The Integrated Risk Management Plan for Suffolk - Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : IRMP for Suffolk Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2009 IRMP for Suffolk Introduction IRMP for Suffolk is a plan intended to assist the service in achieving its objectives which include improving the safety of local community. The plan includes the output measures that the Fire and Rescue Service will apply in achieving its objectives. Some of the output measures include prevention, protection and response measures, resilience measures, diversity and workforce and governance and improvement measures. The plan also contains proofs for improvement which consist of the success of community program, retained duty system, success in training and recruitment and success. The validity and benefits of the plan will be evaluated against the elements of HSG 65 framework which include: policy, Organizing, planning and implementation, measuring performance, review performance and auditing. Policy Fire and Rescue Service Integrated Risk Management Plan for Suffolk is based on the policy of maintaining an efficient and effective fire and rescue service. The services delivered are in line with the four key themes stipulated by the National Framework of Fire and Rescue Authority. The four themes are: Prevention, Protection and Response, Resilience, Diversity and Workforce, and Governance and Improvement. The policy of the Fire and Rescue service at Suffolk is to improve the safety of staff and enhance the manner in which it manages its standards. It also seeks to improve the way in which it collaborates with partners in minimizing risks and reducing the consequences of fire incidences in Suffolk. The policy meets the legal requirements as specified by the National Framework of Fire and Rescue Authority. The main objective of the policy is to Suffolk the safest place in England by upholding an effective and efficient fire and rescue service. The policy focuses on new areas or areas that greatly require improvements (Suffolk county council, 2009). Organizing The Integrated Risk Management Plan for Suffolk is well organized to ensure that it realizes its objectives. The plan advocates for full co-operation and participation of all the people in the service, safety representatives and the entire community of Suffolk. This is ensured by enhancing an effective communication which equips everyone with knowledge of what is expected from them in terms of safety of the area. The service ensures that the community is well informed and educated on the means of preventing risks. The service is well organized to save and preserve endangered life, handle operational incidences, safeguard the environment from the consequences of hazardous materials and support the efficiency of operational response. All the workers are motivated as a measure of developing their career and raising their morale while working for the service. The service plays a role in safety resolutions aimed at reducing the risks that face the community. All the necessary equipments and resources are available to the firm to ensure that its services are delivered on time and efficiently. The plan is organized in a manner that it recognizes and respects diversity and also upholds a fair and moral approach to issues (Suffolk county council, 2009). Planning and Implementation A number of strategies have been put in place to facilitate the planning and implementation of the Integrated Risk Management Plan for Suffolk. The management has ensured that all the equipments and human resources required for the implementation of the plan are available. The plans and strategies included in the entire IRMP are based on objectives for enhancing the safety of the community members of Suffolk. The plan has highlighted all the management measures, risk control systems and the job precautions to be observed in implementing the plan. The activities in the implementation of the plan are to be prioritized based on risk assessment. The resources will be distributed in a balanced manner such that every place is equally covered. Some of the human resources required in the implementation of the IRMP include the fire fighters (Suffolk county council, 2009). The plan stipulates that the services should involve the youth through annual education programs in schools as a means of ensuring that it achieves its objectives. In accordance to the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 which requires that all fire and rescue services involve the community in service delivery, Suffolk Fire and Rescue service intends to prevent fire accidents and incidence through community education. The fundamental prevention measures under the program include: home fire safety checks, road traffic collision prevention presentations and Juvenile Fire-Setter Counseling (Suffolk county council, 2009) Measuring performance The IRMP will be in constant evaluation to ensure that it meets its objectives. The evaluation will seek to provide information on the operations of the plan, identify areas where the strategies are not working according to plan and offer a basis for consistent improvement and offer feedback and motivation. The performance of the plan will be evaluated on the basis of the achieved objectives in comparison to the intended objectives. One of the objectives of the plan is to minimize the number of fire incidences and accidents in an attempt to make Suffolk one of the safest places in England. The statistics of the number of fire incidences will be collected and the number will be used to assess the performance of the IRMP. Another objective is to reduce the response time or the time taken before fire fighters arrive in a scene of accident. The average time taken is also a good measure for the evaluation of the IRMP. The management can also conduct surveys by questioning the community members to find out their opinion concerning the performance of the service. The data collected will assist in evaluation of the performance of the service. The service can also use reactive monitoring strategies such as systems to identify and forward injuries and any other work-related health problems. These will assist in controlling the performance of plan. Measurement can also be done by scrutinizing written reports, documents and reports concerning the activities of the service (Suffolk county council, 2009). Review performance The performance of the service will be reviewed on the basis of the recommendations of the performance report. The information from the evaluation of the performance of the plan will be used to identify areas of weakness and areas that require transformation. The management will then change strategies to enhance performance in those areas. The information from performance review will assist the service in making decisions concerning some of its programs such as proactive community safety programs. The performance of the service is reviewed on the bases of an integrated approach consisting of service plan, PPSID Directorate Plan, National Indicator Set and community Safety Plan. The review recommendations are recorded in the performance report.This will be done on the basis of evaluating the nature and extent of their contribution towards achievement of IRMP objectives (Suffolk county council, 2009). Auditing Auditing of the performance of the service is necessary to ensure that it achieves its objects within its legal and reporting requirements as well as within its resource allocation. The audit report will assist in identifying the reasons and causes of substandard performance and also identify the failures in the entire service. This will assist the service in preventing future recurrences as well as assisting in making decisions concerning change of strategies for accomplishing tasks (Suffolk county council, 2009). Output measures in relation to Fire and Rescue Service National framework document 2008 – 2011 The main themes in the Fire and Rescue Service National framework document 2008 – 2011 include: Prevention, Protection and Response, Resilience, Diversity and Workforce, and Governance and Improvement. Prevention, Protection and Response The main objective of the IRMP of Suffolk is to prevent and protect the lives and property of the community in Suffolk by responding to fire incidences and accidents in minimum response time possible. This is in accordance to the objective of the Fire and Rescue Authorities who have using all the powers within their reach to assess risk to communities, life and economy and use the available resources to deliver better services to the community. The service has been able to use all the resources that it has in ensuring that the community is well protected against fire incidences. It has acquired new vehicles to facilitate service delivery. It has also acquired high volume pumps which are placed in strategic places within Suffolk to reduce response time. The staff members have also been trained in handling and using the new acquisitions to ensure that service delivery is effective. The staffs in the service are well motivated by the sufficient salaries and allowances that they receive from the service. The service also offers adequate training to the staff members which ensure that they efficiently execute their duties. This assists in boosting their morale and keeps them motivated in their jobs. The service also works in partnership with groups such as co-responders, Armed Forces, youths, community members as well as other organizations in delivery of services (Suffolk county council, 2009). Resilience The Fire and Rescue Service charged with the responsibility of offering the national flexibility capability against bigger risks like terrorist attacks or major disasters which include flooding. The Suffolk Fire and Rescue service works in collaboration with partners such as the community, the youths and co-responders to ensure that the area is protected against such risks. The retained fire fighters who are highly experienced in safety issues assist the service with information regarding potential dangers to the area. The service also conducts routine checks in homes and major buildings to check their safety awareness measures that they have put in place. These routine checks provide information that assists the service in detecting possibilities of possible attacks. The service which is usually well represented in Regional Resilience Forums collaborates with the Armed Forces is well prepared for detecting and handling terrorist attacks. Through its fire resilience program, the service operates three main delivery projects which include: Fire control, Firelink and New Dimensions (Suffolk county council, 2009). Diversity and workforce Just like the Fire and Rescue Authorities, Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service most significant resource is their staff members. The service maintains an effective employment policy that assists in enhancing experience and expertise in the workforce. The recruitment procedure ensures that the individuals employed have the appropriate skills and potential required by the service. The recruited staff members are then trained and supported by the service to ensure that they realize their full potential. They are then provided with equal opportunity to advance in their career. The service in additional provides adequate remunerations to its workforce to boost the morale as well motivate the employees in their duties. The training and development programs in the service ensure that the Service delivers quality services (Suffolk county council, 2009). Governance and Improvement The Fire and Rescue Service operates in accordance to the requirements of the Fire and rescue Authorities. Just like the authorities, the Service works with local partners to identify target areas for both minor and major attacks. The service uses all the available resources to evaluate the safety risks of various areas in Suffolk to generate data that is valuable in determining the quality of services delivered. The engagement and involvement of the community in maintaining of safety in Suffolk is of great importance as far as service delivery by the Service is concerned. The community members are found everywhere within the area and are best placed to raise alarm or control fire incidences using any means available to them. The service conducts performance evaluation tests to monitor its operations. The service is flexible in its operations and adapts to any changes with ease (Suffolk county council, 2009). Evidence for improvement The Fire and Rescue Service of Suffolk is dedicated towards ensuring that it delivers quality services to the community. It ensures that it offers quality services. The service does this through programs such as recruitment and retention, training, retained duty system and community program (Northrop Grumman Corporation, 2007) Recruitment and retention The service ensures that it recruits staff members who are skilled and have potential to enhance the performance of the service. It recruits its staff members via the National Fire fighter selection process. The process which has been evaluated and its performance found to be effective ensures that the personnel recruitment to offer rescue services are well trained and have the ability to handle most of the major incidences that may arise. The service also retains most of the fire fighters that it has recruited. This ensures that the well trained personnel remain in the service to offer their much needed services. This enhances delivery of quality services and relieves the service of the costs of training new recruits (Northrop Grumman Corporation, 2007). Training The service offers extensive training to all the staff members in an effort to ensure delivery of quality services. Whenever the service acquires new equipments and vehicles, the staffs are trained on how to handle the equipments. This promotes the quality of services offered by reducing the response time and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the services. In addition to these, training boosts the morale of the workers and gives them the necessary motivation because they are always confidence in all the operations that they carry out. Great motivation coupled by expertise and experience ensures quality in the services offered (Crockford, 2006). Retained Duty System This is measure deployed by the Suffolk County Council to uphold an effective fire and rescue service. Although the training and recruitment of Retained firefighters is a difficult task, Suffolk fire and rescue service has been able to maintain the Retained Duty System in the recruitment of staff members. RDS firefighters are experienced and are equipped with all the skills required to offer fire services (International of fire fighter skills, 2008). The RDS firefighters are able to handle and operate most of the equipments in the service which minimizes delays and the response time in delivery of services. The RDS firefighters have knowledge to offer the necessary fire cover in the entire county. All of the 35 fire stations in Suffolk have an RDS department that is entirely crewed by RDS firefighters. The RDS fire fighters have the ability to resolve emergency incidences, contribute to safety decisions that reduce risks to the community and drive, maneuver and handle fire service vehicles (Crockford, 2006). Community program The service conducts community programs that sensitize the community including the youth on possible means of preventing and controlling fire incidences and accidents. This is an effective measure for control of fire incidences because the community members are usually if not always found at the accident scenes. This ensures delivery of quality services by preventing the intense of damage from fire incidences before arrival of firefighters. Other measures that assist in delivery of quality services include equipment maintenance and testing and inspection of high risk premises (Crockford, 2006). Conclusion IRMP for Suffolk is a plan that has successful enabled the Fire and Rescue Service of Suffolk achieve its objectives which include making Suffolk one of the safest places in England. The plan which is in line with the main themes of National Framework of Fire and Rescue Authority has controlled the activities of the service in its effort to maintain security and prevent disasters in Suffolk. The main themes are: Prevention, Protection and Response, Resilience, Diversity and Workforce, and Governance and Improvement. The plan adheres to the elements of HSG 65 framework which include: policy, Organizing, planning and implementation, measuring performance, review performance and auditing. It also includes the output measures as well as evidence of performance. 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