Greater Manchester's Fire and Rescue Service Authority - Case Study Example

Running Head: Fire & Rescue Service Management Greater Manchester’s Fire and Rescue Service Authority: Fire & Rescue Service Management Name: Grade Course: Tutor’s Name: 5th, December, 2009 Question 1 The Benefits and the Validity of Greater Manchester’s Fire and Rescue Service Authority against HSG 65 health and safety management system framework “You can’t manage what you can’t measure” According to the Health and Safety Executive, there is a way of measuring health and safety performance. The HSE indicates that health and safety performance measurement should be conducted considering: Why the health and safety performance should be measured What should be measured in the performance? Who should measure the performance and How it should be measured (HSE, 2001) It is under one these guidelines that the quote “You can’t manage what you can’t measure” by Drucker is proved. According to the Health and Safety Executive, measurement is part of a management process therefore for one to manage a system; he/she has to have the measurements necessary. One of such measurements is the health and safety measurement. The HSG 65 framework gives the measuring performance role in general health and safety performance management system. The framework has the following as the key elements: a. policy b. Organizing c. Planning and Implementing d. Measuring performance e. Review performance f. Auditing (HSE, 2001) In this section, a critical analysis of Greater Manchester’s fire and rescue authority’s IRMP validity and benefits against the elements of the HSG 65 framework is done. a). Policy According to the Health and Safety Executive 65 framework, measuring of health and safety management systems should consider if an organization has a written policy statement on health and safety, if the policy meets the legal requirements and the requirements of best practice, if the policy is updated and if the policy is implemented (HSE, 2001). Under the Fire and Rescue Service Act 2004, Fire and Rescue authorities are required to develop an integrated risk management plan that should help reduce risks from fires and other emergencies. The plan should also have objectives and aims set to be achieved as set by the authorities and should describe the standards they will apply as a way to perform their statutory duties. This ensures continued improvement and achievement of best value for the people they serve (GMFRA, 2007). In the integrated plan, the fire and rescue authority should also be able to describe how the resources will be set out to improve safety in all sections of the community while working with other partners to ensure improved public safety. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service Authority has a policy statement below describing its approach to implement the Fire and Rescue Service Act 2004. “Our integrated Risk Management Plan sets out our strategic approach to the way we will identify and manage fire risks and other risks faced by the communities we serve in Greater Manchester. This plan (our second) is for the period April 2007 to March 2010, after which we will review our progress in reducing the risks from fires and other emergencies and securing continuous improvements in community safety. Each year we will produce an Integrated Risk Management Action Plan detailing the specific actions that are designed to deliver the strategic objectives contained within our three year Integrated Risk Management Plan. In our annual Fire and Rescue Service Performance Plan, we will publish our progress in respect of specific Integrated Risk Management Actions. We also intend to use this publication as the method by which we will review the risks from fires and other emergencies, advice of further plans, changes to objectives and progress on the overall delivery of our Integrated Risk Management Plan” (GMFRA, 2007 p. 4). This policy statement is updated as it refers to how the organization will accomplish its legislative duties according to the current legislative act; Fire and Rescue Act 2004. Fire and Rescue Act 2004 is the latest Act that came into force in October 1st, 2004 replacing Fire Services Act 1947 (CLG, 2009). Greater Manchester’s Fire and Rescue Service Authority’s IRMP policy statement meets legal requirements and requirements of best practice. As described above, the statement indicates that the organization has an IRMP that will help reduce fire risks and risks from other emergencies as required by the Fire and Rescue Act 2004 (GMFRA, 2007). The statement also shows how the objectives of the organization will be met. Objectives which are set based on the Government’s set objectives/targets to safety from fires. Best practice requires good management of change while making continuous improvement (4QC, 2006). This is evident in the organization’s policy statement that indicates how it acts on its performance plan and its actions after a review (GMFRA, 2007). Policy implementation is evident in the whole plan where the organization’s objectives, risk analysis, risk reduction methods, performance, improvements and review of the plan are described (GMFRA, 2007). b). Organization In the HSG 65 framework, a health safety management system organization should be in place, should be adequate and should have arrangements implemented (HSG 65 framework). All these should be to establish a management control for the organization, promote co-operation among those involved, make sure there is effective communication and to secure the organization’s employee’s competency (HSE, 2001). Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service is already an organization proving the health and safety management system’s organization’s existence. It is governed by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority (GMFRA, 2007). Its adequacy and implementation of arrangements is however proved by the established management control system which has the Chief executive and the county fire officer managing the organization. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service organization is managed by a brigade management team (10 non-uniformed and uniformed senior managers) all reporting to the County fire officer (GMFRA, 2007). With the existence of an organization with a management team, there has to be a communication system for the organization to be well managed. Effective communication of important information is even evident in the plan itself that has a lot of proof of the organization’s activities. Identification and management of risks for example cannot happen without effective communication (GMFRA, 2007; Rockey, 1984). Its promotion of co-operation is revealed by its involvement with the local community to determine what risks/hazards exist in Greater Manchester and how to reduce them. Formation of partnership with the stakeholders involved, the local community and consultation with such parties also prove the organization’s co-operation (GMFRA, 2007). Greater Manchester Fire Rescue Service has so many employees all with different skills but all have to be competent in whatever the organization aims to accomplish by employing him or her. The organization for example has firefighters, crew managers, watch managers, station managers, county fire officer, assistant county fire officer, area managers, group managers and deputy county fire officer (GMFRA, 2007). c). Planning and Implementing According to the HSG 65 framework, a health and safety management system measurement should be determine if an organization’s planning system exists, if the organization’s planning system is adequate and if it has been implemented. The planning system should have developing, improving and maintaining health and safety management system objectives, should be able to prioritize activities based on the risks, should be able to manage the resources effectively and should be able to develop, maintain and implement risk management systems as well as work place precautions (HSE, 2001). Greater Manchester Fire and rescue service has an Integrated Risk Management plan with the following objectives: prevention, protection and emergency intervention services to ensure safety from fire. Greater Manchester Fire and rescue service authority identifies risks, analyses them and develops strategies on how to reduce the risks as described in section 5 of the IRMP. Under section 6, the organization describes its priorities when it comes to reducing risks, releasing resources and changing focus (GMFRA, 2007). All these describe the planning system of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority and its implementation. The plan’s section six describes how the organization has changed its focus from response to prevention due to the benefits of prevention and the disadvantages of waiting for the fire events to occur. This is a clear indication that the fire safety management system is operated, maintained and improved based on experiences (changing needs and risks) hence promotion of positive health and safety culture (GMFRA, 2007; HSE, 2001). d). Measuring performance Health and safety management systems’ performance should be monitored or measured (HSE, 2001). According to the information on Greater Manchester’s IRMP, the organization is committed to providing high standard services hence high standard performance. This the organization achieves by using performance indicators, performance targets and performance standards that aim at specific outcomes (GMFRA, 2007). The organization sets high standards and strives to achieve them while constantly improving ensuring that the public gets all that they need and expect. It also sets objectives and aims that help it achieve its vision which is “To make Greater Manchester a safer place by being a modern, community focused and influential Fire and Rescue Authority” (GMFRA, 2007 p.12). Ensuring that all these are done and missions accomplished is only confirmed after an evaluation of the organization’s performance is done. According to the information on Greater Manchester Fire Rescue Service’s IRMP, the organization constantly reviews and examines its performance. This review leads to change in the management system whenever necessary to ensure there is improvement in the performance (GMFRA, 2007). e). Audit and Review HSG 65 framework indicates that audits and reviews form part of the management system control sphere. Availability of audits and reviews ensures good management of a health and safety organization (HSE, 2001). Greater Manchester Fire Rescue Service has implemented some audits and even conducts reviews whenever necessary in its management system. In a risk management plan, Greater Manchester Fire Rescue Service has included a plan to implement a risk based audit and inspection regime for regulatory reform purposes (GMFRA, 2007). The organization also plans to implement results of a review it conducted with North West Fire and Rescue Services on its fire fighting foam to ensure appropriate response to predictable incidents (GMFRA, 2007). Departmental assessments are carried out to find out the level of standards achieved, and the progress made considering the equality standards the organization (department) aimed at and the local government equality standards (GMFRA, 2007). Greater Manchester Fire Rescue Service also plans to implement an audit track to find out the progress made on initiatives to events designed that were established to create links with communities that were hard to reach. All these show that Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service Authority incorporate auditing and review processes into its management system. The organization also conducts Integrated Risk Management Planning Process review as well as overall Fire Safety review (GMFRA, 2007). Question 2 The existing output measures Verses the Requirements in the Fire and Rescue service National Framework This describes what the organization has achieved considering its objectives compared to the requirements of the national framework. According to Greater Manchester Fire Rescue Service IRM plan, the organization has some achievements over the past three years. Greater Manchester Fire Rescue Service Authority has an IRMP with a time span of 3 years. The first IRMP was meant for years 2004-2007, then the next which is the current one is meant to serve for 3 years as well which is 2007-2010. The IRMP is reviewed every three year and another developed making changes based on the experiences of the past years (GMFRA, 2007). This is one of the achievements of Greater Manchester Fire Rescue Service Authority and according to the national framework, the Fire and Rescue service National framework requires any fire rescue authority to have an IRM plan. The plan has to have a time span of at least three years. The risk management plan has also to be reviewed and revised on a regular basis based on current information about risks and outcomes of service delivery by the organization; A requirement followed by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service Authority (CLG, 2008). Another achievement by Greater Manchester Fire Rescue Service Authority is in its risk analysis. One of the objectives of the organization was to change its focus on resilience for major incidents together with terrorist threats (GMFRA, 2007). In its risk management plan, the organization has always worked with other emergency services and local authorities to prepare risk management plans to handle major fire incidents. At the local level, the organization has ensured corporation with local authorities for example, formation of inter agency liaison officers’ group, involvement in major inter-agency terrorist exercise, establishment of high risk events such as the 2006 labour party conference on dealing with terrorism on a multi-agency basis and development of pre-planning effectively (GMFRA, 2007). The organization has developed procedures that will help it handle resilience issues at regional level by making certain there is shared response when disastrous terrorist events occur. This protocol includes shared response to mass detection, high volume pumping, monitoring of unfamiliar substances, urban search ad rescue and decontamination (GMFRA, 2007). According to the fire rescue service national framework, an IRMP should have a risk analysis that considers the regional and the local resilience forums so that terrorist and civil emergencies are also captured. It should also describe how the organization’s objectives will be met by working with other partners (CLG, 2008). Greater Manchester Fire Rescue Service Authority’s IRMP describes how it meets its objectives by collaboration with other partners and involving the local and regional community as described above. Question 3 Quality Enhancement Outputs Quality enhancement is only achieved through continued improvements. Continued improvements are achieved by good management or responsible management and responsible management involves incorporation all management resources and other inputs required to produce a product or an output, measuring the performance based on the objectives or analysing based on the targets of the output and customer satisfaction then making corrections to improve (Nebus, 2002). This is according to the ISO 9000 and ISO/TS 16949:2002 standards (Nebus, 2002; Dimitrijevic, 2009). According to the IRMP of Greater Manchester Fire Rescue Service, the organization has been struggling to reduce the impact of fires on communities including dealing with those who cause the fires. The quality enhancement outputs that show the organization’s efforts are; Reduced risk to life, a trend which the organization has ensured continued for some time The organization has achieved improved performance on attendance standards compared to the national attendance standards It has also slightly achieved its aim to reduce attendance to high volume low risk fire incidences that divert their attention and make the organization loose focus on major incidences. The organization is working towards a more cost effective way of service provision which is a requirement of the fire rescue national framework (improving in financial performance). The organization has ensured that increases in precept have not gone beyond the government’s limits (GMFRA, 2007). One other focus of the fire rescue service organization is to reduce the number, severity and consequences of fire incidences. According to the IRMP, this has had little success but there is still time for the organization to work towards its goals of improving service provision and reducing risks (GMFRA, 2007). The organization also accomplished most of its aims that were in the previous IRMP except for a few for example, fire cover in Mossley, reinvestment into community safety, a review of fire safety among others, which were identified and incorporated in the current plan (GMFRA, 2007). Reference List Communities and Local Government (CLG). (2009). Fire and resilience: The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. Retrieved on 4th Dec, 2009 from: http://www.communities.gov.uk/fire/firesafety/fire/ Communities and Local Government b (CLG).(2008). Fire and Rescue Service National Framework 2008–11. Department for Communities and Local Government. Dimitrijevic. B (2009).Managing for the sustained Success of an Organization. North shore Management System Inc. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority (GMFRA). (2007). Integrated Risk Management Plan 2007 – 2010. Health and Safety Executive (HSE). (2001). A Guide to Measuring Health & Safety Performance: Measuring Health and Safety Performance. Nebus, J. (2002). The Transition From QS-9000 to ISO/TS 16949:2002. 4QC. (2006). Best practice Cases of the 4th Quality Conference for Public Administration in the EU: Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service - Changing Working Patterns. Retrieved on 3rd Dec, 2009 from: http://www.4qconference.org/en/bp_cases_of_the_4qc/uk/uk_b.php. Rockey, E. H. (1984). Communicating in Organizations. New York, US: University Press of America. Read More