If you were given a 5 month prison sentence and ordered to pay £100,000 in costs for failing to arrange a basic fire safety assessment you may consider that punishment to be quite severe. However at Fire and Safety Solutions Ltd (FASS) we feel if anything it is getting away quite lightly, after all, the reckless actions of deciding not to carry out a straight forward fire assessment to ensure your tenants are safe could so easily end up with the loss of life, something no fine or prison sentence can put a price on.
Yet one Humberside based landlord recently felt that ignoring tenants safety and saving himself a small amount of money but not having a risk assessment was the right thing to do – he will now have 5 months in prison to reflect on why this is beyond foolish and how fortunate it was that no one was killed following the serious fire that swept through one of his properties.
It is hard to imagine that anyone would feel it is appropriate to cut corners in such a manor, that endangering the very people who are paying a rent to a landlord who they believe is renting a safe and secure home to them is acceptable just to save a small amount of money. Fire Regulations are in place for a reason, to safeguard peoples lives and property – not for landlords and business owners to pick and choose which regulations they feel they would like to adhere to.
At FASS we are only to happy to work with you to carry out a fire risk assessment and to make sure you meet or exceed all current fire regulations and that your building is safe. Had this particular landlord carried out a fire risk assessment he would have been advised that that the premises were not fitted with appropriate fire detectors or alarms, there were no self closing fire doors and that general fire precautions were not adequate. An action plan would then have been created and once the issues were rectified a certificate would have been issued ahead of the property being rented. These are quite simple steps, simple steps that save lives.
If you would like further information on how FASS can help you with fire risk assessments, or would like any further information on our services, please contact us.
