Keeping you safe in your home
Customer safety is the number one priority for Great Places, whether it’s conducting annual gas safety checks in your home, providing essential fire safety advice or giving you tips on electrics.
As a business we’re committed to investing in our properties and teams, making sure we do all we can to support you when it comes to keeping you safe at home and ensuring we comply with all safety regulations and procedures.
Over the coming months we are planning to invest even more into this area and are recruiting specialist staff to increase our expertise.
We are asking customers how safe they feel in their homes as part of the Tenant Satisfaction Measures (see page 11 for more), but if you have a specific safety issue in your property please let us know immediately.
Staying in your home - our ask of you:
- Provide access to your home for us to carry out essential safety checks;
- Tell us if you are experiencing any issues and report any repairs to us so we can make things safe;
- Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms at least once a month to check they are in working order, and let us know immediately if they aren’t;
- Use safety features such as fire doors in the way they are intended;
- Do not tamper with, or remove, any safety equipment within your home or communal areas;
- Read our safety information on our website, or let us know if you would like this in an alternative format;
- Give us feedback on our services so we know what works well and what we can do better.
There’s a wealth of information on our website providing detail on our responsibilities and approach around gas, electrical and fire safety, but here is a brief overview of what we do in those specific safety areas. Visit the section Looking after your Home in www.greatplaces.org.uk to know more.
At the time of going to print we are 100% compliant when it comes to gas safety in our homes.
This is in addition to meeting all safety requirements around fire, electric and water.
This demonstrates our ongoing commitment to keeping customers as safe as possible, and is reliant on our customers allowing us access to your homes to carry out these essential checks – thank you for working with us to make this happen!
20 Staying safe: gas and carbon monoxide
We ensure that the gas appliances in your home which are provided by Great Places are serviced regularly and checked once a year. Annual gas safety checks are carried out by our partner, Sure Maintenance. They will be in touch about your appointment to make sure it’s at a suitable time; please ensure that you are in and allow them access at the arranged time, as it’s vital for your safety that they can carry out the work in order to protect you and your home (this applies to all safety inspections).
As part of the annual gas safety check, carbon monoxide alarms will be tested and fitted if required.Landlords must ensure that a carbon monoxide alarm is provided in any room of your home which contains a fixed combustion appliance, such as a gas boiler or gas fire (this excludes gas cookers and hobs), and customers should test these alarms regularly.
Since September 2022 we have fitted 4,256 carbon monoxide alarms. If you have gas appliances in your home (excluding cookers) and do not have a carbon monoxide alarm, please contact our Customer Hub to let us know.
Gas leaks
Gas leaks can occur from faulty appliances and pipework. If you think you can smell gas or suspect carbon monoxide poisoning, you must take action and call the free National Gas Emergency Number, 0800 111 999, immediately. They will advise you to:
- Turn the gas off at the meter
- Open windows and doors to ventilate the home
- Don’t operate any switches or equipment
- Don’t smoke or strike any matches and extinguish all naked flames
- Go outside and wait for the gas engineer
If possible and safe to do so, report this to our Customer Hub after ringing 0800 111 999.
Staying safe: fire
Great Places takes many actions as a business to ensure we think safety first when it comes to fire. There will be different fire safety arrangements in place depending on the type of property that you live in. If you live in a flat/apartment these safety actions include carrying out fire risk assessments on all of our buildings; regularly reviewing our fire evacuation policies and procedures to ensure they are up to date; ensuring we share fire safety advice through our signage and communication channels; and working with local authorities and fire safety authorities to respond to official recommendation and guidance.
General hints and tips for fire safety
Be clear on the fire evacuation policy for your home
Please make sure you are clear on the fire evacuation policy for your home and know what you would need to do in the event of a fire. If you live in a flat or apartment, please check the signs as you enter the building or in the communal areas; these will tell you what to do in the case of a fire, so you can be prepared. If you cannot see any signs in communal areas please let us know straight away.
Keep your escape route free from hazards and obstructions
PIt’s vital that your escape route is kept free from obstructions, such as items of furniture, bicycles and refuse, or any other item that could have the potential to be a slip or trip hazard. If your home is located in a block or scheme, this guidance should be applied to communal areas and corridors. It is essential that nothing blocks an escape route for any resident, or provides fuel for a fire.
Testing, testing....
Smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms (see above) have been fitted in Great Places homes for your protection. Please test (non-communal) alarms regularly to ensure they are in full working order and let us know immediately if these aren’t working so we can understand and fix the issue.
In our recent tenants’ survey 83% of customers said they felt Great Places provides a home that is safe; we want to make this 100%.
Use fire doors correctly
Fire doors are designed to automatically close behind you in the event of a fire, holding flames back and stopping the spread of the flames and smoke into escape routes, corridors and other rooms/flats in a block. These should be kept closed and never propped or wedged open. Other internal doors should be closed when sleeping, as a closed door not only helps to contain a fire to a single room but also prevents the smoke (which contains hot, harmful, toxic gases) from spreading through the rest of the home. This will give you more of a chance of getting out safely. The door closer on a flat entrance door is there to keep the door closed and any fire at bay; please do not remove these under any circumstances and report any repairs to us immediately.
Want to know more?
There’s loads of information on gas, fire, electrical and building safety on our website, but if you have any questions about safety in your home, please contact our Customer Hub straight away via Chatabot, email or phone. In an emergency, always call 999.