Changes made to the West Yorkshire Fire Service home visit system

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) are introducing a ‘risk filter’ for the first time. The ‘risk filter’ means that a household will be assessed through a number of questions about their home and lifestyle.

 'Safe and Well' home visits will be prioritised for the most vulnerable members who are more at risk of having a fire in their home whereas low risk members of the community will receive help and advice on their new online interactive package.

 Area Manager for Fire Safety Chris Kirby said: “The new system means that not everyone requesting a home visit will qualify. We want to ensure our resources are directed to those with the greatest need and we have found that many of our visits are currently to those who are well aware of fire safety and have working smoke detection. This means they are very unlikely to have a fire.

  “A new Safer Communities Strategy is aiming to improve overall wellbeing. Fire safety will always remain at the heart of what we do, but our traditional home fire safety checks will evolve to become Safe and Well visits. This will require closer working with our partners in the health sector and we will be able to identify people who are vulnerable to health and wellbeing issues, offer basic advice and make referrals to specialist services where necessary. “The ultimate aim is to prevent tragedies and also to relieve some of the strain on Accident and Emergency departments by taking action before people get to a point of crisis.”

 Click here for the new West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service home visit request form.