FIRE SAFETY - 03.06.2020

Hotel group pays £250,000 for fire breaches

The firm which runs the Campanile Hotel group has been ordered to pay a fine of £220,000 and costs of over £30,000 after one of its properties was found to be operating without a working fire alarm. What circumstances led to the charges?

Someone is always watching

The breach of fire safety legislation initially came to light when a guest made a complaint to Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority (B) about conditions at the Campanile Hotel in Stratford.

He had been staying at the hotel on 5 August 2018 and noticed a plastic cover placed over the smoke detector in his room. On his way out the following day he discovered the same plastic covers over detectors in the corridors of the first and second floors and also in the stairway.

Note. Detectors may only be covered for short durations to protect them during maintenance work which might accidentally trigger the alarm, i.e. processes which generate smoke or dust. They must be removed immediately afterwards to enable the alarm system to function as normal. If you see covered detectors at other times it indicates that someone has forgotten to uncover them or has deliberately disabled parts of the alarm system.

Given notice

On the morning of 6 August 2018 the guest approached the reception desk to ask for an explanation, but with no satisfactory response, he contacted B with his concerns. In response to the complaint, an operational response crew visited the hotel. The fire officers found that in addition to the smoke detection system having been disabled, the fire alarm panel had no power supply.

B discovered that the 80-bedroom hotel had in fact been operating at close to full capacity for six weeks without a functioning fire detection and alarm system. A prohibition notice was issued requiring the hotel’s immediate closure and the evacuation of all guests.

Improvements made

After the notice was issued, a new fire alarm system was installed within three days, satisfying the conditions of the notice and enabling the hotel to reopen.

B followed up to check on the action taken and to review the fire safety management arrangements in detail. Its specialist fire safety inspectors then uncovered a history of concerns dating back several years. The fire alarm problems, for example, had stemmed from at least October 2017 when the 20-year-old system was condemned by the hotel’s fire alarm engineers.

Facing the consequences

On Thursday 23 April 2020, Milcardar Ltd (M), the owners of the Campanile hotel chain, appeared before Aylesbury Crown Court for sentencing via Skype due to the coronavirus outbreak. The defendants had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to nine offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 . The judge stated that the fine was reduced to account for the negative impact of the pandemic on M’s ability to trade.

Tip. Unfortunately, old fire alarm systems become obsolete with parts eventually becoming impossible to obtain. As shown, if your engineers flag serious issues, bite the bullet and plan for replacement at a time of least inconvenience to your operations.

A guest spotted that detectors were covered with plastic caps and made a complaint to the fire authority, which in turn discovered that the alarm system had been condemned nine months earlier and had been completely inoperative for six weeks. If your alarm system is on the way out, plan for its replacement in a sensible timeframe.

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