Is it mandatory( ie Fire reg.) to sign the Care Home Visitors Book on entering and leaving? If not , how will Staff know if any visitors in closed rooms ?

It is the Responsible Person's duty to ensure the safety of his employees, and relevant persons which include the visitors. If the RP considers it is necessary for visitors to sign the Care Home Visitors Book on entering and leaving, to ensure they know who is on the premises then he has the power to enforce it. He also has the power to delegate this to a competent person in his employ to ensure it is carried out.

We are a charity supporting adults suffering with diagnosed mental health conditions. The charity is comprised of a residential home, a hostel and a number of independent flats. The residential house and the hostel are managed and staffed independently of each other. We have a visitors book to each and it is, of course, a requirement that visitors sign in. Is it best practice that this should include employees who are NOT rotared to work in a building but who are entering perhaps, for example, to attend a meeting?

It is important that the Responsible Person or their representative, knows who is in the premises, in case an evacuation has to be conducted which will enable the person in charge to calculate if everybody has evacuated safely.

There are a number of methods that could be used and yours using the visitors book, staff lists and residents list is one of them and will provide an accurate result. If they are not on duty staff or residents then they are visitors.