Fire Safety
We ensure all our properties conform to fire safety standards to keep residents safe. This includes regular checks of communal areas to minimise fire risk, installing smoke detectors, and checking external walls according to fire regulations.
As your landlord, we regularly carry out fire risk assessments in our buildings, test the communal fire alarms, ensure fire doors remain safe, communal areas are clear, and exit routes are accessible.
We also conduct regular checks to service fire safety equipment such as smoke detectors and fire alarm systems.
If you think your fire detector may be faulty or you spot any fire safety issues such as faulty fire doors, please report this to us by calling 020 8749 7112 or emailing customerservices@womenspioneer.co.uk.
All our properties with two or more flats have a Fire Action Notice, explaining what residents and visitors need to do in the unlikely event of a fire. These notices are usually displayed on the communal noticeboard.
Evacuation in the Event of a Fire
The current fire safety legislation for properties in the UK directs us to comply with one of two fire evacuation strategies: Stay Put, or Immediate Simultaneous Evacuation. Most WPH homes comprise of converted dwellings and town houses built prior to modern building regulations, making them more vulnerable to a fire spreading quickly. For this reason, the safest evacuation procedure for most of our buildings is an immediate simultaneous evacuation.
An immediate simultaneous evacuation is a procedure to follow after a fire is discovered or detected, where all occupants of the property must leave at once and immediately when they hear an alarm.
To complement this strategy, we are continuing to complete fire safety works and improve procedures. This includes installation of common fire and smoke detection linked to an automatic alarm system, communal fire door checks and inspections, regular fire systems testing, Person-Centered Fire Risk Assessments (PCFRA) and more.
If at any point during your tenancy you are unable to follow the Immediate Simultaneous Evacuation fire procedure, you may require a Personal Evacuation Emergency Plan (PEEP). Contact us as soon as possible via email at this address customerservices@womenspioneer.co.uk; or speak to your Housing Officer or Estate Compliance Officer.
If a fire alarm goes off in your building, you must evacuate to an external safe area. Ensure all occupants in your home evacuate and close all doors if it is safe to do so without delaying your evacuation. Dial 999 for the London Fire Brigade. Do not re-enter the building until it is deemed safe by the London Fire Brigade.
What to do if you hear the fire alarm
- Evacuate the building by the shortest available exit route and through the final doors to a point of safety away from the building.
- Do not stop to collect any belongings or delay your evacuation.
- When outside the building, dial 999 and ask for the London Fire Brigade.
- When the Fire Brigade arrive, meet them and tell them where the fire is.
- Do not re-enter the building until the Fire Brigade confirm it is safe to do so.
Keeping Yourself Safe
To keep yourself safe as a resident, it is vital everyone in your household knows what to do if a fire occurs, following the evacuation strategy for your property.
Further safety measures to reduce the risk of fire in your home include:
- Make sure all internal, external and communal exits are clear and not blocked by objects such as bicycles.
- Do not tamper with the self-closer on your flat fire door. These mechanisms close your front doors automatically to stop fire, smoke, and fumes from spreading.
- Never prop open your flat door, communal doors, or main entry door in your building. In the unlikely event of a fire, these prevent fire and smoke from spreading.
- Test your smoke alarms every month. If any of your smoke alarms have a one year battery, make sure it is changed every year. Only take the battery out when you need to replace it.
- Do not store bikes, buggies or push chairs, scooters, or rubbish in communal areas or hallways as these are a fire risk. Keep communal corridors, walkways, and stairwells clear at all times.
- Keep electrical items away from water.
- Put candles, tea lights and cigarettes out properly and do not place them on or near materials that could burn or catch fire, such as curtains or furniture.
- Ensure you do not leave pans unattended while cooking.
- Keep tea towels, loose clothing, or cloths away from the cooker and hob.
- Double check the cooker is off when you have finished cooking.
- Do not have barbeques on your balcony.
For more information or for tailored fire safety advice for your own home, see London Fire Brigade’s Fire Safety Checker.
If you’d prefer to talk to someone in person, you can arrange a free home safety visit. Find out more on the London Fire Brigade’s website.
Fire Door Safety
Fire doors are one of the most important protections for residents in the event of a fire. They are specifically made to resist fire, reducing the spread of fire and toxic smoke throughout a building. A fire door’s frame and all the fittings - locks, handles, closers and hinges - are designed to prevent fire spread for a certain length of time.
It is important to note if a fire door has been damaged or altered in any way, as it may not be able to stop fire and smoke from spreading and could put lives at risk.
Please inform Women’s Pioneer Housing if you note a damaged fire door in your building by calling us on 020 8749 7112.
Residents have an important role to play in ensuring that their flat entrance door remains an effective barrier to the spread of fire and smoke into the common parts. To do this,
you need to:
- Keep fire doors shut when not in use
- Make sure not to tamper with the self-closing devices fitted on the door
- Report any door fault or damage immediately to Women’s Pioneer Housing
- Contact us if you want to alter your front door
You are not permitted to make any changes to your flat entrance door without our prior consent. This includes adding additional locks, changing handles, or adding signage to the flat door
We must complete annual checks of your fire doors so please ensure you allow access when we contact you to arrange this.