors.

I would have thought that that depends on whether or not they have been appointed as inspectors. We've decided not to do that and that they already have the powers of entry under section 45 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act.

[Big T]

I would be more impressed, Big T, if they commented that the electrical installation should be in accordance with the IEE/BS standard - and went on to say how the existing cables presented a significant risk.

Agreed. Especially when the cables in question are telephone cables. I'd to see them convince us that are hazardous!

[Graeme]

they might be looking at it from a entering Fire Fighters view and having the cables staying put on the wall if there was a fire,thus not creating an obstacle of dangling cables.. just a guess

[The Lawman]

Did one of the lads who died in the high rise fire down south not become entrapped in a mass of melted electrical cables?

Obviously we don't know why this has been mentioned in the report but unprotected cables could, in some circumstances, cause problems.

[Dinnertime Dave]

Yes Lawman your right, further details are contained in 'Investigation into the deaths' below.  

www.hertsdirect.org/yrccouncil/hcc/fire/reports/harrow

[wee brian]

Stuff falling down is a normal fire-fighting hazard.  False ceilings etc etc.

[messy]

Why so much hostility over these Home FRAs???

Yes some undertrained personnel are being used to complete them and no doubt some 'advice' - however best intended- will be way over the top.

But the vast majority of HRFAs are being carried out well and many of the more vulnerable in our community have, and will continue, to benefit from them.

Perhaps fire service managers should carry out random follow up quality control audits to ensure the best possible advice is being given, and above all, those vulnerable punters aren't being scared to death by claims made by some of the crews.

The bigger picture is more of a worry. Virtually all UKFRS have set targets of how many HFRAs are to be completed in a given period. At the moment  it is top priority and other safety related work such as 7(2)ds, hydrants (and worryingly) training is taking a back seat in the chase to achieve HFRA targets.

So whilst the public may feel safer in their homes following their HFRA, I wonder if the average Firefighter - denied of routine training- can be as confident of their safety??

[nearlythere]

The matter of the safety lighting in the domestic environment is not uncommon. I had a call from an occupier who had concerns about her family getting out of the house in the event of a fire. Quite common are these calls.  The usual advise was given eg smoke detector, close doors at night, night time routine etc etc. She then asked for advice of what she could do if the fire at night involved the electrics and there was a power failure.  Bearing in mind that there are more aesthetic  emergency lighting units on the market now a days what good advice could be offered?

[jokar]

Once upon a time you could buy domestic smoke alarms with a light in the centre.  They obviously met a standard but which one who knows.  But this system provides adequate light.

[Ken Taylor]

Any thoughts on those plug-in lamps that can be kept in socket outlets and the bulb lights when the the power fails (or is switched off to test)?

[Graeme]

keep a torch under the bed

[Gel]

Alarms with escape lights still exist such as Kidde 918 model.
They have 2 batteries; one for alarm, one for escape light.

There are also rechargeable domestic torches that flash when there's
a mains failure too, which can happen in fire.

[Big T]

I agree that some people may feel like they need escape lighting in an emergency at night but realistically this type of lighting isn't a major safety issue in the home, otherwise one would imagine it would have been stipulated in the new ADB part 1, and its not.

Emergency lighting is a nice to have addition for homeowners who demand a higher level of safety. Lets be honest, theres still a lot of people who refuse to have a smoke detector in their home. I don't have emergency lighting in my house. A torch suffices!

[Mr. P]

Perhaps Simon Cowell & co could run a tv series in this vent.

[BB]

those combined detectors and lights are as much use an ashtray on a motorbike (the light i mean)