Sector Expertise
Health and Safety for Care Homes
Care settings combine sleeping accommodation, residents who cannot self-evacuate, and a workforce doing physically demanding work. We help registered managers keep all three under control.
Care Homes: What Makes This Sector Different
A care home is one of the more demanding environments in health and safety terms. You have people sleeping on the premises, many of whom could not leave the building unaided, which changes fire strategy fundamentally. You have staff doing repetitive moving and handling work, which is the leading cause of injury in the sector. And you sit under a regulator that will ask to see your arrangements.
We work with residential homes, nursing homes and supported living providers across Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. The aim is always the same: arrangements that stand up to scrutiny and that your staff will actually follow on a busy shift, rather than a folder that looks impressive and gets ignored.
The Risks That Matter Here
- Progressive horizontal evacuation and fire strategy for residents who cannot self-evacuate
- Personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs) kept current as resident needs change
- Moving and handling injuries among care staff
- Legionella control in stored and blended hot water systems
- Scalding and water temperature control
- Sharps and needlestick injuries in nursing settings
- COSHH for cleaning chemicals and clinical substances
- Lone working on night shifts
- Slips and trips on wet floors and in bathrooms
Your Legal Duties
Alongside the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, care settings need to consider the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, COSHH 2002, and the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 where clinical care is delivered. Fire strategy in care homes is usually built around progressive horizontal evacuation rather than immediate full evacuation, which places heavy reliance on compartmentation and fire doors being maintained.
How We Help
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A free, no-obligation conversation about what you need and what it would cost.
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Accreditations & Memberships
Our consultants are Chartered (CMIOSH) and Technical (TechIOSH) members of IOSH, holding Level 6 qualifications in Applied Health & Safety.
Care Homes: Common Questions
How is a care home fire risk assessment different from an office one?
The critical difference is sleeping risk and dependency. In an office you assume people will hear an alarm and walk out. In a care home you must assume many residents cannot, so the strategy usually relies on progressive horizontal evacuation, moving people to an adjoining fire compartment rather than outside. That puts far more weight on compartmentation, fire doors, staffing levels at night and individual evacuation plans.
Do we need a PEEP for every resident?
You need to know, for every resident, what help they would need to escape. Many providers hold an individual plan for each person; others use a banding system with individual plans for anyone outside the norm. Either can be defensible. What matters is that the information is current, that night staff can access it immediately, and that it is updated when someone's needs change.
Will you work alongside our CQC preparation?
Yes. We are not a CQC consultancy, but safe care and treatment covers the health and safety arrangements we advise on, and our documentation is written so it can be shown directly to an inspector. Several of our care clients bring us in ahead of an expected inspection.
What is the most common problem you find in care homes?
Fire doors. Wedged open, damaged, missing intumescent strips, or replaced during refurbishment with something that is not fire rated. In a building whose whole fire strategy depends on compartmentation holding, a defective fire door is a serious finding rather than a minor one.
Ready to Get Started?
Contact us for a free quote for health and safety support in the care homes sector.