The purpose of the policy is to help us identify hazards and reduce or remove potential fire risks in your communal areas, and make our tower blocks, low-rise flats and sheltered housing schemes in Poole as safe and pleasant as possible.

To manage fire safety, we:

• carry out regular Fire Risk Assessments (FRAs) in communal spaces - we can advise you on where you can get a copy of the FRA for your area
• contact you if we identify any potential risks to let you know what you should do about storing personal items
• carry out regular inspections in communal spaces
• provide information about what to do in the event of a fire and whether your block has a stay put policy
• maintain a record of who needs support in the event of a fire and keep a profile of the people in the area.

Fire doors

If you live in a flat which opens off to an internal stairwell or corridor, then your front door must be a fire door with at least 30 minutes fire resistance. It must be closed to be effective.

We regularly inspect every fire door, smoke alarms and other fire safety equipment.

Fire doors are a crucial part of the fire protection of every commercial, public and multiple occupancy building. More information is available on the Fire door safety week website.

Do not leave your fire door wedged or propped open, it puts others at risk and is against the law.

If your fire door is in poor condition, too heavy to open or damaged, please call us on 0800 028 1870.

Personal items in communal areas

Some personal items such as pictures and door mats are allowed in communal areas, but we will ask you to remove any other items in the corridors.

Mobility scooters

As mobility scooters can be a fire hazard and could block fire exits, we expect you to keep them in your own home or use purpose-built storage.

If you do not remove your scooter from a communal area, you will be in breach of your tenancy agreement which may result in further action.

If you strongly rely on a mobility scooter, we can help to organise an assessment with an occupational therapist or a homes support officer to see if other help is available.

What you can do to help prevent a fire

There are things you can do to help prevent a fire:

• do not smoke in communal areas, it is illegal to smoke in any of our communal spaces
• never store or dispose of anything in a communal area - if you need help removing something, please call us on 0800 028 1870
• do not store any flammable items in your garage or on your balcony
• never block fire exit routes or prop open fire doors
• tell us if your needs change and whether you would need help if a fire happened within your home or communal area
• follow guidance in the fire action notices for your block in the event of a fire
• report any damage to fire safety equipment to us

Fire safety in high rise buildings

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has recently launched the ‘Your Home, Your Safety’ campaign to let residents of high-rise buildings (HRBs) in England know about their new rights.

The first step directly engages residents in the new building safety regime and aims to:

• empower residents with knowledge about their new rights
• reassure residents that fire and structural safety risks in their buildings are being properly managed

Visit Your Home, Your Safety for more information if you are a resident in one of our HRBs:

• Drake Court
• Grenville Court
• Nelson Court
• Rodney Court
• Sterte Court

For further information, or if you have any queries or concerns regarding building safety in our high-rise buildings, Independent Senior Living Schemes, or low-rise buildings, please contact us on 0800 028 1870. Our lead on Building Safety is Simon Percival.