Call Me
0330 232 0311
15+ Years
Experience across many industries throughout the UK
Competence
Chartered Safety and Health Professional and National Fire Risk Assessors Register Intermediate Level
5 Star rated
Read reviews from
our valued customers
0330 232 0311
Experience across many industries throughout the UK
Chartered Safety and Health Professional and National Fire Risk Assessors Register Intermediate Level
Read reviews from
our valued customers
I started working with a luxury Care Home (50+ bedrooms, based in Southampton) in November 2025. They wanted a Health and Safety Audit to check their compliance with Legislation and Best Practice. During the Discovery Call it was identified they also required an updated Fire Risk Assessment as they have them conducted annually, this is always great to hear as I knew I had a conscientious client as some leave it years before updating! The problem with most clients as they don’t know what they don’t know!
I conducted a HSA and FRA spending time with the Home Manager to discover all about the home, followed by a thorough inspection of the entire property including a sample of bedrooms and loft areas. Finally, I spent time reviewing their documentation to make sure everything aligned.
The previous Fire Risk Assessor had recommended that they install a sprinkler system but provided no justification. I assessed travel distances, detection and automation systems and concluded no sprinklers were required, saving the client over £100,000.
The previous Fire Risk Assessor had not identified other risk areas, such as missing smoke and heat detection, compartmentation concerns and fire doors that were not 30 minute rated, essentially leaving their client vulnerable to damage, injury and prosecution.
I provided an Action Plan for the HSA and FRA complete with recommendations and timescales for my client to work through and have been guiding them as required throughout their improvement journey.
Further to the initial work, they have now appointed me as their Fire Safety Trainer, delivering Advanced Fire Safety Training every 3 months to capture new and existing staff making sure it is engaging, practical and fun, so they’ll remember it.
I introduced myself to a large care home in Winchester offering health, safety and fire support.
It was a timely contact as they had recently been visited by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service and were issued with a Letter of Fire Safety Matters.
They had resolved or were resolving all the items but wanted additional support with their evacuation procedures.
I met with the Home Manager and Maintenance Manager, discussed their concerns, surveyed the home and we put a plan in motion.
Due to the complexity of the home, I provided a simple solution. An Evacuation Plan for every Fire Alarm Zone within the home!
Now, if the Fire Alarm Activates, the staff are issued with a laminated plan for that zone so they can follow the steps to ensure the residents are safe!
One of my clients are a large care home group with homes all over the UK so, whilst based in Hampshire, I support sites in Newcastle, Plymouth, Canterbury and everywhere in between!
One of their care homes for disabled and vulnerable adults had received the spikey end of a Fire Officer visit who was not comfortable that the home could practice Progressive Horizontal Evacuation (PHE) and insisted they change to Simultaneous Evacuation before their return visit, in 2 weeks!
On paper I thought the Officer was being overzealous but you always have to visit sites as plans aren’t always accurate and there may be things that drawings just don’t show!
As it happened, it was safer, in my opinion, to practice PHE depending on the location of the fire, of course. This took into account the amount of staffing, category of fire alarm system, compartmentation and opportunities to stay in the building for as long as possible bearing in mind fire doors generally hold back fire for 30 minutes and most fire situations within the home allowed for 3 fire doors between the fire and the affected people allowing plenty of time for the Fire and Rescue Service to tackle any situation.
I drafted a polite and professional email to the Fire Officer who revisited the home and lifted the Letter of Fire Safety Matters as they were happy with the attention to detail provided for a Competent Person
I act as a trouble shooter for one of my clients, typically after Fire Risk Assessors who have blindly followed British Standards and Best Practice Guidance and provided poor advice and haven’t looked at the risk or practicalities of the situation.
Sunjina (not her real name), was a resident in a Supported Living environment who was becoming frail and struggling with the stairs on her worst day. She had lived in the home for 15 years.
My client had installed a stairlift for day to day issues but knew they couldn’t rely on it in an emergency.
The Fire Risk Assessor’s advice was simple, the stairs are too narrow to use equipment so Sunjina will have to be moved to a downstairs bedroom (all rooms were full) or be rehomed. Sometimes that is the right recommendation, but not on that day.
I went to the home, measured the widths and depths, spent time with the staff discussing Sunjina and the support she might need in a fire. According to the manufacturer’s instructions, the stairs were too narrow to use the equipment but that’s where proper assessment comes in.
With a slight tweak to operation, without it being a detriment to Sunjina or the staff using the equipment, I taught them a technique to overcome the lack of width on the turn of the stairs and I was able to demonstrate that Sunjina could be safely evacuated in a fire.
After the assessment, I then delivered a training session to ensure everyone was competent, we had a laugh too, always an added benefit!
