Fire evacuation of sheltered housing

[Tom Sutton]

I am having a problem understanding duty of care, as we are being told the only duty of care is to yourself when the alarm goes of in the sheltered housing where I live. There is someone next door, who could need to be told that the alarm is going off and to evacuate, however, the housing association has said don't bother her, just look after yourself. Is this procedure correct?

An inquiry I received recently any comments.

[nearlythere]

I am having a problem understanding duty of care, as we are being told the only duty of care is to yourself when the alarm goes of in the sheltered housing where I live. There is someone next door, who could need to be told that the alarm is going off and to evacuate, however, the housing association has said don't bother her, just look after yourself. Is this procedure correct?

An inquiry I received recently any comments.

Why does she "need to be told" Tom? Has she a disability?

[wee brian]

trouble is, that people throw the phrase "duty of care" around without understanding what it means.

[kurnal]

The householder posing the question has nothing other than their conscience to consider, they have no "duty of care" in this regard. However the housing provider may have a duty of care to do more if they have housed an individual in a premises that are unsuitable. If there was a stay put policy then probably it would be ok but if the person has been housed from the outset in premises which have some shortcomings and require a full evacuation strategy and that person cannot get out then I think the housing provider may have a duty to provide other measures. Difficult one, as if the person's health and mobility have declined since being housed there it is not reasonable to expect them to be rehoused for reasons of fire safety-  is it?

[Mike Buckley]

I agree with kurnal, in this instance the householder has no duty of care to alert the neighbour and the housing provider is correct. A major problem would arise if the housing provider had told the householder to alert the neighbour, in which case if anything happened to the householder whilst they were carrying out this function the housing provider could be subject to litigation. What training did the householder receive to ensure they were safe to carry out this function etc. I was involved in a litigation case where an employee who was office based and spent his day pushing a computer mouse about a desk decided he would help an outside contractor load a lorry and injured himself then he sued the firm. The questions that came from the legal firm included was he risk assessed to carry out this role, had he received manual handling training to lift this load etc. etc.

Following this the housing provider is correct, however this would not prevent the householder alerting the neighbour if they so desired as a 'good citizen'.

From another angle if I was carrying out an FRA on the premises and I was told that the procedure for the evacuation of a disabled person was for a neighbour, who is not an employee and over whom the housing provider has no control, to come in, alert the disabled person and assist that person to leave. I would immediately record that this procedure is totally inadequate.

[Tom Sutton]

Kurnal and Mike can I use your comments in reply to my enquirer and do you require a  specific mention?

[Mike Buckley]

Tom,

I have not objection to you using my comments, with the caveat that they are a generalised response based on the circumstances described in your original message and not specific to the location.

[kurnal]

I agree with Mike

[Tom Sutton]

Thanks to everybody and NT if I get a response to "Why does she "need to be told" Tom? Has she a disability?" I will post it.