The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) is encouraging licensees to remind the public to test their home smoke alarms. Chief executive Brigid Simmonds is making the call as a new Home Office campaign, Fire Kills, is launched.
The campaign seeks to prevent deaths from fire by reminding the public to test their smoke alarms every month, and is timed to coincide with the onset of winter, when there is a rise in deaths caused by accidental fires at home.
The Home Office campaign pack, which is also being hosted on the BBPA website, has a range of resources which pub operators and licensees are being encouraged to use to promote the campaign to pub customers, including printable posters and logos.
Ms Simmonds said: “I hope pubs and pub operators will get behind this new safety campaign. At this time of year we all need to ensure we test our smoke alarms regularly. Smoke alarms save lives, and publicans are always a great source of good advice for customers.”
Brandon Lewis, the Minister for Fire, is also encouraging licensees to support the Fire Kills campaign and promote it to their customers. Launching the campaign, he emphasised the importance of people having working smoke alarms, and encouraged everyone to test their smoke alarms.
He said: “Test your alarms when you get home and set a reminder to do so every month. It couldn’t be any clearer — smoke alarms only save lives if they’re working. Test it today.”
