Horley Travelodge fined over £13,000 for fire safety breaches
Hotel chain, Travelodge have been fined £13,000 after breaching fire safety laws at their hotel in Horley.
The breaches relate to failings found at its 6 storey hotel in Povey Cross Road, Horley.
On discovering the breaches, fire officers immediately issued a Prohibition Notice which prevents anyone from staying at the hotel.
The hotel was fined £13,000 and ordered to pay £6,500 in costs after being found guilty of seven charges under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) order 2005.
The breaches were discovered when fire crews were called to put out a blaze on the ground floor of the hotel in September 2011.
Officers found that the fire alarm system was inadequate, staff had not received sufficient fire safety training, the fire risk assessment was insufficient and fire fighting equipment had not been maintained correctly. In addition to this, escape routes were obstructed or even blocked.
Andy Tonks from West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said: “Fortunately, due to the professionalism of our crews at the time of the incident, the fire was brought under control quickly and nobody was hurt. However, under different circumstances, the consequences could have been life-threatening. Protecting the public will always be our top priority and while we would much rather offer advice to the businesses to help them comply with fire safety law, where serious breaches are putting people’s lives at risk we will certainly seek to prosecute.”
Since the conviction, the hotel has rectified all fire safety issues and has re-opened. Bob Burgess, West Sussex County Council deputy cabinet member for public protection, said: “We would like to remind all businesses that they have a duty to comply with fire safety legislation and I hope this case will show just how seriously we take our responsibilities to protect the lives of members of the public.”
Fashion store owner fined over £8000 for fire safety breaches
The owner of a fashion store in Prestwich has been convicted of fire safety breaches after investigators visited the premises earlier this month.
The investigation found that escape routes were either locked or blocked, fire alarms and extinguishers were not properly maintained and staff had not been made aware of any fire evacuation procedures.
Joel Lever, who owns the Mon Amie Studios store, appeared at Bury Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to 7 offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. He was ordered to pay a total of £5,200 for two of the offences. He was also ordered to pay costs of £3,178 and £15 victim surcharge.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 states that you:
‘must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed’
This means that all companies as a first point in their Fire Safety must complete a Fire Risk Assessment. This must be carried out by a competent person, who is trained to perform risk assessments. Your Fire Training needs, your fire extinguisher needs and any other fire safety related issues you will need to address will be highlighted from the Fire Risk Assessment.
Our team of experienced and qualified Fire Risk Assessors will perform a full Fire Risk Assessment of your premises, and provide you with a comprehensive document detailing the risks found and recommendations to minimise the risks.
Our Fire Risk Assessment is divided into nine separate areas:
- Fire safety administration
- Fire fighting facilities
- Identifying fire hazards
- Fire routine and test procedure
- Means of escape
- Review procedures
- Staff/people at risk
- Arson prevention check list
- Fire warning facilities
When you have a Fire Risk Assessment, you must review this to ensure that everything is still in order. For example, you have a reshuffle of departments and your trained Fire Wardens are all moved onto the same floor of the building so more are required to cover the other floors, or you may have an extension built on your building. You may not even have had any changes in personnel or building, but it is essential that you review the Fire Risk Assessment anyway! We provide a service to review your Fire Risk Assessments for you, whether completed by ourselves or not.
If you require a quotation for your business, please complete our Online Quotation below or call us now on 0845 0553 999 to discuss your requirements further.
100 firefighters tackle Northamptonshire blaze
Around 100 firefighters have taken 3 days to extinguish a huge fire at The Think Environment processing plant in Northamptonshire which broke out on 25th September at Blackbridge Farm, Burton Latimer.
Nearby roads were closed for several days to enable the crews to lay a long water pump.
Iain Bomberg, commercial director of Think Environment, said: “We deeply regret the fire, but we have been working our hardest with the emergency authorities to resolve the situation. We hope to get in there imminently to start the clean-up operation and replace any damaged equipment to get back up and running as soon as possible.”
An investigation into the cause of the fire will be carried out but it is not being treated as suspicious.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 states that you: ‘must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed’
This means that all companies as a first point in their Fire Safety must complete a Fire Risk Assessment. This must be carried out by a competent person, who is trained to perform risk assessments. Your Fire Training needs, your fire extinguisher needs and any other fire safety related issues you will need to address will be highlighted from the Fire Risk Assessment.
Our team of experienced and qualified Fire Risk Assessors will perform a full Fire Risk Assessment of your premises, and provide you with a comprehensive document detailing the risks found and recommendations to minimise the risks.
Prison sentence and fines for hotel manager and fire risk assessor
The manager of two hotels in Mansfield has been found guilty of serious fire breaches.
David Liu who is the manager of The Dial Hotel and The Market Inn pleaded guilty to 15 fire safety offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
John O’Rourke, an independent fire risk assessor who was responsible for carrying out the fire risk assessments at the hotels also pleaded guilty to 2 offences.
Nottingham Fire and Rescue Service discovered the breaches whilst on a routine inspection. It was found that the hotels did not have smoke alarms in bedrooms, no adequate means of escape, no emergency lighting and insufficient firefighting equipment.
A prohibition order was issued to the owners stating that the hotel should not be used until the fire safety standards complied with current required standards.
Mr O’Rourke and Mr Liu were sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday 8th July. Mr O’Rourke was ordered to pay £5,860 and Mr Liu £15,000 in costs. Each will serve 8 months in prison.
Landlord guilty of fire safety breaches
A landlord from Peterborough has been charged with breaching the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 after a fire broke out in September 2010.
The fire started in the Windmill pub below the flats and 6 people had to be rescued by fire crews.
Javid Iqbalm, owner of the flats was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay costs of £899 after being found guilty at Peterborough Magistrates Court. The breaches included failing to provide sufficient escape routes and not having escape windows in the property.
Steve Cotton from Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Failing to apply for building regulations approval meant that this building was not compliant with fire safety regulations, and that put lives at risk. If the owner ignores these regulations there is a possibility that the building will not be safe.”