Care home company fined for serious fire safety breaches

A Cheshire care home company has been fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £9,000 in costs after pleading guilty to serious breaches of fire safety regulations.

Four Seasons (No 9) Ltd is part of Four Seasons Health Care Group and pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 at its Cypress Court Care Home premises on Broad Street in Crewe.

Sentencing took place at the Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts in Liverpool on Monday July 10th, after a fire safety audit was completed on the premises on March 7th 2016 following a complaint from a relative of a resident who had concerns.

Deficiencies relating to compartmentation, means of fire detection and warning, means of escape, and evacuation procedures were found, putting the lives of people at risk of death or serious injury.

District Judge Shaw said: “Happily there was not a fire in this case but risk of harm was high.”

The judge stated that it was obvious that there were issues with the fire safety precautions but did note that the company had remedied the breaches following an enforcement notice.

Fire Protection Manager at Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Mark Abram said: “The safety of people living, visiting and working in all premises such as this is of paramount importance. Establishments where people sleep and may need assistance to get out in the event of a fire are especially significant and fire safety must be treated as a priority.”

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service aims to help and support any business to operate safely. However action will be taken when companies choose not to treat fire safety as a legitimate business requirement. All companies are urged to take their fire safety obligations seriously to avoid prosecution.

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Date published: Tue, 11 Jul 2017 15:36:56 GMT

Last updated: Tuesday 11 July 2017