H&F Council Announces £20 Million Fire Safety Plans
Including sprinklers, safety checks and new concierges for high rise blocks
Hammersmith & Fulham Council has announced it is launching a £20 million package of what it describes as Fire Safety Plus measures following the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
These new measures include sprinklers in tower blocks,
free replacements for faulty appliances,
safety checks for every council high-rise home,
restoring concierge staff and
higher-standard fire assessments.
The council says following last month's horrific fire, it
has been reviewing fire safety across the borough.
"The fire in Kensington has made one thing clear – just meeting minimum fire standards is not enough,” says Council Leader, Cllr Stephen Cowan. "The regulations are clearly not good enough so we will be going above and beyond what is required.
"All councils need to do more to make sure tenants’ and leaseholders’ homes are safe."
Cllr Cowan says that tenants and leaseholders have been working with the council to shape its plans, which includes
drawing up specifications for blocks where sprinklers would help improve safety.
Charecroft Estate
Concierge staff at Edward Woods and Charecroft Estates in Shepherd's Bush are being replaced and the council will look at doing the same at other estates where concierge staff have been removed in the past.
Independent experts are reviewing fire safety in all communal blocks. The council says that current standards don’t require these assessments to check the outside of the building – cladding and external panels are not usually checked - so to raise standards, it has asked expert fire reviewers to do much more detailed and thorough assessment. Following their inspections, it promises to do the work needed to improve fire safety.
Every council high-rise resident is being offered an individual safety check and if white goods such as washing machines, fridges and tumble dryers fail PAT safety checks, they will be replaced with a free new appliance. External fire door flats to resident's homes which don't meet safety standards will also be replaced with a free 60 minute fire resistant door.
Free heat detectors will also be installed during visits and any detectors or alarms will be checked to make sure they’re working properly.
The London Fire Brigade is advising residents not to use the cube-style plug adaptors, saying that the linear adaptors with circuit breakers built in are safer. So tenants and leaseholders can have their adaptors replaced with free, safer extension leads.
The council is also sending a detailed Fire Safety Plus booklet to all tenants and leaseholders with details of the plan above and things people can do to keep themselves and their families safe, and is
setting up a new residents' advisory group on fire safety.
"We want our residents to know that we care deeply about their safety," says Cllr Cowan. "We understand their concerns, and we will do everything it takes to keep them safe."
July 19, 2017
