Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue head ‘out out’ for late-night safety inspections across Lincoln’s night-time economy.
Fire and rescue safety inspectors have carried out a series of unannounced late-night inspections of several licensed premises across Lincoln.
It’s all part of a proactive multi-agency operation to ensure that venues are following the proper fire safety procedures at all times.
The efforts had been given an extra importance following the tragic Crans-Montana bar fire in Switzerland, and these unannounced inspections are an evolution of the continuous work conducting safety audits and inspections of licensed premises.
However, with many inspections being carried out during normal working hours, the fire service recognise that they don’t always give a clear reflection of how businesses operate when they reach peak customers numbers closer to midnight.
So, our fire safety inspectors, with the support of City of Lincoln Council and help from Lincolnshire Police’s Licensing team, put on their best pair of shoes and hit the town to see how venues are managing fire safety in peak hours.
Over the course of 5 hours, finishing at around 2am, inspections ensured that safety standards are being maintained across the venues the team visited.
Tom Patrick, Fire Protection Manager at Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, said: “These unannounced inspections are an important part of checking venues are following the right safety protocols at their busiest times and keeping customers safe.
“During our visits we look at things like the venue’s fire safety procedures, occupancy levels, fire management and detection arrangements, management of fire exits, and staff awareness of the roles and responsibilities in the event of a fire.
“In pubs, bars and clubs, where there’s often a few people not at full awareness, it’s really important that businesses have fire safety nailed down to a tee. And, as the enforcing authority, it’s equally important that ensure they can do all this during their peak hours.
“We're not here to act as killjoys, or ruin a night out, but to keep people safe. And, with these unannounced visits in Lincoln, aside from a couple of small actions that we'll follow up on, we're glad to say that the venues we visited did take fire safety seriously.
“That’s exactly what we want to see, and we’ll continue to work with these businesses, local councils, Lincolnshire Police and other pubs, bars and clubs, to ensure that people can safely go for a dance and drink across Lincolnshire.”
Following the inspections, each premises visited will receive a formal summary of findings through a Specific Inspection Letter, with further visits and advice offered to improve fire safety where needed.
Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue will continue to work with partners to carry out more arranged and unannounced inspections going forward across Lincolnshire and encourage commercial businesses to get in touch if they need advice or guidance keeping customers fire safe.
Residents who have concerns around fire safety at any business across the county can also report these concerns to us via our protection team.