Independent health and safety consultants highlighted 29 areas of concern at a Perth hotel just a month before a fatal fire.
An inspection was carried out at the New County Hotel on December 5 by experts from Croner Group.
That was just under a month before three people died in the blaze on January 2.
In a report following the visit, 23 areas were deemed as needing “urgent” attention.
The inspection was organised by management at the hotel.
It came after staff and guests had raised concerns about conditions in the building.
Images show disrepair inside Perth hotel
Sisters Donna Janse Van Rensburg, 44, and Sharon McLean, 47, from Aberdeen and 38-year-old Keith Russell, originally from Edinburgh, died in the blaze, along with Donna’s dog Joey.
The Courier previously revealed how both the fire service and the council had demanded safety improvements at the hotel just weeks before the blaze.
Now we have obtained details of Croner Group’s report.
We have also been given photographs showing areas of disrepair inside the hotel, taken in the weeks before the fire.
A management source at the hotel said: “The concerns in the report were regularly flagged up by staff and management to the owner Rashid Hussain, but they were never dealt with.”
The Croner Group report stated: “At the time of the visit the standard of health and safety management at this site was below an acceptable level with some health and safety matters requiring urgent management corrective action.”
Among the areas of concern was electrical wiring in the property.
The report said: “There is no evidence that the fixed hard-wired electrical system has been subject to a periodic inspection within the recommended timescales, and an Electrical Inspection Condition Report (EICR) has not been issued within the recommended timescales.”
Croner Group recommended that an inspection should be carried out throughout the building by a qualified electrical engineer.
Other areas of concern highlighted in report
The report also said:
- There was no evidence to indicate that the gas appliances had been issued with a certificate of gas safety
- Arrangements to keep walkways free from slip, trip and fall hazards were inadequate
- Adequate arrangements were not in place for water testing, disinfection/ cleaning/de-scaling of shower heads and flushing of infrequently used water outlets
- The extraction systems had not been subject to recent internal deep cleaning
- It could not be determined at the time of the visit if a suitable carbon dioxide alarm/detection system was installed
- Flooring, walls and ceilings were in a state of disrepair
- A legionella management plan had not been prepared and implemented.
It has not been confirmed whether any of the points raised by Croner Group were addressed by Mr Hussain, but the source claims none of the recommendations were implemented.
Paul Holcroft, managing director at Croner, told The Courier: “In light of the ongoing investigation into this matter it would not be appropriate for us to provide detailed comment further to that contained within the report.
“We will, of course, co-operate fully with any requests for information from the relevant authorities.”
The Courier has contacted Mr Hussain for comment, though he has repeatedly failed to respond to previous requests for an interview.
Owner ‘not involved in day-t0-day running of hotel’
He previously told The Times he was not involved in the day-to-day running of the venue and dismissed claims of health and safety concerns at the hotel as “untrue”.
A joint police and fire service investigation into the blaze is continuing.
Perth and Kinross Council has declined to comment while the probe takes place.
