Key takeaways
- The fire and rescue service enforces fire law; CIW and CQC check it as part of resident safety
- Most care homes rely on progressive horizontal evacuation, which depends on staff and compartmentation
- Your evacuation plan must work with the fewest staff on duty, usually at night
- Every resident needs a personal plan for how they will be moved
- Inspectors want evidence: records, drills, training and a live action plan
Who regulates fire safety in a care home?
Two sets of rules apply at once. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, in both Wales and England, requires the Responsible Person, usually the registered provider, to carry out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment and to keep fire safety measures in place and maintained. The local fire and rescue service enforces it and can inspect at any time.
Care regulators then look at fire safety as part of whether the service is safe for the people living there.
In England
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates care homes under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and its regulations, which include requirements for safe care and for safe, suitable premises. Fire safety is considered under the "safe" key question.
In Wales
Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) registers and inspects care homes under the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 and its regulations, which require providers to keep premises and people safe. CIW can share concerns with the fire and rescue service.
Neither regulator replaces the fire and rescue service. But a poor fire safety picture can affect your inspection rating or lead to requirements, so it pays to have evidence ready.
Progressive horizontal evacuation
Most care homes cannot rely on everyone walking out when the alarm sounds. Many residents have limited mobility, dementia or need nursing care, and some are in bed. So most homes are designed for progressive horizontal evacuation.
The building is divided into fire-resisting compartments, and often smaller sub-compartments. If fire starts in one area, staff move residents through fire doors into a neighbouring protected area on the same floor. If the fire spreads, they move again. Evacuation down stairs, and out of the building, comes later and only if needed.
This works only if three things are true:
- The compartment walls, floors and fire stopping are intact, so fire and smoke are held back
- Fire doors close properly when the alarm sounds
- There are enough trained staff on duty to move every resident in the area of the fire in the time available
The fire risk assessment should say which compartment would be hardest to evacuate and whether your staffing can achieve it.
Night staffing
Night is when the evacuation plan is under most pressure. Residents are asleep, staff numbers are at their lowest, and a fire can take hold before it is found. Inspectors and fire safety officers often focus on this.
Your plan must work with the minimum number of staff on duty. That means knowing how many residents in the largest or most dependent area need one or two staff to move them, how long it takes, and whether help from elsewhere in the building can reach them. If you reduce night staffing or admit residents with higher needs, review the fire risk assessment before the change takes effect.
Personal emergency evacuation plans
Every resident should have a personal emergency evacuation plan (PEEP) setting out how they will be moved in a fire. A useful PEEP covers the resident's mobility and cognition, whether they can respond to the alarm, how many staff are needed, and any equipment such as evacuation sledges, mats or wheelchairs.
PEEPs should be reviewed when a resident's needs change, not just once a year, and staff should know where to find them. A summary board or grab sheet by the fire alarm panel helps the person in charge see at a glance who needs what.
Fire drills and training
All staff need fire safety training when they start and at regular intervals afterwards, including agency and bank staff. Training should be practical: how to raise the alarm, read the panel, move residents horizontally and use evacuation aids.
Drills should be carried out regularly and should include scenarios that reflect night-time staffing. Record the date, who took part, how long it took and what went wrong. Inspectors are far more interested in what a drill taught you than in a tick in a box.
Doors, detection and compartmentation
Fire doors
Residents often want bedroom doors open. Wedges are not the answer. Hold-open devices or free-swing closers linked to the fire alarm let doors stay open day to day and close automatically when the alarm sounds. Check them regularly, because a door that does not close defeats the whole evacuation strategy.
Detection and alarm
Care homes need early warning, so an automatic system designed and maintained to BS 5839-1 with detection throughout is typical. The system should be serviced at intervals not exceeding six months and tested weekly by the user. Emergency lighting to BS 5266-1 needs a monthly functional test and an annual full-duration test.
Compartmentation
Every new cable, pipe or duct through a compartment wall is a possible gap. Control contractors, check above ceilings after works, and have fire stopping inspected where there is any doubt.
In Wales, new care homes, and buildings converted into care homes, must have sprinklers under the Domestic Fire Safety (Wales) Measure 2011.
What inspectors ask to see
Whether it is a CIW or CQC inspector or a fire safety officer, expect to be asked for:
- A current, written fire risk assessment and its action plan
- Evidence that actions have been completed
- The emergency plan and evacuation strategy
- A PEEP for every resident
- Training records for all staff, including night staff
- Drill records, with times and lessons learned
- Weekly alarm tests and monthly emergency lighting checks
- Service certificates for alarms, lighting and extinguishers
- Fire door inspection records
- Any fire and rescue service letters and your response
Keep these in one place. A manager who can produce them in minutes gives an inspector confidence before a single door has been checked.