Three landlords from Oxfordshire have been handed fines totalling over £11,000 after being convicted of breaches in fire safety.
In three separate cases, Abdul Saleem Chaudhry, Shoukat Khan and Deborah May Humes were each found guilty of a range of housing and safety offences, after inspections by environmental officers from Oxford City Council unearthed high-risk fire safety faults.
As well as pleading guilty to managing a house of multiple occupancy (HMO), Mrs Humes was convicted of fire offences including a lack of working smoke alarms and failing to provide a fire door to the kitchen.
Mr Khan was found guilty of breaching fire safety conditions at his licensed HMO, while Mr Chaudry was ordered to pay more than £4,000 in fines after staff were found to be living illegally above his Shezan restaurant in a flat with two major fire safety faults.
With councils reporting significant increases in the number of landlords and business owners in breach of fire safety regulations, a campaign to educate business owners about their responsibilities is under way. Failure to comply with fire safety legislation has become a major issue for environmental officers in recent years, with the increase in buy to let landlords and the growth in small and medium sized businesses largely responsible for the spike in deaths, injuries and prosecutions.
All business owners must abide by strict rules when it comes to fire safety. Ensuring proper advice is received and adequate action taken to safeguard employees is crucial when it comes to reducing the numbers killed or seriously injured in workplace and rental property fires.
With expert knowledge of fire safety regulations and a range of fire safety equipment from trusted manufacturers, we at AEL Systems are ideally placed to offer advice and guidance to business owners. Ensuring you take the necessary legal fire safety precautions is vital, so contact AEL Systems today on 01325 467398 to ensure your business is compliant.