Honeycomb Group highlights dedicated fire safety customer campaign this Fire Door Safety Week

Honeycomb Group’s housing association, Staffs Housing, provides over 3,000 homes to people across Staffordshire, Cheshire and the surrounding areas.

According to recent government data, fire and rescue services attended 627,553 incidents in England in 2022. Out of these incidents, there were 183,209 fires, a 24% increase on 2021’s statistics.

To address this issue and keep residents safe at home, the Group has been raising awareness of their ‘clear door policy’ in apartment buildings, villages and schemes.

In the event of an emergency, items in communal areas could prevent residents from exiting safely, or even increase the likelihood or a fire starting and spreading. The clear door policy, which was introduced following fire risk assessments, means that all personal items should be kept exclusively inside apartments, keeping communal areas, like corridors, clear and much safer.

To keep residents safe amid this rise, Staffs Housing also ran a fire safety campaign in the summer, which reached over 2,000 residents via social media. The campaign included their dedicated Fire Safety Compliance Administrator, who featured in a video about fire safety, sharing facts on fire and tips on how to stay safe.

Steve Wilson (pictured above), Honeycomb Group’s Director of Asset Management and Compliance, explained why fire safety has been such a focus for the organisation.

“Resident safety has, and always will be, our biggest priority,” said Steve.

“We want residents to feel reassured and have peace of mind that we’re doing everything we can to protect them – that includes fire safety. Alongside this, we want them to realise the part that they can play too, and understand how they can help to protect themselves.”

Staffs Housing carry out fire safety inspections every twelve months in schemes with communal areas. These identify any risks and make sure there are safety measures in place.

Steve continued: “For us, it’s not just about ticking a box and saying ‘we’ve done that.’ Our teams are committed to continually making sure that residents are safe, which is why we’ve held specific fire safety campaigns on social media in recent months.

“Fire is a scary topic, so it can be a difficult one to talk about. We have found that a social media campaign, with our friendly Fire Safety Compliance Administrator, has really helped us to communicate this subject with our residents in an effective way.”

Click here to find out more about Honeycomb Group’s resident fire safety hub.