Basic Fire Safety Awareness for Care Homes
Course Overview
Care homes present a genuinely different fire risk profile to a typical workplace, since many residents cannot evacuate independently and some sleep for large parts of the day, meaning standard evacuation assumptions don't apply.
The course covers the same core fire science as our general course: heat, fuel and oxygen as the three elements needed for fire, and how fire spreads through four methods: direct burning, conduction, convection and radiation.
Fire safety care homes CQC inspections consider forms part of the wider regulatory framework care providers operate under. Fire safety failings can affect a home's CQC rating directly, since resident safety is a core inspection focus.
PLACEHOLDER on sleeping risk and PEEP content: the current live course description doesn't explicitly confirm coverage of sleeping risk classification, evacuation chair training, or PEEP (Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans) for residents, despite these being genuinely important topics for a care-home-specific fire course. Recommend confirming with the course content owner whether these are covered in the actual course modules before this page states they are, since this would be a compliance-relevant claim to get wrong.
Common causes of fire and how to reduce risk, the chemistry of fire and how it spreads, recognising the dangers of smoke, fire safety features and their role in prevention, management and evacuation, the risks to consider if you discover a fire, and fire extinguisher types.
Evacuating a care home safely relies on staff understanding which residents need assistance and how much time that realistically takes, which is why general fire evacuation training needs care-home-specific context, rather than assuming everyone can self-evacuate quickly.
Any member of staff working in a care or residential home setting, as part of fire safety induction.
How does fire safety affect a care home's CQC rating? Fire safety failings can affect inspection outcomes, since resident safety is a core focus of CQC inspections.
How long does this course take? 60 minutes, completed online.
Course Content
Define the common causes of fire and understand how to reduce their risks
Understand the chemistry of fire and its ability to spread through four specified methods
Recognise the dangers of smoke
Identify the fire safety features in buildings and understand their role in fire prevention,
management, and evacuation
Understand the risks to consider if you discover a fire
Recognise the different types of Fire Extinguishers and when to use them
Course Duration
60 mins
Course Certification
Approved by CPD, Gatehouse Awards, IIRSM & IOSH
