fireguards are a legal requirement??

[icy1975]

I've just been reading my weekly bounty email and it says 'Where kids and fires are both present, fireguards are required by law' very interesting but I've just done a quick google search and haven't found any more detail.

So I was just wondering if anyone can point me to some more information, it would be interesting to know exactly how this law is worded and what it covers, and if I'm legally required to have a fireguard around my electric fire that I never switch on.

 

[jenstar]

Sounds odd, surely it's up to you what safety precautions, if any, you take in your own home with your own children.

My childminder has one of the big massive metal cages round her fireplace and the fire is never lit, but that's different because she is a childminder and as far as I know her insurance and social services registration require it because of the fire risk and the sharp corners of the hearth.

I have a 2 yr old and nobody has been out to check my fireplace yet!

 

[icy1975]

I thought it was strange, I can totally understand places like nurseries and childminders being required by law to have them but in a private home theres no way they can enforce it properly! Very odd!!

 

[icy1975]

not sure if I'm allowed to link to another site but it's here https://www.bounty.com/toddler/homes/babyproofing-your-home?WT.mc_id=50002 in the section on fires and heaters

 

[xemmax]

rather than being something that is enforced, it probably means that if your child had an accident and burned themselves you would be liable as you didn't comply with the law that required you to have a fireguard in the first place. so if a policeman walked into your house you wouldn't be in trouble for not having one, but you would be in the case of an accident with the absence of a fireguard.

i've never heard of it either!

 

[JayeD]

I've never heard of it being law in a private setting, but I personally would have one just in case. Who knows what LO could get up to when I turn my back.

 

[Gingerspice]

WE have one over our lounge fire as that does get lit. We don't have one over our dining room fire though, but its kind of got an inbuilt guard, and we don't light it very often. (and certainly wouldn'y leave it lit if LO was crawling around)
I have friends who mind and have an open fire, which is never lit, they still have a guard just to stop the children putting hands into the fireplace and getting all sooty etc.
I have never heard of it being a requirement though, I just figured it was common sense to have one if you have a fire type which would benefit from one

 

[icy1975]

I understand the common sense of putting a fireguard in front of a lit fire, I just don't think bounty should be saying its a legal requirement if it isn't for normal households, I've emailed them asking which law they're refering to, so I'll post their reply!

 

[hayleysd]

Sounds odd, surely it's up to you what safety precautions, if any, you take in your own home with your own children.

My childminder has one of the big massive metal cages round her fireplace and the fire is never lit, but that's different because she is a childminder and as far as I know her insurance and social services registration require it because of the fire risk and the sharp corners of the hearth.

I have a 2 yr old and nobody has been out to check my fireplace yet![/QUO

I'm a childminder and its not actually required by insurance etc, its upto the childminder to risk assess it and decide, i didn't have one up til a few weeks ago cos we don't use our fire but the last few weeks my 11 month old ds has been constantly trying to take the pebbles out so now i need one

 

[icy1975]

thats even more interesting!

 

[Aunty E]

We have a woodburning stove - last winter we only had a fire screen to keep the kittens away from the fire, the baby wasn't really an issue at that point. We were going to get a big guard, but Imogen just doesn't seem all that interested in the fire. Obvo we never leave her on her own with it, and we have the screen up to stop her using it as a walking aid, but she doesn't have the awful fascination with it the cats have for example.