The team behind fire safety at a Black Country NHS Trust have been recognised for their vital work by receiving a respected certification for the quality of how they conduct and manage life safety Fire Risk Assessments.
The Fire Safety Team at Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust have received the stamp of approval from an authorised independent body to join the BAFE SP205 Scheme Fire Safety Register, which is currently the only accredited register for organisations to be certified under.
Thanks to the hard work of the team, Black Country Healthcare is now the only NHS trust in the country to be featured in BAFE’s certified list for Life Safety Fire Risk Assessments.
The accolade was the result of 12 months of work from the team, who developed and established Fire Risk Assessment processes to meet the needs of the register. They also developed strong processes for carrying out and managing Fire Risk Assessments such as creating templates and ensuring a high competency of assessors.
Matt Smith, Senior Fire Safety Advisor at Black Country Healthcare, said: “I am not only proud of the Trust for supporting this process, but I am also proud of the hard work the team have put in to achieving this certification.
“Patient and staff safety is our number one priority, and this certification reassures staff, patients and the Trust as a whole that our Fire Risk Assessments and the associated management processes are to the highest standard.”
It is the not the first time the team have demonstrated their innovative approach to ensuring patient and staff safety. The team have also developed a bespoke inpatient fire safety video for staff and created their own fire safety training management system.
These innovative changes to how the team deliver and manage fire safety training have boosted compliance reporting and provided staff with better access to face-to-face mandatory fire response training. With different methods of learning now available, staff know how to act and safeguard patients in the event of a fire in any of the Trust’s wards.
Looking forward to further developments for the team, Matt added: “We will soon be supporting another local mental health Trust with their fire safety which will enable us to apply our fire safety standards to another Trust.
“This will enable a significant proportion of the NHS mental health services in the West Midlands to have a set of fire safety standards that are consistent and above the national requirements outlined in Department of Health fire safety guidance.”