53 year-old, Abdul Bashir was manager of the Prince of India restaurant on the ground floor and members of staff lived in the flats above. Mr Bashir pleaded guilty to the charges at Norwich Magistrates’ Court on Friday 28th October.

The breaches were discovered when an inspection was carried out by Norwich City Council on 9 February 2011. Investigators found that Mr Bashir had failed to provide adequate escape routes, fire doors and fire alarms.

Mr Bashir was fined £4,500 for each charge, totalling £18,000 and was also ordered to pay costs of £2,200.

Luke Parker at Norwich City Council, said: “These are serious breaches primarily relating to fire safety, which the council considers unacceptable. The prosecution was brought because he has a history of failing to maintain living conditions in a safe and proper manner at this property. He has been warned about conditions before but failed to improve and maintain the means of escape in case of fire. The aggravating factors are the number of occupants at risk from fire and living in poor conditions, and the length of time occupants were exposed to this risk.

Otis Hernandez, private sector housing officer for Norwich City Council, said: “The result sends out an important message to people that the council will take action against those whose negligence puts others at risk. That a fine so close to the maximum was handed out demonstrates the seriousness of these offences.”

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 states that you: ‘must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed’

This means that all companies as a first point in their Fire Safety must complete a Fire Risk Assessment.  This must be carried out by a competent person, who is trained to perform risk assessments.  Your Fire Training needs, your fire extinguisher needs and any other fire safety related issues you will need to address will be highlighted from the Fire Risk Assessment.

Our team of experienced and qualified Fire Risk Assessors will perform a full Fire Risk Assessment of your premises, and provide you with a comprehensive document detailing the risks found and recommendations to minimise the risks.

Norwich HMO landlord fined £20,000 for breaching fire safety regulations is a post from: Fire Training Academy News

Around 12 families paid Mr Fazal £100 per week to rent accommodation in an inner-city area of Manchester.

One flat that was occupied by a couple with a young child, had a first-floor landing littered with discarded furniture, mattresses, beds and electrical appliances. Inspectors found that bare electrical wires were hanging from the ceiling and the electrical wiring had been by-passed, no fire alarms had been installed and statutory fire risk assessments had not been carried out.

While renting out such horrendous accommodation, Fazal was living a life of luxury in his £1.3million house in a private cul-de-sac in Cheshire.

Fazal admitted six fire and safety offences and his son, Shahbaz, pleaded guilty to housing condition charges and fire and safety offences.

Judge Roger Thomas told them: ‘It’s wholly evident from the photographs and the description that the people who lived in those flats that they were living in squalor effectively. Having taken those flats you must have done very little indeed to make the accommodation habitable for the poor people who lived there and from whom you took weekly cash payments. The bigger thing that one can’t help but remark on is while you were trading in that way, you for your own personal comfort were living at the very opposite end of the housing spectrum. You were being treated to a very substantial home yet while you were living in the lap of luxury the people you were responsible for were living in slum conditions. No fire broke out and nobody was injured, but the risk was very real and your culpability is considerable.’

Manchester councillor Paul Andrews said: ‘It is absolutely shocking that a landlord in 21st-century Manchester is content to let a family live in this kind of squalor, when he is living content in Hale Barns surrounded by rich footballers. Slum landlords should be a thing of the past and I hope this serves as a warning to others who think they can rent out revolting properties and get away with it.’

Landlord jailed for death trap housing is a post from: Fire Training Academy News

Fiaz Mahmmud and Audrey Feegrado were found guilty of five breaches of the Housing (Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Regulations 2006. Both pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The pair were found guilty of failing to provide an adequate means of escape or sufficient smoke alarms. They had also failed to ensure an adequate fire risk assessment had been carried out on the property.

Council chief executive Michel Saminaden said: “I’m very pleased with the result.  It lays the foundation for a number of future projects that the council is working on to improve the quality of private sector housing within the borough. These severe fire safety breaches of the Housing (Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Regulations 2006 could have resulted in fatalities.”

Information on current HMO regulations can be found here.

£23,000 fine for Hertfordshire fire safety breach landlords is a post from: Fire Training Academy News

Mr Saif Ahmed appeared at Tower Bridge magistrates’ court after fire safety officers inspected his property in Camberwell 2009.

Steve Turek, Assistant commissioner said: “It is essential that building owners understand their responsibilities under fire safety law. London Fire Brigade works hard to ensure individuals and companies understand their responsibilities under fire safety law and only uses prosecution as a last resort but this verdict sends out a clear message that if they ignore fire safety then they will face serious penalties.”

Mr Ahmed was found guilty of 7 safety breaches including insufficient fire alarms, emergency lighting and escape routes.

£13,000 fine for fire safety breaches is a post from: Fire Training Academy News

Geoff Wicker and Brian Wembridge both died in the fire at Marlie Farm in Sussex, in 2006.

Deputy chief fire officer Gary Walsh said: “Ultimately, by sharing the report’s findings, it is our objective to try to prevent a similar event ever re-occurring “As always, the thoughts of everyone at ESFRS are with the families of Geoff and Brian. ESFRS will continue to do all it can to offer ongoing support to the families, as it would for any of our firefighters affected by traumatic events such as those at Marlie Farm.”

Judge Mr Justice Cooke told the pair: “You wanted them to fight the fire when you knew that the risk of mass explosion meant that everyone should have evacuated the site and moved to a considerable distance away.”

The court heard that Martin Winter was “grossly negligent” as he was aware of the unlicensed storage of fireworks that could explode in the event of a fire breaking out.

In 2009, the factory operators were convicted and jailed for the manslaughter of the two firefighters. Martin Winter owner of Festival Fireworks UK Ltd, since renamed Alpha Fireworks Ltd, was jailed for seven years and his son Nathan was jailed for five years. An appeal against their convictions was unsuccessful.

Firework factory blaze report launched is a post from: Fire Training Academy News

David Liu who is the manager of The Dial Hotel and The Market Inn pleaded guilty to 15 fire safety offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

John O’Rourke, an independent fire risk assessor who was responsible for carrying out the fire risk assessments at the hotels also pleaded guilty to 2 offences.

Nottingham Fire and Rescue Service discovered the breaches whilst on a routine inspection. It was found that the hotels did not have smoke alarms in bedrooms, no adequate means of escape, no emergency lighting and insufficient firefighting equipment.

A prohibition order was issued to the owners stating that the hotel should not be used until the fire safety standards complied with current required standards.

Mr O’Rourke and Mr Liu were sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday 8th July. Mr O’Rourke was ordered to pay £5,860 and Mr Liu £15,000 in costs.  Each will serve 8 months in prison.

Prison sentence and fines for hotel manager and fire risk assessor is a post from: Fire Training Academy News

The fire and explosion were caused by a leak of hydrocarbon liquid.

A spokesperson for Shell UK said: “What happened was completely unacceptable and falls well below the standards that we set for ourselves. Safety is our company’s priority and so an incident like this is deeply disappointing,”

The Environment Agency local Environment Manager, Marcus Sibley said: “The explosion could have led to a major environmental disaster as other highly flammable materials were stored nearby,”

There were no casualties in the incident as staff were returning from the plant to the main offices for shift handovers.

Since the explosion, Shell has invested around 3 million pounds into reviewing safety procedures.

Shell UK to pay huge fines after 2008 explosion is a post from: Fire Training Academy News

The fire broke out in the Queen Street flat in May last year.  Landlord, Mr Mcferren later appeared at York Crown Court and was fined £5,000 for breaching serious fire safety regulations and ordered to pay £2,400 in costs.

An investigation into the fire showed that Mr Mcferren had rented out the flats even though there had been no fire risk assessment and there was no working fire alarm and fire detection system in the property.

Richard Hanley of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service said: “The majority of business premises that we visit under our audit schedule are well-managed, however, we continue to find buildings where the legislation does apply, which do not have adequate fire risk assessments or fire safety provisions. The conviction of Mr Mcferren on this matter shows how seriously the Fire Authority and the courts view those who put the safety of others at risk in the event of a fire.”

The fire service have issued a warning to remind business owners and landlords that they must comply with the relevant fire regulations.

Fire Training Academy are able to provide you with detailed information on what you need to do to ensure you meet current safety standards.

Landlords told to make sure they meet safety standards is a post from: Fire Training Academy News

The company was fined nearly £900,000 for the serious fire safety breaches.

Other senior officials at the company, Marco Pucci, Gerald Pregnitz, Giuseppe Salerno and Cosimo Cafueri were all sentenced to 13 and a half years in jail, and Daniele Moroni was given just under 11 years.

Prosecutor, Raffaele Guariniello said that the verdict would “mean a lot for health and safety at the workplace”.

Prison sentence for Italian CEO after fatal fire is a post from: Fire Training Academy News

The fire started in the Windmill pub below the flats and 6 people had to be rescued by fire crews.

Javid Iqbalm, owner of the flats was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay costs of £899 after being found guilty at Peterborough Magistrates Court. The breaches included failing to provide sufficient escape routes and not having escape windows in the property.

Steve Cotton from Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Failing to apply for building regulations approval meant that this building was not compliant with fire safety regulations, and that put lives at risk. If the owner ignores these regulations there is a possibility that the building will not be safe.”

Landlord guilty of fire safety breaches is a post from: Fire Training Academy News