This website has been created to inform a certain social housing provider that 'we' as residents and clients are aware that 'fire extinguishers' are being removed from "DeadWest" flats of "general need"; not because of fire regulations; BUT very likely to cut costs associated with Public Liability insurance cover or similar. This could be seen in two ways, of financial benefit to the company and shareholders and secondly as a failure of the corporate governance of a leading social housing provider. Indeed this must be reported by all residents that are affected by the policy to the Regulator for Social Housing.
There is no law that allows the removal of fire extinguishers from "general needs" social housing where it has already been provided and where it is of known value. ln most cases fire extinguishers have already been provided for the safety of residents by a previous social housing landlord who determined a necessary provision. There is however "only" guidance under what are fairly new fire regulations, "Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 but the removal of fire extinguishers is only guidance is not in any respect legally binding! Of course if a building is deemed of LOW RISK in terms of fire, it is only "low risk" if a building has been assessed correctly and there is no corporate "CONFLICT OF INTEREST". Companies do like to retain contracts with others! Don't they?
Under law "ALL" residents are protected by health and safety and housing legislation, for example, the Housing and Regeneration Act of 2008. Social housing residents are also entitled to equal rights and opportunities to those who live in the private sector such of people who live in licensed HMOs. It can be argued that tenants rights have also been affected under Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Further to this an "unfair prejudice" has been noted under the Equality Act 2010 as simply DeadWest have stated that residents over 55 should not fight fires. This takes away the rights of people who are capable and have the capacity and right to make decisions for themselves depending on circumstance, which of course could save lives, harm or injury.
There are instances where fire extinguishers have never been used, so there is little of no corporate liability risk whatsoever. To many elderly residents the extinguishers are a comfort blanket; others see their removal as part of an ongoing list of service removal and denial. One issue to be determined is whether "DeadWest" is, because of their decision, liable for the cost of transfer, if residents demanded to move from their accommodation on the grounds of safety. We must remember and consider that safety is something that cannot be legally defined in the mind of an individual. The answer seems fairly clear and obvious, that there would be limited or full liability in such circumstances and especially where a resident already suffers from mental health issues or suffers from PTSD from a previous fire!
The crux of all this is - If "DeadWest" gave us all guns, and a resident chose to shoot themself, "DeadWest" would be held responsible for giving them the gun, the same goes for fire extinguishers, if someone used them and suffered harm. Of course we as residents know, we are all prone to accidents, it is human nature. We also know that there are residents that are more prone to accidents than others, say with for example "people who smoke and drink spirits". Heavens above if someone accidentally set themselves alight and there was no water extinguisher available to put out the fire or a balcony wide enough to roll them. The liability would of course shift to the social landlord for a failure to protect life, but there are many other instances we can all think of where fire extinguishers would be needed, and where it would be safe to use them.
A note to the LiveWest CEO
We are aware of your policy and the reasons why you have changed your policy. We as residents strongly protest about the removal of our fire extinguishers and we DO NOT want them sent to Ukraine as has been stated to us! We know that fire safety assessments are not complete or detailed enough. We NOW give you a chance to fundamentally change this policy before you potentially regret embarking on such a regretable and embarrasing corporate decision. Please consider this also, every resident has the right to life and the right to save a life or lives and that might mean we as tenants may protect your company from harm too, given you may own the buildings that are affected by policy!
If fire extinguishers are removed and where a life might have been saved, residents must report information both to the police and local coroner!
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Ex. employees of LiveWest and Whistleblowers please e-mail the following address E-mail
LiveWest Limited: If you do want to respond to this website then I suggest you do it in writing and not by e-mail. This is for legal reasons. You know where to send the letter, if you don't I am sure your Data Team can work it out!
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