Equality, diversity and inclusion annual report 2024

Home fire safety visits

Throughout 2024, Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue have continued to develop a person centred approach to all prevention activities. The home fire safety visits are the primary method of engagement supporting our home safety strategy. With the direction of the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), our home fire safety visits focus on eight core components of risk:

• home fire detection, also incorporates assistive technology
• fire safety in the home
• fires and heaters incorporating fuel poverty
• clutter and hoarding
• arson and deliberate fires
• smoking related fires
• medicines and medical devices
• electrical safety

Household risks are categorised to help the service deliver interventions that are sustainable and make best use of resources. Physical resources are then assigned to support those identified as the highest risk. Local data analysis supported by work carried out at a national level allows us to identify factors that make individuals more likely to have a fire, accident or be injured in their homes. The following factors have been identified as a result of the data analysis:

• smoking
• hoarding
• elderly or lives alone
• reduced mobility, hearing or visual impairment
• mental health conditions
• alcohol misuse, drugs or medication dependant
• care needs

Specially trained staff provide a person-centred approach to their visits. They look to provide support by focussing on the areas of high risk within the home setting. 

Consideration is given to:

• Person factors - which are integral to the person or people living in a property; things that are temporarily or permanently a part of them and cannot be changed such as hearing impairment or their level of mobility.
• Behaviour factors - which are actions, activities or behaviours: things that people do (or don't do) such as smoking a cigarette, taking medication or substance use.
• Home factors - which are those factors which are integral to the home itself, the home’s contents (physical environment), or how the person interacts with others, including the layout and other residents in the property (social environment).

The delivery strategy is a blend of partner agency referrals and proactive targeting, maximising delivery of activities. To support equality of access an ‘online self-assessment’ tool has been developed, allowing individuals to access risk and safety information if required.  

On average 86% of visits were with people considered to be in high-risk groups. As we continue to develop our approach to identify high risk households the service aims to see this percentage increase. This will ensure resources support can be focussed on those who most need it across the county.

A breakdown of safe and well visits by age and ethnicity is shown below. The 65 and over age category is more likely to be identified as high risk therefore it is important for the service to monitor this group to ensure it is meeting the needs of people across all ethnicities.

Household occupants receiving support by age

Household occupants receiving support by ethnicity