Latest News & Events
Latest news items, public announcements and press releases from Safety Management (UK).
June 2013
Heavy fine for fire safety breaches
A Lake District inn and its director have been fined thousands of pounds for breaching fire safety regulations.
Derek Sweeney, 57, a director of the Travellers Rest at Grasmere appeared at Kendal Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Tuesday 11 June) charged with six breaches relating to a property he owns in Field Foot, Grasmere. Full story...
Press Coverage: carehome.co.uk
After a recent report suggested that £200m in savings could be made from fire and rescue services, we fear these cuts will have a negative impact on the safety enforcement work that fire services conduct throughout housing providers and businesses, with care homes being particularly vulnerable. Our response to the report was picked up by carehome.co.uk, the UK’s leading website for the care home sector. View the article here...
Press Coverage: designbuild-network.com
Our call to make sprinklers a legal requirement has now been used by designbuild-network.com, the leading website for the architecture and construction industry, as part of a major feature on high rise safety. View the article here...
Dehui poultry plant fire: Locked exits 'blocked escape'
A fire at a poultry processing plant in China has killed at least 119 people, officials say. The fire broke out at a slaughterhouse in Dehui in Jilin province early on Monday. Full story...
Swansea Hotel Fined
The Grand Hotel in Swansea has had to pay more than £5,000 after pleading guilty to six charges under the Fire Safety Order. The charges included failing to carry out a fire risk assessment, failure to provide adequate staff training, failing to carry out building work to prevent the spread of fire and failing to maintain fire precautions. More details...
May 2013
Ricoh Arena fire fear sparked by Muse concert rehearsals
A photograph of Coventry's Ricoh Arena seemingly on fire sparked alarm on social media that the stadium was burning down. The picture, tweeted on Monday 27th May, actually shows part of a pyrotechnic display being rehearsed ahead of Muse's rock concert at the venue on Wednesday. More details...
Enforcement Notice Saved Lives
A Blackpool Indian takeaway owner has been fined £9000 and ordered to pay £2607 costs after pleading guilty to 9 charges under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Muhammad Attique, the owner of Tazy’s takeaway on Church Street, had used the premises to provide accommodation for his employees. More details...
Partnership is Checkmate for Fire Safety
Checkmate is a specialist passive fire protection installation & survey company, providing professionally managed, cost effective fire compliant services nationally to a wide range of clients. More details...
Clapham Health Spa Sentence
The former director and owner of Clapham health spa has been given a four month suspended prison sentence after a fire broke out at his club. Ron Kemeny was also ordered to pay £30,000 in court costs for breaking the fire safety regulations which caused a blaze in July 2010. More details...
Call for Care Home Sprinkler Systems
carehome.co.uk - the UK's leading news provider for the care home sector - is now carrying a report on our call to make fire sprinklers a legal obligation in care homes. More details...
April 2013
Cumbria Coverage for our Call for Sprinkler Systems
Our call for a move towards compulsory sprinkler systems as a matter of urgency has gained significant coverage in Cumbria, with the North West Evening Mail and four other papers running the story this week: NWE Mail Article here...
Arsonist Ordered to Pay $400M for Nuclear Submarine Fire
A 25-year-old man from Maine has been sentenced to 17 years in prison and ordered to pay $400 million in restitution after admitting to setting two fires in and around the nuclear submarine USS Miami. Full story...
Buddy, go get help!
This is the kind of Buddy you really want in a crisis.
Buddy the German Shepherd proved to be a real-life Lassie as he led police straight to his family home which was on fire. Full story...
Call for Sprinkler Systems
Our call for compulsory sprinkler systems in high rise social housing has featured on the Inside Housing magazine website.
In the wake of the verdict at the end of last month on the deaths of six people in the Lakanal tower block blaze in Southwark, south London in July 2009, we have called for legal changes that would make it compulsory to install sprinkler systems in high rise social housing blocks. Full story...
Burning Rubber?
The clip below shows a 1971 Lamborghini Miura SV worth £1m going up in flames in West London at the weekend.
The owner described the situation as a 'bitter reminder that you should always carry a fire extinguisher when you have a classic car.'
The video shows the developing fire which eventually engulfs the vehicle and completely destroys the interior. London Fire Brigade firefighters are then seen tackling the blaze, which the owner apparently believes is not a death sentence for the vehicle.
No one was injured in the fire, and it is not known what started the blaze, which appeared to originate from the area behind the passenger seats. Puts a fresh meaning on burning rubber!
Without knowing the cause of the fire, it is difficult to say whether an extinguisher would have helped in this case, but it does emphasise the point that sometimes simple measures can make a big difference when it comes to fire safety.
Northamptonshire Chamber Magazine - Press
We have been featured in the April/ May issue of Northamptonshire Chamber Magazine. The article covers our partnership with Trafalgar Fire, through which we are joining forces to warn local companies not to risk lives by putting off fire risk assessments or cutting back on vital safety maintenance in a bid to save money during tough economic times. See the article...
D.M. Care Limited fined £35,000 plus costs
D.M. Care Limited has received the highest fine ever in Lancashire for breaches of fire safety regulations. Full story...
Landlord pleads guilty to fire safety breaches
Leslie Brinksman, 49, of Walgrave Road, Newton-Le-Willows in Merseyside was sentenced by Warrington Magistrates Court on 13 March after pleading guilty to four offences under the Fire Safety Order 2005. Full story...
March 2013
Project G.H.O.S.T - Robot Firefighters
Robert Pink MBE, of QinetiQ, recently gave a talk (at the IFE Mid Western Branch AGM) looking at the potential of robotic firefighting.
Mr. Pink's talk focused on Project GHOST, QinetiQ's blue light service which uses fire-fighting robots or remote operated vehicles (ROV'c) derived from bomb disposal robots to aid in dealing with incidents that involve cylinders, CBRN, other types of hazardous materials and in one case a container full of fireworks which was on fire. Full story...
Suspended Sentence for Pub Landlord
A pub landlord was given a custodial sentence for breaking a prohibition notice given by the fire service and for a litany of other fire safety offences. Anthony O’Leary received suspended sentences for four offences in a case that London Fire Brigade says highlights the problem of unsuitable buildings being used as housing. Full story...
Fired up for safety learning
We are pleased to announce a link up with the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) to help deliver their fire engineering degree course.
This commitment underlines our passion towards education, helping to train the fire risk assessors of the future and raising standards across the industry. Our aim is to get the key messages and good practice across to people right at the start of their learning. We are delighted to be working with UCLan.
We have already taken on two UCLan graduates in James Grew and Stuart Hutchinson, and are looking to recruit more this summer. James and Stuart have both proved valuable assets to the company, working alongside our experienced internal audit team, as well as venturing out into the wider world to conduct fire risk assessments.
This item was featured in the Lancashire Evening Post, in the businessweek section, on Tuesday 12 March 2013.
Lakanal House Had No Fire Risk Assessment
Speaking at the inquest into the blaze -- now into its eighth week -- chartered surveyor David Walker testified that Lakanal House had no fire risk assessment in place and that it should have been among the buildings in Southwark’s property portfolio that was prioritised. Full story...
Roofer Fined £21 Million
A South Wales roofing firm is negotiating with claimants after being ordered to pay more than £21 million in damages for its part in a fire that devastated a West Midlands factory. Full story...
Stalin used for Tayside 'Test It Tuesday'
Tayside Fire and Rescue has used an unlikely historic figure to encourage people to test their smoke alarms – Russian dictator Josef Stalin. Full story...
PFPF concerned by poor fire safety compliance
The Passive Fire Protection Federation (PFPF) has launched a new campaign aimed at improving fire safety enforcement and compliance, in response to what it sees as "a general lack of respect for fire safety regulations and regulatory guidance". Full story...
February 2013
BBC endorsement for fire safety message
This morning, 22nd February 2013, our Managing Director, Brian Gregory, was interviewed on BBC Radio Northampton on the subject of fire risk assessment, specifically looking at the problems that have given rise to the high number of 'unsatisfactory' outcomes to local fire safety audits. Listen to the interview here
Chemical manufacturing company fined more than £10,000
Atom Scientific Ltd was convicted under the Fire Safety Order for putting the lives of its workers at risk at its chemical manufacturing and biological testing premises in Audenshaw, Tameside. Full story...
January 2013
Letting Agents had No Knowledge of Fire Safety Regulations
Manchester property company specialising in sales and domestic lettings has been convicted of breaching fire safety regulations.
Alex and Dines Ltd was fined £3,000 at Bury Magistrates’ Court and ordered to pay costs to Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) of £4,472 with a £15 victim surcharge. Full story...
Fire safety warning to small businesses after newsagent fined
Small businesses have been warned not to ignore fire safety after the owner of a Greater Manchester newsagent was convicted for fire safety offences. Yakup Patel failed to carry out a fire risk assessment, provide a fire alarm or a means of escape from fire. Full story...
Toasted cheese closes Norwegian tunnel
Damaged caused when a lorry loaded with 27t of goats cheese caught fire in a Norwegian tunnel is likely to take several weeks to repair.
The truck driver realised that his trailer was on fire when driving through the Brattli tunnel on Thursday. He left the trailer in the tunnel 300m from the southern entrance. The fire was still going on the Friday afternoon. The authorities expect the tunnel to be closed for at least two to three weeks. A contractor has started work on the repairs this week. The Construction Index
The Importance of Sprinklers
A provisional analysis of sprinkler stops reported during 2012 has revealed that sprinklers are successfully protecting a wide range of buildings from ravage by fire.
The analysis, from the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA), lists over 60 incidents where sprinkler systems have profitably been called into action throughout the UK. The premises protected by sprinklers included individual rooms in houses in multiple occupation (HMO), large supermarkets, schools, factories and chemical works.
The value of the buildings saved ranged from £11,500 to £80 million including locations as diverse as the world famous Eden Project in Cornwall, where a packaging fire in February was controlled by sprinklers in a single-storey building at the tourist hotspot. The type of fire varied from fat fires to those caused by faulty heaters, freezers and electrical circuits and chemical fires. Source: Info4Fire
False Economy - Businesses Gambling With Their Future
Business is still not getting it right when it comes to managing their own fire safety. Putting off fire-risk assessments and cutting back on vital maintenance and investment in safety measures are significant problems in the commercial sector in Yorkshire and beyond: View the full story with the Yorkshire Times...
51% Failure Rate
OVER half of business premises inspected by Cumbria’s fire and rescue service in 2011-12 failed a safety audit, new figures show. Our study reveals that 201 of the 391 audits carried out in the year to March were deemed unsatisfactory: View the full story with the North West Evening Mail...
This article was also picked up by the in-Cumbria website here...
Pub Fire Safety Press
Our pub fire safety story is being featured by Admiral Taverns on their website. View the full story...
Hampshire Fire Safety Press
Our fire safety report is being run by four of the key Hampshire newspapers.
Famous Five
The famous five fire safety fines - so common we hear about them nearly every week and yet they can be so easily avoided. In this instance, Martin Mcoll Ltd has had to pay out £21,000 in fines! It all sounds so simple, but it's amazing how many businesses are guilty of the following...
Online Training Press
Lancashire Telegraph ran a piece about our online fire training: http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/education/10103770.East_Lancashire_school_staff_get_online_fire_safety_training/
News Archive: 2012 / 2011 / 2010 / 2009 / 2008 / 2007 / 2006 / 2005 / 2004
To discuss your requirements, or if you don't see what you are looking for, call +44 (0)1524 784356. Alternatively you can use our contact form or e-mail us
TweetFeedback
Good job, very nice people and happy with the work SMUK do for us (Bank of China)
Latest RRO Fines
A Lake District inn and its director have been fined thousands of pounds
More info
The Grand Hotel in Swansea has had to pay more than £5,000
More info
Enforcement Notice Saved Lives
More info
Clapham Health Spa Sentence
More info
D.M. Care Limited fined £35,000 plus costs
More info
Landlord pleads guilty to fire safety breaches
More info
Suspended Sentence for Pub Landlord
More info
Roofer Fined £21 Million
More info
The famous five fire safety fines
More info