Teamwork will cut fire risk for tenants

FIREFIGHTERS in Oldham have teamed up with Oldham Housing Investment Partnership (OHIP)to improve the lives of local people.

VITAL lifesaving training will be given to social housing staff who look after thousands of Oldhamers.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) has teamed up with Oldham Housing Investment Partnership (OHIP) to identify and protect those who are most at risk.

OHIP covers more than 21,000 households — around 30 per cent of all housing in Oldham.

As part of the partnership, the fire service will train OHIP staff to recognise when people are at risk of fire and other dangers.

The training will also include firefighters providing life-saving Heartstart training — emergency life support skills including assessing someone who is unconscious, performing CPR, dealing with choking and helping someone that may be having a heart attack.

Ian Bailey, GMFRS group manager for Oldham, Bury and Rochdale, said: “The aim of the partnership is for OHIP staff to identify people in their homes who may be at increased risk of fire and refer them to ourselves so that we can reduce that risk.

“Working in collaboration we can hopefully reduce the risk of fire, injuries and deaths in the home and help to improve the health, social and overall wellbeing of people living in Oldham.”

OHIP chairman David Smith added: “OHIP is a partnership of the borough’s key social landlords, so we are delighted to be working with GMFRS to provide information and advice about how to prevent fires in the home directly to our customers, helping them to keep safe.

“The agreement will mean we work together to identify and work with those most at risk of fire by carrying out fire risk assessments and addressing the issues identified.

“Things we can do include providing smoke alarms, removing combustibles from the home and replacing chip pans with a temperature controlled deep fat-fryer.

“We urge all of our customers who can benefit from this service to take advantage of the free advice and equipment on offer.”