Nelson primary school children win competition with fire safety rap
Children at the Pendle View Primary School in Nelson, Lancashire, have won a competition thanks to their fire safety rap, which was composed and performed as part of National Schools’ Fire Safety Week.
The competition was launched by The Fire Fighters Charity and was open to schoolchildren up and down the country. The students at Pendle View used the fire awareness training they had received during National Schools’ Fire Safety Week to compose their rap, which contained a number of potentially life-saving messages.
After choosing Pendle View Primary School out of hundreds of entries, Alison White from the charity said:
“The rap was a really creative way of presenting it and it was performed with real enthusiasm by the Year 5 children. They clearly enjoyed learning about fire safety and to top it all off they took home the message that matches and lighters are dangerous tools and should never be played with. Hopefully they will spread this message to their friends and family.”
The children won a total of £300 in Argos vouchers as their prize, which they are reportedly planning to spend on new bicycles.
Fire safety breach charges against M&S dropped
The recent charges relating to alleged fire safety breaches at one of Marks and Spencer stores has now been dropped by prosecutors, according to a recent BBC news report.
The charges were brought against M&S after a fire broke out in the stockroom of one of its stores in Braehead near Glasgow in March 2008. Prosecutors alleged that store bosses failed to properly evacuate the branch when the fire broke out, and also allowed customers to continue to enter the store after the fire had been detected.
It was also alleged that the store violated the Fire (Scotland) Act through breaches relating to fire risk assessments, emergency planning and the installation of fire alarms in the affected stockroom.
However, new evidence has reportedly come to light and the case has been dropped. A Crown Office spokesperson has stated:
“The procurator fiscal at Glasgow determined there was sufficient evidence to raise proceedings against Marks and Spencer Plc following an incident on 5 March 2008.
“The procurator fiscal has now reviewed this case in light of further evidence, including expert reports, and concluded that it is no longer in the public interest to prosecute.
“There will be no further proceedings and the case is now closed.”
South Wales restaurant owner pleads guilty to ignoring fire safety warnings
A restaurant owner from Gwent in South Wales has pleaded guilty to a number of fire safety offences, including ignoring a prohibition notice from the local fire service.
The man in question, Abdul Kadir, is the former owner of the Raj Gate restaurant in Ponthir. He has now been forced to cease trading at the restaurant due to a number of fire safety offences.
After visiting the premises in 2008, investigators from the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service found a whole host of problems relating to fire safety at the premises. Mr Kadir was accused of endangering the lives of staff and visitors with his negligence.
The charges against Mr Kadir included failures to:
• Ensure fire exit routes were unobstructed and lit with emergency lighting
• Properly equip the restaurant with working fire alarm systems
• Keep firefighting equipment up to date (a fire extinguisher found on the premises was last tested in 2004)
• Comply with a prohibition notice from the fire service
• Allowing extension cables to run through kitchen areas
These faults and failures are generally covered as part of a fire risk assessment, or on fire training courses for the owners or managers of commercial properties.
Greggs the bakers fined over fire safety breaches
Greggs the bakers has been fined a total of £50,000 for fire safety breaches at one of its stores in Brentford.
The problems at the Brentford store were uncovered by officers from the London Fire Brigade on a routine audit at the end of 2008. They found that numerous problems with fire exits and fire doors, and also believed that the company’s fire risk assessment and fire training policies needed updating.
The London Fire Brigade claims that a letter notifying Greggs of these breaches and the need for improvements was sent to the company in January 2009, but the recommended changes weren’t made.
At Isleworth Crown Court recently, Greggs plc. was fined fined a total of £50,000 for two separate breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 concerning fire escapes and exits and fire risk assessments. The company was also ordered to pay court costs exceeding £20,000 in total.
Speaking after the verdict, Councillor Brian Coleman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority said:
“Fire safety is a key part of good business management and responsible persons must comply with their legal obligations under the fire safety order, in order that employees and the general public are as safe as possible from the risk of fire. Failure to comply with the law can, as this case has shown, result in a prosecution.”
Managers who need fire safety training
If you are a manager then you will be responsible for your staff as well as the work you undertake on a day-to-day basis. Should a fire break out on your business premises this would lead to a very chaotic situation where your management, organisational and communication skills would be tested to the limits.
How you control such a situation is therefore very important and so a ‘Fire Safety Training for Managers’ course would be ideal in helping you to reduce the fire risk and bring some order to a very stressful type of eventuality.
These UK-based fire safety training courses will give you all the knowledge required to handle the situation competently. You will be trained in how to protect your business and employees from the dangers of fire.
The ‘Fire Safety Training for Managers’ course would be perfect for someone who is responsible for ensuring fire safety in their workplace. As well as becoming aware of all the legal requirements surrounding fire safety, you will also be trained in responding to a fire incident at work.
And you can also decide to send your staff on a suitable fire safety training course too, spreading the workload and making people aware of the risks posed by fire.