Fire Safety: keeping you safe in your home

Your safety is important to us. We’re committed to keep you   and your home safe.  

 

We work to ensure you have a good quality and safe home that meets all building safety, legal and regulatory requirements.  

 

We’ve been improving the fire safety in our homes, especially our high-rise buildings and blocks in both Walsall and London.   

  For tenants living in a block with 2 or more flats/homes  with communal areas:  

 

To keep you and your family safe, we:  

  • Carry out independent fire risk assessments, which are reviewed every year or when a major   change takes place regarding safety regulations   
  • Fit hard-wired smoke alarms and carbon dioxide   alarms (when you have a gas supply), with a battery backup in your home  
  • Fit self-closing devices on the communal side of your front door when needed, which are critical to preventing the spread of fire and smoke  
  • Maintain and repair emergency lights
  • Carry out fire door inspections and compartmentation surveys to ensure your building can limit the spread of smoke and fire
  • Regularly inspect estates to check fire doors are working, communal areas are clear and fire safety instructions are in place 
  • Remind residents to only leave the building if  the fire is in their flat or they are told to do so by the fire service  
  • Work in partnership with the Fire and Rescue service to ensure our buildings are safe and meet strict fire safety regulations  

Your flat has been built or retrofitted to delay the spread of fire for at least a minimum of 30 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Testing your smoke alarm Test your smoke alarm
 

Testing your smoke alarm is easy. Simply press the small button which is either red or marked  ‘test’. If it’s working correctly, the alarm will sound for short period of time and then stop.  

 

What you can do to stay fire safe  

Your building has been designed and built with fire safety in mind, but there are things you can do to protect yourself in your home:   

  • Never take the batteries out of your smoke   alarm and always follow the manufacturer’s advice for replacing batteries  
  • Test your alarm regularly and call us if it’s faulty  
  • Don’t remove or tamper with self-closing   devices on fire doors. Contact us if your door doesn’t close on its own  
  • Never install anything to restrict the fire door from opening fully  
  • Never paint or damage the fire door to your flat, by installing anything that would damage it , this includes drilling the door to fit door hardware such as door numbers 
  • Call us if you see any conditions that might increase the risk to a potential fire hazard in your building or flat i.e. abandoned   combustible furniture or fuel  
  • Don’t cause an obstruction by leaving   furniture, bikes, prams and mobility scooters in communal areas  
  • Place bulk waste items in the permitted areas   as close to the collection time as possible  
  • Report any damage to firefighting equipment,   such as the riser pipes (usually painted red) which provides water to higher floors  
  • Report any damage to emergency lighting. When working a green or red power supply light will be displayed  
  • Don’t use the lift when evacuating the building as fire can cause a power failure  
  • Never block emergency exits to your building  
  • Make sure you know where your nearest escape route is to safely exit the building in the event of an emergency  
  • Your flat entrance door and other fire doors in the communal areas must always be kept   shut when not in use  
  • Allow our staff and contractors to access your home to carry out safety inspections to your front door yearly.    

Remember:  

If there’s a fire in your flat or another part of the building, try not to panic.   Follow the evacuation plan and make sure others who live with you or are  visiting you know what the plan is.  

 

Call 999 for emergency services.  

Emergency services