Fire Strategies for Care Homes and Assisted Living Facilities
Care homes present unique fire safety challenges. This guide covers fire strategy requirements for care homes and assisted living developments.
27 August 20244 min readFire Safety Services
Why Care Homes Require Specialist Fire Strategies
Care homes present some of the most demanding fire safety challenges of any building type. They accommodate residents who may be unable to evacuate without assistance — due to age, physical disability, dementia, or other conditions — in buildings that operate around the clock with staff present at all times. A fire in a care home has the potential for catastrophic consequences, and fire safety must be designed not just to allow escape, but to accommodate residents for whom rapid self-evacuation is simply not possible.
Progressive Horizontal Evacuation
The standard evacuation strategy for care homes is progressive horizontal evacuation — an approach in which residents are moved horizontally within the same floor to an adjacent fire compartment, rather than being taken downstairs and out of the building. This strategy recognises that many care home residents cannot be quickly evacuated down stairs and that a well-compartmented building provides a place of safety on the same level as the fire.
Progressive horizontal evacuation requires the building to be designed with compartments of sufficient size to temporarily accommodate all residents from the adjacent compartment in addition to the residents already in the receiving compartment. Compartment walls and floors must provide adequate fire resistance to protect the receiving compartment from the fire, and fire doors between compartments must be self-closing and of the appropriate fire resistance rating.
Progressive horizontal evacuation only works if the compartmentation is maintained and the fire doors are in good condition. In care homes, fire doors are opened and closed hundreds of times per day. Maintaining them in fully functional condition — with closers working, seals intact, and no propping — is one of the most important ongoing fire safety management tasks.
Staffing and Management
Unlike most other occupancy types, care homes rely heavily on staff to initiate and manage evacuation. The fire strategy must address the staffing levels required to implement progressive horizontal evacuation, including night-time staffing when resident numbers may be at their highest and staff numbers at their lowest. The fire strategy should specify the minimum staffing levels required to implement the evacuation strategy safely and should be reflected in the operator's fire evacuation procedures.
Key Fire Strategy Considerations for Care Homes
Compartmentation — compartments must be sized to accommodate resident overflow from adjacent compartments and must be constructed to provide adequate fire resistance. Compartment sizes and fire resistance periods must be specified in the fire strategy.
Fire detection — early fire detection is essential in care homes to give staff maximum time to implement progressive horizontal evacuation. L1 category detection — the highest level, with detectors throughout all areas of the building — is standard for new care homes.
Sprinkler systems — sprinklers are strongly recommended for care homes and are required for new care homes above a certain size. They provide essential additional time for staff to implement progressive horizontal evacuation and significantly limit the fire damage.
Fire doors — fire doors in care homes must balance fire safety with the operational needs of the building. Electromagnetically held open fire doors — which close automatically on fire detection — are commonly used in care homes to allow easy resident movement while maintaining fire safety.
Evacuation aids — the fire strategy should address the use of evacuation mattresses, evacuation chairs, and other aids for moving non-ambulant residents. Storage locations and staff training requirements for these aids should be specified.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is progressive horizontal evacuation?
Progressive horizontal evacuation is the standard evacuation strategy for care homes. Rather than evacuating all residents out of the building simultaneously, residents are moved horizontally to an adjacent fire compartment on the same floor. This strategy is used because many care home residents cannot be evacuated down stairs quickly.
Do care homes need sprinklers?
Sprinklers are strongly recommended for care homes and are required by some guidance documents for new care homes above certain sizes. They provide critical additional time for staff to implement progressive horizontal evacuation and can prevent a small fire from becoming a large one.
How does fire door maintenance affect care home fire safety?
Fire doors in care homes are opened and closed many times each day and are subject to significant wear. Damaged self-closers, missing intumescent strips, and propped doors can all compromise compartmentation. Regular inspection and maintenance of fire doors is one of the most important ongoing fire safety management tasks in a care home.
What fire resistance do care home compartment walls need?
The required fire resistance depends on the building's height and configuration. For most care homes, 30-minute fire resistance is the minimum standard for compartment walls and floors, though 60-minute resistance is recommended where the building design allows it.
Who is the responsible person for fire safety in a care home?
The responsible person under the RRO 2005 is typically the care home operator — the person or organisation that has control of the premises. Where the operator leases the building from a landlord, both the operator and the landlord may have fire safety responsibilities, depending on their respective levels of control over the premises.
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