There has been a recent influx in the news of stories about shop-owners being fined for poor fire safety in the accommodation above their shops.
Often, an entire building – maybe 3 or 4 floors – is owned by a single proprietor with the ground floor being used as a shop or restaurant/takeaway premises and the other floors being used as rented accommodation for employees or private tenants.
Many city councils are seeing more and more of this type of case and the fines involved if found guilty of poor fire safety can be very substantial.
One restaurant owner was recently fined nearly £20,000 for fire safety breaches ranging from obstructed exit routes and faulty fire alarms to fire exits in disrepair.
Another takeaway owner was found guilty of seven fire offences and ordered to pay £1,100 for each safety breach plus costs. In this example the breaches included a locked fire exit, wedged-open fire doors, insufficient storage of combustible materials and obstructed escape routes.
Many of these cases are preceded by multiple visits from environmental health officers (who usually report the breached in the first instance) and fire safety officers. Before the case comes to court the person responsible will usually be given an opportunity to comply with fire regulations by a certain date. Only when the situation has been found unimproved, or still lacking, will the matter be taken before a judge.
We cannot stress enough how important fire safety is when customers, members of the public, employees and tenants are involved. These people will be relying on you as the business or property owner to provide adequate safety provisions and fire prevention.
The costs of implementing a fire safety system will pale into insignificance if a fire does happen on your premises and someone is injured or killed and a hefty fine will seem lenient compared to the very real chance of a prison sentence in such a situation.
Responsible property owners will find everything they need to equip their building with fire safety equipment on the Discount Fire Supplies website.
Discount Fire Supplies sell a range of fire alarms, fire alarm accessories and much more. Browse our online shop or contact us for a quote today.
