Navigating fire safety for historic sites involves unique challenges and scenarios that may not apply to modern buildings and structures. Heritage buildings, often constructed long before modern fire safety regulations existed, present unique challenges due to their use of materials now considered outdated and vulnerable to fire.
Seven people were hospitalised following a construction site fire in Canning Town, Newham, on June 4, 2024. The London Fire Brigade (LFB) received approximately 30 calls about the fire, which started shortly after 8 am. Ten fire engines and 70 firefighters from Plaistow, Poplar, East Ham, and nearby stations responded to the scene, where they found a ground-floor commercial unit of a 10-storey building under construction engulfed in flames.
In the early hours of the morning, residents were compelled to evacuate their flats as fire crews responded to a blaze in an underground car park in Nottingham. A few weeks ago, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) swiftly reacted to reports of a fire erupting in the underground car park of the Litmus Building in Nottingham.
We are pleased to announce that we have taken the decision to switch our current operational management software to Uptick. The team at Uptick are passionate about improving the safety of the buildings that we all live and work within, and believe that there is a better way to maintain building safety, and we at SS Systems share that same passion.
CROSS UK, an essential platform for collaborative reporting on fire and structural safety issues, has drawn attention to concerning incidents within care homes across the UK. These incidents point to a worrying lack of competence among maintenance staff, particularly in areas crucial for fire safety, such as fire door maintenance and the role of fire risk assessors.
Recent data from the Home Office's Incident Recording System (IRS) sheds light on fire and rescue operations throughout 2023. Spanning the last decade, these figures delve into response times, fatalities, and casualties. For the year concluding in December 2023, there were 269 fire-related deaths stemming from 250 fatal fires, a slight uptick from the preceding year's 257 fatalities in 238 fatal fires.
The Fire Safety Event is dedicated to supporting industry professionals and organisations in improving and maintaining the highest standards in fire safety management. The 2024 Fire Safety Event will be at the NEC in Birmingham over Tuesday 30th April to Thursday 2nd May. Representatives from SS Systems will be in attendance and available for face to face meetings and discussions.
Recent data from NHS Digital unveils a troubling uptick in fire incidents documented by NHS trusts, with 1,372 fires logged in the 2022/23 timeframe. This reflects a notable spike of over 18% from the preceding year, equating to nearly four fires occurring daily across NHS premises.
The Safe Spaces initiative, introduced by the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) last year to enhance the safety of retail environments for individuals in need of assistance, is expanding its scope to include private security organisations and individuals.
The Co-op has raised an alarm over the soaring levels of crime, stating that incidents of retail crime have reached unprecedented heights, with a staggering 35% surge year on year. The retailer disclosed that over 175,000 incidents were documented in the initial half of the year, averaging nearly 1,000 incidents daily.
