Responding to the Welsh Government’s Building Safety Plan, Robert Jervis Gibbons, UK Policy & Public Affairs Manager at Electrical Safety First commented: “The Welsh Government’s Building Safety Plan must go beyond its current scope to protect residents in high rise buildings from the risks electricity can pose. As the plan stands it fails entirely to prevent a fire before it has started, instead focusing prominently on safety once a fire has occurred. Unless it is reviewed to tackle the source of fires effectively it will fall short of protecting residents.
Electricity is responsible for more than 60% of domestic fires in Wales and it is deeply regrettable the Welsh Government has failed to acknowledge this real risk to residents. We urge the Government to reconsider its proposal and to include five yearly mandatory electrical safety checks. Without doing so, this plan will fail to adequately protect residents in Wales.”