‘Serious deficiencies’ found AUGUST 2018 - Fire Risk assessment - Fire engineering A landlord has been handed an 8-month suspended prison sentence after his Dorset pub failed to meet fire safety regulations. The owners of Dusthole Co Ltd were also fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £5000 in costs after pleading guilty to four offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. As well as his suspended sentence, Mr Anthony Cockayne, the sole director of the company, was also given ordered to pay £2000 in costs and a victim surcharge of £140 when he appeared before Bristol Crown Court. The offences related to a number of failures in the fire safety standards identified by officers of Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (DSFRS) in 2016. The premises, also known as The Kings Arms, advertises as a hotel pub and restaurant. The inspection revealed: The fire detection and warning system fell far short of the standard expected in a premises providing sleeping accommodation; On two separate occasions, officers found the fire detection and warning system inoperative as the fuse had been removed; The escape routes serving the sleeping accommodation were not adequately protected by fire resisting construction An original staircase had been sealed removing an alternative escape route from the first floor There was a lack of emergency escape lighting Self-closing devices had been disconnected from fire doors Due to the number of serious deficiencies found the officers served a Prohibition Notice preventing the use of the premises in respect of its sleeping accommodation until adequate fire safety measures were provided. The subsequent investigation by DSFRS revealed that Mr Cockayne had carried out several alterations to the premises, increasing the number of bedrooms. However, he had failed to review the fire safety provisions and take account of the changes. In summing up His Honour Judge Townsend said: “These are serious breaches of the Fire Safety Order”, adding “there was a disregard (for fire safety) over a long period of time”. Original source Dorset and Somerset Fire and Rescue

Residents’ lives ‘put at risk’ AUGUST 2018 -  FIRE RISK ASSESSMENT A landlord has been fined £20,000 plus costs after two people became trapped upstairs during a fire in Worthing last year, reports the Worthing Herald. Former landlord Terry Millis admitted that he put the lives of five residents at risk, weeks after he was told their fire alarm did not work. The judge said Millis had a ‘high level’ of culpability and fined him £20,000 for ‘failures’ in the lead up to the fire. The blaze had trapped two people on the second floor of the property due to the stairs being smoke logged. Fortunately, firefighters managed to rescue the people, who both escaped without major injury, though one was taken to hospital and treated for smoke inhalation. The court heard that is subsequently emerged Mr Millis did not have a fire risk assessment and was aware that the fire alarm was not in working order. Several of the smoke detectors also had the manufacturer’s dust covers still on them, rendering them non-responsive to smoke. Mr Millis had contacted a company to repair the fire alarm two months before the fire, but the work had not been done, the court heard. Chris Chatterton, defending, said Millis checked the alarms every month in the daytime. He said: “That would explain why there were no alarm tests heard by residents. “The fire itself is through no fault of Mr Millis.” The court heard the blaze was caused by a cooking surface being left unattended. Sentencing him, district judge Tessa Szagun said he had a ‘high level’ of culpability. She said: “The purpose of sentencing in this type of case is to protect the safety of individuals living in such premises by ensuring that there is no financial gain by any person cutting corners. “[There is] also a necessity to deter others from doing so.” Original source Worthing Herald