How the Law as Affected by Internalisation of Standards Affects the Fire and Rescue Service - Coursework Example

LAW, GLOBALISATION, and ETHICS 1. Introduction The law generally provides the Fire and Rescue Service with guidelines in order to guarantee the safety of the community. Emergency organisations like the Fire and Rescue Service needs to follow the law and fulfil the requirements such as increasing the efficiency through modernisation and effective risk management. However, aside from local laws and new legislations, the Fire and Rescue Service is also being affected by technical, political, and economic globalisation. These include adapting global standards and conforming to internationally acceptable practices, protocols, and equipment specifications. Information sharing with other similar service helps the Fire and Rescue determine the most suitable solutions and effective strategies. Similarly, political and economic globalisation affects local laws and consequently the functioning of the fire and rescue service. The following sections discuss how the law as affected by internalisation of standards and practices affects the fire and rescue service. These include discussions on different types of globalisation and its impact on the emergency organisation, and ethical requirements for the fire and rescue service. 2. Law, Globalization, and Ethics 2.1 Law There are several local laws pertaining to fire and rescue service and one of them is the Fire and Rescue Service Act 2004 that seeks to reform and modernised the fire and service. The Act required the FRS to efficiently promote safety and increase partnership with the local community. More importantly, the Act added a new role to the fire and rescue service which is responding to terrorist threat and other major incidents. In view of these requirements, the FRA or The Fire and Rescue Authority were asked to plan, equip, and take action to meet the requirements. These include requiring each fire and rescue service to have their own Integrated Risk Management Plans or IRMPs which will the basis of resource allocation for a particular FRS (Communities and Local Government 2005, p.6). Under the Act the fire and rescue service in England and Wales was also given powers they can use to obtain information or conduct an investigation in certain premises that can help them prepare and deal with fires (Furness & Muckett 2007, p.298). New legislations particularly in terms of safety enforcement entails a change of culture and creates resource implication for the service since increased tasks means increased responsibility (House of Commons 2006, p.113). Apparently, each fire and rescue service has to adjust and prepare themselves by further training, modernizing, and hiring additional personnel. The law clearly seeks to improve the fire and rescue service and protect the community thus beneficial to everyone. Internationally, the same principle is being use to improve community safety as evidence by the number of countries applying international standards and practices. Although emergency management may vary in some parts, the same rules and standards are being applied (Furness & Muckett 2007, p.298). 2.2 Globalization Globalization is generally a concept supporting the idea that world should be one and people should be thinking of the world as a whole rather than a group independent countries (Hardill, Graham, & Kofman 2001, p.15). In other words, it is large scale human cooperation transcending state boundaries (Boudreaux 2008, p.1). In the fire and rescue service, the most noticeable impact of globalization is the use of international standards such as the NFPA and others standards that is deemed acceptable locally. For instance, although they have a local standard, some of the specifications in the British Standard were actually adopted from ISO. The following sections discuss the different aspects of globalization affecting the fire service that include technological, political, and economic globalization. 2.2.1 Technological Globalization Technological globalization according to Archibugi & Michie (1997, p.4) affects local institutions as the activities taking place within their territory can also affect decisions made in other states. For instance, selling goods overseas that were made following the manufacturing country’s local standard may cause some problems as it may not conform to the buyer country’s local standard. For this reason, more and more countries are adopting international standard to ensure that their products are sellable anywhere (Went 2000, p.53). In relation to the fire and rescue service, majority of the system and tools being used today to address risks and hazards locally are relatively universal and accepted all over the world. For instance, although emergency management may be developed separately and from various sources, the widespread sharing of information of many states enable standardization of emergency management approaches. According to Coppola (2007, p.338), practices, protocols, and equipment used by emergency organisations such as the FRS have been standardized by globalization. Along with technology, globalization increased the interaction among states and impacted the economic activity of each country (Coris & Akhunov 2000, p.1). The increased interaction among emergency managers or organisations dealing with emergencies in their respective localities suggest that sharing of expertise, data, innovations, technical advances, and so on becomes a common undertaking that benefits all. For instance, sharing of experiences encountered during an emergency response enable each emergency organisation to learn and improve their strategies. In the technical side for example, emergency organisations can recommend new equipments that can improve response. These recommendations may include a new and advanced fire engine, a ladder that can reach more height, or a new highly reliable smoke and fire detector. According to the House of Commons (2009, p.590) report, globalization challenged the nations in the EU to get involve, share their experiences, and learn from each other. In practice, this would enable EU members to indentify common solutions and opportunities for the region. Aside from EU, these practices extend to other parts of the world including the third world. Although its effects may not be noticeable, technological globalisation influences even the weak and underdeveloped countries (Coppola 2007, p.338). In the UK for instance, although it is highly industrialised, their local decisions and options is severely affected by the global trend (Vidovic & Paukovic p.111). This type of behaviour of behaviour is understandable as globalisation seems to makes each state interdependent or working as one to attain global goals and national interest. For instance, if the UK government would manufacture goods using their local standard which is not globally acceptable, they will find it difficult to trade since no country would accept a different standard other than what is specified. In contrast, if all goods are manufactured complying with international practices and standards, they can sell anywhere and national interest can be achieved. Similarly, the fire and rescue service modernisation and compliance with international or global standard can greatly benefit the organisation. For instance, working with internationally acceptable practices, the fire and rescue service in the United Kingdom can encourage foreign students to study fire and rescue related courses in the country which is additional revenues. Moreover, using the same standard as other international emergency organisation, the local fire and rescue service can easily apply innovations from other country. This may be compatibility in equipment parts or inclusion of newer techniques to existing emergency management strategies. In general, sharing technical information globally mutually benefits each organisation and in turn benefits local community. The knowledge gained, better standards, and modern equipment acquired can greatly help reduce the number of casualties and secure the well-being of the community. 2.2.2 Political Globalization The EU or the European Union is one example of an international integration that fit into the term ‘political globalization’ which states used to realize their national interest (Vidovic & Paukovic 2007, p.111). The fire and rescue service particularly in the United Kingdom is experiencing the effect of political globalization through government initiatives based on international trend. For instance, the new BS 9999 is a product of a review conducted by the UK government regarding fire legislation and enforcements. More importantly, BS 9999 is a consolidation of the existing standards in one (Billington et al., 2002, p.213). The move by the UK government according to Architect’s Journal (2000, p.37), was in line with harmonizing these standards to EU classifications which is clearly political. As mentioned earlier, this is to ensure that all local standards are acceptable internationally including practices, protocols, and so on. Political globalization affects the fire and rescue service in a number of ways and these include being accepted internationally. Apparently, local laws and legislations to improve and modernise the fire and rescue service is in line with the global changes and influence of new developments in international politics. As evidenced by the changing standards either technical or procedural, the impact of these changes to the fire and rescue service is significant as it often involves radical adjustments. 2.2.3 Economic Globalization Economic globalization has been defined in a number of ways but it is more understandable as a way of doing business where costs are being reduced by innovations and advances in information technology such as the Internet and other communication technologies (Rajan 2003, p.3). Economic globalisation has a significant impact on local economic policies of every state as they are now subject to a wide network of economic and relational forces (Haynes 2005, p.138). Similar to any organisation, the fire and rescue service is economically involved and with globalization, government policies towards the organisation will change. For example, globalisation requires the fire and rescue to modernise and procure equipments thus funding from government is required. However, modernisation entails increased efficiency from the fire and rescue service and procurement must be in line with national procurement system–FireBuy. FireBuy enables the government to regulate FRS procurement of vehicles, clothing, and protective gadgets (Communities and Local Government (2005, p.13). More importantly, FireBuy can reduce the costs of these items through networks of global suppliers. Economic globalisation not only entails monetary issues but also involved migration where people from different cultures would join the local community (Friedman & Randeria p.235). In view of the fire and rescue, this aspect of economic globalisation is additional work and entails understanding of different culture in terms of fire prevention and protection. For instance, existing fire prevention strategies may be modified due to increasing migrant population or additional personnel may be needed to cover the entire community regarding fire safety education. In general, globalisation not only affects the technological and political sides of the fire and rescue service but the economic side of the organisation. 2.3 Ethics Ethics is normally concern with standards for right conduct and moral evaluation (Driver 2006, p.2) and like many organisations, ethics are also applicable to the fire and rescue service and other emergency organisations without exemption. For instance, the UK Fire Service strike in 2002-3 was considered morally sensitive due to the implications it brought to public services (Pinnington et al, 2007, p.209). Like many organisations, the fire and rescue service is also bound to follow workplace ethics which are the rules and principles that they must follow in order to be moreally right. In business organisation for instance, a code of ethics means being dependable, abide by the law, and being good to the customer (Madsen 2001, p.15). Similarly, the fire and rescue are bound to obey the law, respond to emergencies, and care for the community. Clearly, the fire and rescue service is not only have to follow legislations concerning emergency organisations but have to act morally. Although emergencies are mostly chaotic and stressful, members of the fire and rescue service must be careful and act accordingly. As workplace ethics is applicable to emergency organisations then ethical conduct may be achieved generally through honestly, integrity, respect, trust, and being always responsible (Madsen 2001, p.17). However, being a good person in your own view may not be enough to handle ethical matters in the workplace thus one must know the relationship between legal and ethical conduct. For instance, within the emergency organisation, personal values of each member should be respected thus leaders should be careful in making ethical decisions (Peterson & Ferrell 2005, p.6). 3. Conclusion The law along with national framework generated provides the Fire and Rescue Service with guidelines to follow in order to improve their service to the community. The Fire and Rescue Service Act 2004 seeks to modernise the emergency organisation and efficiently keep the community safe through community partnership. Implementation of the law entails planning, procuring new and advanced equipment, additional personnel, and working with great efficiency. Moreover, it entails generation of reliable IRMP that would be the basis of resource allocation and emergency management. Aside from legislations and new governmental policies, the fire and rescue service is also affected by globalisation which is in general changing the organisation’s technical, political, and economic characteristics. The most prominent effects of globalisation is the adoption of international standards such as the NFPA and ISO. Technological globalisation influences the way fire service creates systems and tools they use locally while emergency management is increasingly being based on shared information and standards acceptable internationally. These include adopting practices, protocols, and equipment manufactured based on global standards. Moreover, as globalisation intensified the interaction between states, new technology determines the economic activity of each country. Similarly, sharing among the fire and rescue services enables innovations, technical advances, and exchange of expertise. Political globalisation on the other hand affects national interest as evidenced by UK government initiatives to harmonized local standards to EU Classifications. Consequently, changes particularly those that concerns emergency organisations affects the fire and rescue service. As economic globalisation impact the local economic policy due to a network of economic and relational forces, the fire and rescue service as an organisation with economic needs is being affected by changing economic policies and resource conflicts such a funding and procurements. Moreover, economic globalisation means more migrants, larger community, more work, and additional personnel which the fire and rescue has to manage. Aside from the pressure from globalisation, the fire and rescue service has to manage ethical issues in and out of the organisation. Ethics in the workplace is also applicable to emergency organisations and regardless how complicated and stressful their work are, respect, honesty, and integrity should remain intact. 4. References Archibugi D., & Michie J., 1997, Technology, globalization and economic performance, Cambridge University Press, UK Billington M, Ferguson A., & Copping A., 2002, Means of escape from fire, Wiley-Blackwell, UK Boudreaux D., 2008, Globalization, Greenwood Publishing Group, US Communities and Local Government, 2006, Fire and Rescue Service: Fourth Report of Session 2005-06, The Stationery Office, UK Coppola D., 2007, Introduction to international disaster management, Butterworth-Heinemann, UK Corsi C., & Aknunov A., 2000, Innovation and market globalization: the position of SME's, IOS Press, Netherlands Driver J., 2006, Ethics: the fundamentals, Wiley-Blackwell, Singapore Friedman J. & Randeria S., 2004, Worlds on the move: globalization, migration, and cultural security, I.B.Tauris, UK Furness A. & Muckett M., 2007, Introduction to fire safety management, Butterworth-Heinemann, UK Hardill I., Graham D., & Kofman E, 2001. Human geography of the UK: an introduction. Routledge, UK Haynes J., 2005, Comparative politics in a globalizing world, Polity, UK House of Commons, 2009, Globalisation and Its Impact on Wales: Second Report of Session 2008-09, The Stationery Office, UK Madsen D., 2001, Engineering drawing and design, Cengage Learning, US Peterson R. & Ferrell O., 2005, Business ethics: new challenges for business schools and corporate leaders, M.E. Sharpe, US Rajan R., 2003, Economic globalization and Asia: essays on finance, trade and taxation, World Scientific, Singapore The Architect’s Journal, 2000, The Architects' journal, Volume 211, The Architectural Press Ltd., University of Michigan, US Vidovic D. & Paukovic D., 2007, Globalization and Neo-liberalism (Reflections on Croatian Society), CPI/PSRC, Zagreb Went R., 2000, Globalization: neoliberal challenge, radical responses, Pluto Press, UK Read More