Fire Rescue and Services Act 2004 - Literature review Example

Running Header: Community Safety Case Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Name & Code: Date of Submission: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 2 Community Safety 3 Fire rescue and services Act 2004 3 Roles and interrelationship of the fire service 4 Risks and Control Measures 6 Fire Awareness Resources 8 Fire Safety Awareness 9 Provision of Working Smoke Alarms 9 Methodology and Evidence 9 Conclusion 10 References 12 Introduction Fire and rescue services involve rescue operations in situations where people have been involved in accidents. Such areas include road accidents, flood situations, air and train accidents, and fire accidents among others. Fire and rescue services have the main roles of personal safety through rescue missions, saving life of the affected, environment protection, and saving property. Fire and rescue services have a major role of ensuring fire accidents do not cause much destruction either in form of properties or life loss. Fire and rescue services department provide necessary rescue skills through training in the approved fire academies. Rescue operations involve searching for and removing those who are trapped in the hazardous situations with the main aim of preserving life. Incident commanders are leaders in fire and rescue services units who arrange for their standby teams. They are for searching and assisting their fellow firefighters if they become lost, injured, or trapped in the operation. However, for its services to become successful there has to be collaboration of the fire and rescue services and other agencies such as military, city and town councils, and other safety related agencies. Community Safety Fire rescue and services Act 2004 This act puts prevention at the heart of the Fire and Rescue Service as illustrated by Stationery Office Staff (2004). This is through new duties for the Fire and rescue authorities as a way of promoting fire safety as well as giving power towards creating a safer community. These authorities should also create Integrated Risk Management Plans in order to address particular local risks. Some of the new areas within the act include assisting in saving more lives, modern legislation, strategic vision, and engagement through providing support and guidance for fire authorities, and government powers in purchasing equipments and services towards promoting efficiency and effectiveness of authorities as well as directing authorities on equipment use. Others include fire Service College that will develop into center of excellence for fire and rescue service. Roles and interrelationship of the fire service Fire and rescue service has the main role of saving the life of people involved in fire and other type of accidents. However, it is vital to note that fire and rescue services must collaboratively work with other agencies and emergency services organizations towards solving the underlying problem. In order for the rescue operations to become more efficient and effective, supporting agencies and organizations must come hand in hand in through financial, material, and technical training support. Some of the major agencies that can partnership with fire and rescue services include government, community safety organizations, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), fire equipments manufacturers, emergency medical services departments, public health departments, and house constructions and designers associations. These will play a major role of ensuring the life of migrant workers is not at risk due to fire and other related hazards. Arthur (2003) argues that Fire and rescue services also entail inspecting the buildings in ensuring they are up to the required fire codes. National Fire Protection Association is an organization that creates and maintains minimum requirements and standards for fire control and prevention training, activities, and facilities. It also provides life-safety standards from building codes to the personal protective facilities used by firefighters. These play key role in ensuring there are reduced fire incidences in areas and houses people live including migrant workers. This organization ensures that the areas where migrant workers live are up to the required building standards and that the issues of fire safety are taken into consideration effectively. Government has a main role of ensuring fire risk assessments are carried out. These are organized ways of evaluating a building and those activities that are carried out within the building as well as evaluation of fire occurrence likelihood and its possibility of causing harm. Government has a role of ensuring fire safety management is carried out as a means of maintaining fire safety standards. Government ensures that necessary fire fighting materials or resources including education related resources are provided. Government through fire and rescue services should prepare inspection programs as a way of ensuring migrant workers live in safe places that meet fire requirement standards. It should as well ensure that they are provided with necessary studies about knowledge on fire safety and awareness. Military and police officers should also be collaborated with fire and rescue services as well as other agencies because they play a crucial role towards successful rescue missions. Community safety organizations will ensure that migrant workers are provided with relevant and vital information regarding fire safety. They should also ensure that any risks and hazards in places where migrant workers are living are extensively reduced. These organizations will also educate migrants on various fire safety measures as a way of reducing fire accidents and incidents. These agencies will work with fire and rescue service towards reducing fire incidences. Fire equipment manufacturers will ensure that migrant workers are provided with necessary fire fighting facilities. Some of these include fire extinguishers, fire and smoke alarms, fire bells, and fire fighting gears. It will also provide necessary training on basic fire precautions to the migrant workers. Fire equipments manufacturers will also install various fire facilities in the houses occupied by migrant workers. Emergency medical services should provide necessary education training to the migrant workers on how to react in case of emergencies. They will also train them on various drill or false operations in order to make them aware of the necessary steps that they should undertake. House designers should also inspect the houses where migrant workers are living to ensure they do not pose a problem to rescue operations. Risks and Control Measures Migrant workers are exposed to a lot of risks and fire related hazards in their houses. Some of the major risks include fire hence identifying various sources and causes of fire in these areas will be a major breakthrough in preventing and reducing its impacts. Therefore, it is important to undertake the necessary steps in identifying hazards as well as reducing its impacts. Such steps involves identification of hazards, identification of people at risk, evaluating, removing, reducing and protecting people from risks, recording, planning, informing, instructing and training, and reviewing the assessment as illustrated by Charles (2006). Identification of hazards involves knowing and evaluating keenly the areas where fire is likely to start and the factors as well as materials that may start the fire. Some of the major hazards that must be present for the fire to start include fuel, oxygen, and sources of ignition. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that these three hazards do not get into contact or even kept in one area at the areas of residence for the migrants. It is vital to know some of these hazards in details as well as inform migrants concerning them as a way of reducing fire accidents and risks. Sources of fuel include cooking gas, mattresses, clothing, furniture, shoes, plastics, cooking oils, flammable cooking materials, fittings, spirits, and perfumes among others. Sources of ignition in the areas where migrants live include naked flames of gas, matches, hot surfaces of iron boxes, cigarettes, electrical appliances among others. The sources of oxygen are oxidizing materials including chemicals and welding or fireworks. It is crucial for the materials that pose a great threat to the life of people to be kept and handled with great care. There should be relevant fire awareness resources available in ensuring that these materials are well managed especially the risky ones such as cooking gas and electric cooing appliances. It is very likely that this group may not be aware of fire safety measures because those materials may be strange to them. Some of the materials they may use are likely to be too complex for them such as cooking gas and electric appliances. These migrant workers may also not be aware of the basic fire precautions in the areas that they live. This is due to lack of fire safety ideas or awareness as they are not necessary taught in all countries. Some of the migrant workers may not be familiar with the languages used in the country they are working. This may make them be unable to understand the basic fire precautions measures. Therefore, it is important to teach them on fire safety awareness as well as informing them on various materials that pose a great hazard to their life using the language they can understand. This will be a major booster for the migrant workers towards understanding fire risks and hazards and fire basic precautions. Another major risk that causes fire and that should be taken into consideration is alcohol consumption. These migrant workers should be educated on the importance of taking precautions and a lot a care when they are on the influence of alcohol that is major cause of most fire accidents. A regulation or rule should be stipulated clearly to the migrants on the level of alcohol consumption they are supposed to take. This can act as a major factor towards reducing the fire risks among the workers. Fire Awareness Resources Charles (2006) argues that in order for the fire safety awareness to become successful, it is crucial for adequate materials to be available. These will ensure that migrant workers are made aware on how to use them. Some of the include fire extinguishers and smoke alarms. Fire apparatus manufacturers should be teach the migrants on how to use those apparatus. However, they are other resources that play a key role towards improving knowledge concerning fire safety to migrant workers. Some of those materials include fire prevention posters, reading materials, smoke detecting signals, fire extinguishers, and smoke detecting bells. The magazines and posters on fire safety and awareness should be written on the languages and signs that migrant easily understand. Fire posters will be hanged in various areas where the migrants will be able to see them easily. This is towards making it easier for them to know on various ways that they can reduce fire risk. Fire fighting facilities will provide them with basic practical knowledge on how to fight fire in case it occurs. Other facilities will be used to demonstrate to them on how to detect when the fire occurs through the fire alarms and bells. The appropriate materials should as well be put at the right places within the buildings. Some of those include smoke bells, fire bells, fire extinguishers, and posters. These posters should act as guides in case of fire accidents. Theoretical knowledge will be transferred to them through some short time sessions that will be arranged by fire and rescue services departments in collaboration with other related agencies like fire facilities manufacturers. This will increase the knowledge and general fire safety awareness among the migrant workers. Combined technical and theoretical knowledge is a major step towards increasing the required fire awareness among the migrant workers in the areas that they live. Fire Safety Awareness According to Turner Publishing Company (2000), Fire safety awareness is a key factor that reduces the occurrences of fire among the migrant workers and general population. Fire safety awareness should start as early as when the children are in schools. There should be programs put in school curriculums and community educations as a way of informing the public on fire safety. This is a guaranteed way of ensuring the levels fire safety awareness is increased significantly in the society. Increased levels of fire safety awareness among the migrant workers will play a key part in reducing the incidences of fire and related risks in the areas that they live. Increased fire safety awareness in the community will play a major part towards reducing the fire risks and associated risks. Provision of Working Smoke Alarms According to Turner Publishing Company (2000), Smoke alarms indicate or informs when there is fire or smoldering smoke within an areas they have been installed. This is a clear indication that a swift action requires to be undertaken before the fire becomes uncontrollable or even spreads into a large section. Smoke alarms ensure that there is no much destruction by the fire and calls for an immediate action. Therefore, it is important for the migrants to be informed on how to react in case there is smoke alarm call. They should also be informed on the initial steps that they should follow to reduce confusion among themselves, which is as well risky. Methodology and Evidence After communicating the message to the community and migrant workers, it is necessary to utilize necessary methodologies in order to evaluate whether the various ways of creating awareness has become successful. This has to be carried out through questionnaires and interviews as a way of comparing to what extent have people gained the necessary knowledge. These interviews and questions were based on various fire preventative ways as well as other ways of reducing fire risks. There was a clear indication that creating fire awareness has quite some significant importance in terms of reducing the risks of fire incidents among the migrant workers and entire community. This achievement of increased awareness can be attributed to the collaboration and partnership of various agencies in achieving fire safety awareness. Use of various resources including posters, fire extinguishers, and smoke alarms in teaching people about fire safety played a great part in increasing fire safety awareness. Conclusion When fire and rescue services collaborates with various agencies including government, it becomes easier for the fire related hazards and risks to be reduced significantly in the areas that migrant workers live. This partnership or collaboration improves the efficiency of fire and rescue services towards saving life and properties. It becomes hard for the fire and rescue service to work alone without other agencies. Therefore, for the services to be effective and efficient there has to be a collaborative working between fire and rescue services with other agencies. It is important to note that fire and rescue services act 2004, clarifies the duties and powers of Fire and Rescue Authorities to promote fire safety, fight fires, protect people and property from fires, as well as rescue people from road traffic accidents. It also clarifies on the need to deal with other specific emergencies including terrorist attack and flooding as well as doing other things to respond to specific community needs and risk they face. All efforts should be put in place in ensuring that any fire related risk and hazards are greatly reduced. This can be achieved through proper identification of those hazards and risks. The migrant workers should be made aware on how to reduce any fire occurrence from those hazards through their proper management. It is also important for the fire and rescue services to become aware of the basic fire precautions as a way of reducing fire incidences. However, it is important to note that all this can be achieved through proper use of the available resource. These resources should be supplied in abundance in order to ensure the migrants get the message across. It is also important that the right materials for firefighting put installed at the right places with the buildings or houses that the migrant workers are living. References Arthur, E 2003, Organizing for Fire and Rescue Services, Jones & Barlett Learning, London. Charles, S 2006, Fire and emergency service administration: management and leadership practices, Jones & Barlett Learning, London. Stationery Office Staff 2004, Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. Chapter 21 Explanatory Notes, Stationery Office, New York. Turner Publishing Company 2000, International Association of Fire Chiefs, Turner Publishing Company, California. Read More