Law, Justice of England and Wales Fire Service - Case Study Example

Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Law, Globalization and Ethics. Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Introduction The England and Wales fire authority is a legislative bode composed of a committee of local councilors which supervises service delivery and policy of a fire and rescue service. The local fire and rescue authority is an administrative body which makes sure that local fire services performs effectively and considers interests of the community and public it serves. This means that the fire service is accountable for its performance and actions to the universal public. Though a fire safety officer is a staff of the fire service and is empowered and accountable to the chief fire officer to execute inspection powers, any prosecution of enforcement act taken against the organization by the fire service is presented under fire authority in the regulatory reform fire safety order 2005( Wright, 2004). England and Wales fire service law and how the law operates internationally A fire and rescue service is often the operational body that fights fire as discrete from the fire and rescue authority which is the legislative, administrative and public body composed of councilors and civilians who run the fire and rescues service. The regulatory reform fire safety order 2005 which was implemented in October 2006 replaced over 70 pieces of fire safety law. Grice (2009) argues that the previous fire safety regulations shifted from the prescriptive model, under the fire precautions act and several other acts and regulations, to a risk based scheme under the regulatory reform (fire safety) order 2005. The legislation implements a risk based approach to community, business premises, and industrial fire safety. It needs the responsible individual usually the occupier, owner, or employer to conduct a fire safety risk assessment and implement suitable fire protection and precautionary measures, and to uphold a fire management plan. Fire and rescue authorities are the main enforcers and possess a statutory responsibility to enforce legislation requirements. The regulatory reform fire safety order applies to ever non domestic premises in Wales and England, along with the common regions of blocks of houses and flats in multiple occupations. The law applies people who are responsible for business premise, self employed, or employer with business premises or responsible for a part of residence where that portion is exclusively used for business purposes. The law is used applicable to a voluntary or charity organization, a contractor with a level of regulation over any premises or to a person who provides accommodation for paying guests. The fire risk assessment must focus on the safety of every relevant person in case of fire. The assessment helps in identification of risks that can be mitigated against or eliminated. It also helps in identification and definition of extent and nature of the universal fire precautions to be put in place in order to protect against fire and the intrinsic fire hazards that remain (Funess, & Muckett, 2007). Apart from fire safety, the fire and rescue service can relate to other emergencies like in relation to which the power has tasks under section 7or 8.An order in this section may need tasks conferred on a fire and rescue authority in this section to be released outside the area under the authority. An order under section 7 or section 8 can make provisions to what a fire and rescue service may or must not do for the reason of a conferred function under the section and can in particular authorize or require a fire and rescue authority to secure the provision of services, equipments and personnel, provision of training personnel, establish arrangements for handling call for aid and for beckoning personnel and establish arrangements to ensure that suitable steps are taken so as to limit or prevent damage to property as a result of discharge of the function. An order in section 7 or 8 can bestow a function, involving a function of offering certain equipment on a certain authority and before formulating an order under the section, the secretary of state is supposed to consult individuals he regards appropriate. The Haiti earthquake made UK to respond to appeals for humanitarian aid, pledging funds and discharging medical and rescue teams, support personnel and engineers. Around two days after the quake struck Haiti, 64 of the strong UK e search and rescue team was deployed in the area to search for survivors in the collapsed street of Port-au-Prince. Other teams from the United Kingdom fire and rescue service were discharged into the region and they rescued several survivors from the rubble. The most depressing need was for global rescue and search teams to entailing firefighters from all regions of Britain to embark on the task of saving people. In addition to there was a huge need for water, food, medicine, sanitation, and shelter among individuals who have been rendered homeless by earthquake which has made the department for international development to offer funds to assist the Haiti humanitarian relief. Apart from search and rescue activity, the international aid effort has shifted to stability in the country along with its long term rehabilitation. Follow the life saving task by the United Kingdom search and rescue teams which reached the country two days after the earthquake, the department for international department focus is on assisting co-ordinate an intricate relief effort to limit anxiety and delays among Haiti citizens. Role of globalization in affecting the legislative and substantive work fire and rescue service workers The united kingdom fire and rescue services comprise of numerous occupational groups namely the local authority fire and rescue service, civil authority fire services, ministry of defence fire services, occupational brigades which safeguard private companies like those in chemical and nuclear, petroleum and pharmaceutical industries, harbours and ports and a few number of event hire fire services. Each fire and rescue service authority in Wales and England has selected a chief fire officer to make sure that their responsibilities in the fire and rescue services act 2004 are efficiently discharged. As heads of service, the chief fire offers have the responsibility to meet statutory duties in the health and safety act which relates to a need to makes sure that staff is efficiently trained in regard to fire and emergency response. People working in the fire and rescue service are classified as operational or non operational workers. Operational workers include whole time firefighters, retained firefighters who are individuals contracted to be accessible for agreed durations of time for firefighting functions, who can also have other full time jobs and volunteer firefighters who are often located in rural areas. Non operational workers include the support team and fire control staff who are employed within the fire and rescue control centre to respond to emergency calls and handle communications and mobilising activities. The investigation and enforcement workers include fire safety supervisors along with other approved enforcement officers who have the powers to conduct routine inspections, scrutinize offences related to fire safety and restrict or prohibit use of hazardous buildings. The UK fire and rescue service benefit from cheap services and greater prosperity as a result of globalization. Therefore the fire and rescue service must include funding to support its employees and increase their competitiveness on the global market. The fire and rescue national framework has set out governments objectives and priorities for the fire and rescue service in Wales and England. Therefore the employees have been required to put more emphasis on the protection, response, and prevention as the central business for of the fire and rescue authorities in analyzing hazards and responding so as to meet and alleviate the impact of these hazards. The regulatory reform fire safety order 2005 which came into effect on October 2006, gave the people accountable for fire protection a legal responsibility to conduct fire assessments and place the essential fire safety measures to control or reduce risk. The civil contingencies act 2004 places down tasks for explicated category one responders entailing fire and rescue authorities to plan, assess advise and plan in relation to emergencies (Funess, & Muckett, 2007). The national parity and diversity has set out the commitment of the fire and rescue service to make sure that equality and diversity are fully incorporated into every aspect of the service. It lays down the actions needed service delivery, employment practice, leadership, assessment and dissemination of superior practice and liability to accomplish this vision. This enables the fire and rescue authorities under tighter economic climate to meet civic anticipations of a contemporary, effective, and efficient civic service. The local government white paper prosperous and strong communities vitally transformed the relationship amid local and central government and between local communities local government. The local government has been offered more liberty to shape their local services so as to meet the requirements of local populations and be more efficient in deliverance outcomes for local communities through working with home communities. These priorities are revealed in the unique aspects of the work environment which is explained in section 3.1 and the workforce changes and trend for the fire and rescue segment which is explained in section 3.2. Globalization exerts immense on the financial condition and the business sector of the fire and rescue service. It generates markets based on industrial fabrication across the globe which in turn broadens the admission to a wide range of foreign services for use by the customers owing to marketing strategies used by different corporations. Therefore the fire and rescue service has been required to promote efficiency and develop the staff effectively so that all employees are develop, recruited and progressed transparently and equally , with overall competencies and performance regularly reviewed. In order to ensure efficient cross border functioning of and safety and health of operational workers there is a supplementary requirement for the constancy of nationwide standards. The integrated personal development system supports a proficiency based staff management approach employing maps underlined by national occupational standards. How ethical considerations are dealt with in the fire and rescue services According to Salehnia (2006), ethical considerations in the fire and rescue service are enabled through fostering a capable and happy workforce, in which every individual is valued to do what is good and right to save and protect property, the environment, and lives from fire and other disasters. The fire and rescue service commitment to integrity and diversity manages and promotes diversity and demonstrates an ethical and fair approach in every situation. It seeks to develop and lay down schemes to manage diversity and acquire an ethical and fair approach by utilizing positive action, flexible and family friendly working practices. It also demonstrates and supports ethical and fair behavior by ensuring objective gathering of realities in spite of personal background or views and keeps the information confidential when necessary. The fire and rescue service sustains an open approach with other people taking into considerations and displaying respect for personal differences such as ethnicity, age, religious beliefs, social background, disability, sexual orientation, physical appearance, and gender. For instance the England and Wales fire and rescue service makes stipulation for access for individuals with disabilities. It encourages complete involvement and to connect with individuals with disabilities. The service believes that it is vital to identify with groups of people whose voices have conventionally been ignored and work towards sustainable conformity. Angle (2004) argues that the fire and rescue service considers the complete diversity of individuals with disabilities and barriers that these people, staff, and community face in the full maintenance of social inclusion. The fire and rescue service employs the community awareness and needs to deliver organizational goals. For instance it is respectful and aware of differing backgrounds and culture and makes accessible documents in diverse languages in order to meet the requirements of the local society. Barr (2003) argues that the service is also committed to fire and rescue service principles and demonstrates the commitment in every situation and with every group, for instance it advocates diversity training for every worker. It is candid and accepts responsibility for its own activities when working with other people and takes accountability for own errors and follows up dedications with suitable actions. The service proactively challenges improper behaviour which is contradictory with fire and rescue service principles, stating its own and organizations position visibly and implementing suitable action through offering education of if essential employing disciplinary action in relation with organisational strategy. According to Salehnia, (2006), the main aim of the service is to maximize the safety of its communities by whichever means possible and deliver a contemporary effective and well managed fire and rescue service which it can be proud of. It shows respect for privacy with also delicate information. For instance, it maintains the privacy of sickness records of the staff. The main objectives of the fire and rescue service is to reduce fire incidents, emergency incidents and resultant injuries and deaths in the community, manage hazard and respond efficiently to emergencies, create a fair, caring and safe workplace for workers and develop the competencies they require to execute their roles and to ensure superior standards of corporate governance and sustained service improvement. Role of the Fire and rescue service practitioner in a changing world environment The changing world environment in the fire and rescue service has required the fire and rescue practitioner to reinforce management at all levels and sectors of the organisation in order to meet the present and future challenges. Fire and rescue practitioners are supposed to make sure that people with leadership potential or responsibilities are given encouragement and opportunity to develop their skills. The practitioner must endorse quality assurance as a fundamental if development and learning standards across the fire and rescue service are to be improved and maintained. The practitioner is needed to review the way services are delivered and emphasize on driving up excellence, improving productivity and efficiency, encouraging innovation and collaborative operational with other organizations (Salehnia, 2006). The practitioner should view development as a vital portion of strategic planning procedure and make sure that it is in alignment with organizational goals through a performance management scheme. Value must be placed on place of work learning and every staff will have personal development strategy that should be updated frequently through dialogue with line mangers on basis of performance in the role. The practitioner should use behavioral competencies in form of personal qualities and attributes which will offer a framework for determining a person’s latent for progression in the organization. Assessment and development centers should be used by the practitioner to promote career progression development of freshly appointed workers will be based on feedback from the assessment and development process and the determination of earlier experience and learning against the national occupational standards for their novel role (Barr, 2003). The practitioner should use national occupational standards to review current programmes and to develop new ones in order to make sure that advancement is delivered to a nationwide recognized level and are in line with the function requirements. The practitioner should initiate and implement measures to make sure that the environment is continuously checked and actions are taken to ensure secure working for instance, for hazards to personal safety and safety of others. He should seek and offer appropriate updates to take description of changing circumstances that effect on safety, for instance, through keeping pertinent colleagues updated on incidents and shifting circumstances (Grice, 2009). Conclusion The fire authority ensures that local fire and rescue services performs effectively and takes into account of the community and service it serves. The implementation of the regulatory reform (fire safety) order 2005 shifted the preceding fire safety regulations from the prescriptive approach to a risk assessment system. Therefore every responsible person is supposed to undertake a fire safety risk assessment and execute an appropriate fire precautionary and protection measures and maintain a fire management plan. Apart from fire, the fire and rescue service responds to other emergencies like earthquakes and floods and therefore workers have been required to emphasize more on prevention, response, protection as the core business of the fire and rescue authorities in examining risks and take actions so as to alleviate or meet the effect of these hazards. Bibliography Wright, R., 2004, An outline of local government and local finance in England and Wales fire authority, Bloomsbury Press, England. Funess, A., & Muckett, M., 2007, Introduction to fire safety management, Allen and Unwin, Australia. Grice, A., 2009, Fire Risk: Fire safety law and its Practical Application, Ashgate Press, Wales. Barr, R., 2003, The fire chiefs handbook, Academic press, Britain. Salehnia A., 2006, Ethical issues of information systems, Blackwell, UK. Angle, J., 2004, Occupational Safety and health in the Emergency services, Brockhampton Press, London. Read More