Fire safety in residential care homes — 5 crucial areas to manage

Fires spread fast — especially in older buildings or buildings with vulnerable occupants who may have impaired vison or hearing, mobility issues or an inability to act for themselves.

With the Care Quality Commission (CQC) taking particular interest in fire safety over recent years, care homes that fail to comply with fire service recommendations will find their CQC rating affected. This can result in receiving inadequate ratings or having your CQC registration removed altogether. Intervention, enforcement and even prosecution by your local fire authority is also a possibility. 

Here, Allana Edwards and Matt Coles discuss how parties responsible for fire safety in residential care homes can best manage the risk of fire while ensuring compliance with the relevant health and safety regulations. 

Example care home fire cases

One example of just how disastrous the consequences of fire safety in care homes can be is the 2017 incident in Hertfordshire at Newgrange Care Home, which left 33 people injured and tragically claimed two lives. 

In 2019, Newgrange Care Home had to pay a £175,000 fine after it was determined that the deaths of two residents were caused by a lack of staff training and inadequate evacuation plan.

Similarly, it was discovered that the Rosepark Care Home fire in 2011 could have been avoided if more suitable and sufficient fire safety plans had been in place. 

In 2019, London Fire Brigade found that 57% of the 177 care homes it had inspected failed on fire safety issues. 

Fire safety regulations

Parties responsible for fire safety in care homes must ensure compliance with the Care Homes Regulations Act 2001, which sets out the requirements for fire safety in residential care homes. 

The Health and Social Care Act 2008 established the CQC as the independent regulator of health and social care in England. In relation to fire safety, care homes are required to meet the requirements of the legislation set out in the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order (2005). Parties responsible should also reference the ‘Fire safety risk assessment: residential care premises guidance’ (the Guidance) from the Home Office, which was last updated on 12 September 2023.

Five key fire safety areas to manage

If care home groups and those responsible for fire safety fail to meet their legal obligations and place people in danger, the CQC has the power to prosecute organisations or individuals — which can result in unlimited fines and/or prison sentences. 

There are five critically important areas to manage to ensure fire safety in care homes.

1. Fire risk assessment

By law, all care homes must have a detailed and up to date fire risk assessment. This forms the basis of all fire safety plans and identifies the fire protection measures needed to keep a care home safe.

A fire risk assessment must be written down (if there are over five people on the premises). It must also be reviewed annually and anytime there’s a significant change to the premises or to residents. All fire safety recommendations proposed in the fire risk assessment must be implemented in good time. 

The Guidance details the steps required to carry out a fire risk assessment:

1. Identify fire hazards — sources of ignition, fuel and oxygen. 
2. Identify the people at risk — those in and around the premises and people who are particularly vulnerable.
3. Evaluate, remove, reduce and protect from risk — what are the risks of a fire occurring and causing harm to people? Remove or reduce the hazards and risks where possible. Consider things such as detection and warning systems, firefighting, escape routes, lighting and signs.
4. Record, plan, inform, instruct and train — record findings and action taken and prepare an emergency plan. Inform and instruct relevant people and coordinate with others to provide training. 
5. Review — keep the assessment under review and revise where necessary. 

2. L1 Fire Alarm System 

To meet fire safety regulations, care homes must have an L1 fire alarm system. This is the highest level of protection that a fire alarm system can offer and provides staff and residents with the maximum time possible to evacuate if a fire breaks out. This is critical in residential care homes as it takes longer to evacuate vulnerable people.

An L1 system provides automatic detection — such as smoke or heat detectors — in every room in the care home and can even include detection systems in large cupboards. The L1 system must be serviced at least every six months by a qualified fire alarm engineer and tested weekly by a competent person. Service certificates and fire log books should be kept up to date and maintained to help ensure compliance. 

3. Fire extinguishers

It’s vital to have the correct fire extinguishers in the right locations in a residential care home to help tackle the different types of fire that may occur. Fire extinguishers must be serviced annually and replaced once they’re out of date. The most recent service date will be on the service label visible on the extinguisher.

4. Fire doors

Good quality fire doors in working order are essential for fire safety in care homes as they’ll slow down and limit the spread of a fire. providing extra time for evacuation. Fire doors work as part of a ‘horizontal evacuation’ strategy. 

Fire doors can also be connected to the fire alarm system, which can enable them to close automatically if the fire alarm activates using magnetic retainers. This option requires weekly testing and the doors should always be kept closed at night. 

All fire doors must close properly and not be wedged open. They should be visually inspected at least once a quarter and repaired if required. A log should be kept of this in a fire logbook.

5. Evacuation training

Residential care home staff and fire marshals need general fire safety training. Most importantly, everyone needs to be aware of how to evacuate residents in the case of a fire. 

As care homes are usually high-risk premises for fire marshal requirements, the table below indicates the recommended number of marshals required. 

Care home operators must ensure that everyone knows who the designated fire marshals are and that the fire marshals receive regular training for what to do in a fire. 

The standard evacuation procedure called ‘simultaneous evacuation’ — where everyone leaves the premises immediately upon hearing the fire alarm — doesn’t always work for residential care homes due to evacuating people with reduced mobility. 

In these instances, a ‘horizontal evacuation’ training strategy is essential and needs to be adopted and trained for. This involves groups of occupants being moved more gradually from room to room ahead of the fire, buying time to reach all residents. 

Depending on the mobility issues of the residents in the care home, evacuation aids such as evacuation chairs or mattresses may also be essential. There should be regular evacuation training and all new team members should be trained as soon as possible when they join, with the details of all training recorded and maintained in the Training Matrix. Everyone needs to know what to do and where to go in the event of a fire. 

Common causes of fire in residential care homes

It’s important to be aware of what commonly causes fires so that care home operators can mitigate against them. 

According to London Fire Brigade, there are three main causes of fires in residential care homes: 

1. 41% cooking and cookers.
2. 21% other kitchen appliances. 
3. 13% smoking-related.

It’s straightforward to reduce fire risks by ensuring that all cooking appliances are switched off after use and no electrical items are placed too close to flammable materials. Residents’ access to such devices is another obvious factor to be considered in the care home environment, especially where they lack mobility and capacity. Smoking materials should also be properly disposed of and the care home should only permit smoking in controlled areas. 

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