In March 2016, there was a fire at a BUPA Care Home in London. A 69yr old wheelchair bound resident died in the fire, whilst smoking in a designated shelter. The victim was prescribed and had applied a paraffin-based cream to his body. The fact that he had the cream applied and he was also smoking at the time made him a natural target for the fire. BUPA policy required such cream users to be supervised when smoking and or to wear a smoking apron. Neither instruction was complied with at the time.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
London Fire and Rescue Service brought proceedings and on 5th January 2022 BUPA pleaded guilty of breaching The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Sec 11 states “The responsible person must make and give effect to such arrangements as are appropriate, having regard to the size of his undertaking and nature of activities, for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of all preventative and protective measures”.
BUPA accepted that they had failed to.
- Ensure staff understood the risks of using the paraffin-based cream.
- Warn residents against smoking whilst using the cream and or to take additional precautions.
- Instruct and train staff to always accompany residents who were using the cream and smoking.
- Carry out individual fire risk assessments with appropriate control measures in place and implement the same.
BUPA pleaded guilty and were ordered to pay a fine of £937,500 and prosecution costs of £104,000. The highest ever fine imposed under the Fire Safety Order. The judge considered BUPA to be highly culpable, especially as the cream was widely known to be combustible and they had previously been specifically warned. Given BUPA’s status as a large organisation and there was a fatality, the judge set a starting point of £1.5million. But he discounted 25% due to an early guilty plea, and a further £250,000 to reflect the current covid related pressures on care homes.
This is an important reminder for “responsible” persons – owners, employers, managers, landlords and those generally in control of premises to take fire safety responsibilities seriously, to implement preventative measures to prevent fatalities and serious financial sanctions.
HEALTH AND SAFETY STATISTICS
HSE recently issued its Interim Annual Report for 2021. Very briefly.
- It is believed 93,000 cases of covid resulted from work related activities. With over half in the social care sector
- Total of 822,000 employees reported to be suffering from work-related stress, depression, or anxiety.
- COVID was a major contributing factor to the stress and depression levels.
- There was an increase in the number of musculoskeletal conditions, rising from 152,000 to 162,000 cases (reported cases)
- Manual handling, awkward and incorrect workstations, posture, and bad habits were the substantial contributing factor to these. Importance of DSE Assessments.
- Employers to consider more seriously employees home working arrangements, to carry out DSE assessments.
- The HSE issued 2929 Enforcement Notices during 2021, compared to 7000 the previous year. This is partly explained due to the pandemic restrictions.
- There were 185 successful prosecutions
- The total value of fines issued by HSE has fallen, but the average value of fines has increased from £107,000 to £145,000 – meaning a more rigorous and stricter regime.
(Source HSE)
