A crackdown on pubs and clubs in Norwich has revealed that a third of them had substandard fire safety measures in place.
A report in the Norwich Evening News says 80 premises – mostly pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants – were checked out by Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service. The biggest problems were not understanding the importance of risk assessments or not carrying them out properly. Other issues identified included a lack of training records and a lack of detail in evacuation plans.
“Some people say they aren’t aware of the guidelines and others simply don’t do it,” George Bray, fire safety advisor for Norfolk Fire and Rescue said. “Others just aren’t capable of interpreting what needs to be done. It’s quite rare to go somewhere and have to make no comment at all.
“If you ask how they plan to get everyone out of the building in the event of a fire for example, quite often there’s no specific evacuation plan in terms of who does what. That’s the kind of level of detail you need,” he added.
The fire service handed out notifications to premises which were deficient and served seven enforcement notices on the most serious offenders.
