Validity and Benefits of Integrated Risk Management - Shropshire Fire and Rescue Authority - Case Study Example

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2 2. Critical assessment of validity and benefits 2 2.1 Policy 2 2.2 Organizing 3 2.3 Planning and implementation 3 2.4 Measuring performance 4 2.5 Review performance 4 2.6 Auditing 4 3. Critical evaluation of the appropriateness of the existing output 4-5 4. Critical review of the outputs regarding quality enhancement within the organisation 5-6 4.1 Summary of improvements 5 4.1.1 Improvements during 2004-05 5 4.1.2 Improvements during 2005-06 5 4.1.3 Improvements during 2006-07 6 4.1.4 Improvements during 2007-08 6 4.1.5 Improvements during 2008-09 6 5. Conclusion 6 6. References 8 1. INTRODUCTION: In 2003, Government of U.K. introduced and enforced the mandatory production of Integrated Risk Management Plans (IRMP's) on all Fire and Rescue Authorities. These plans are aimed to develop & declare how the most effective use can be made of the limited resources, for decreasing the risk caused by fire or some other tragedies. The approach encouraged by IRMP’s is to embrace locally identified needs for safety and rescue, unlike being governed by national prescription previously. The Shropshire Fire and Rescue Authority, adapted this approach in 2004, and are working continuously to reduce, as much as possible, the suffering and melancholy, in their communities. This has marked a significant move in importance, from response to prevention. The paper will initially make a critical assessment of the validity and benefits of Integrated Risk Management Plan. The assessment will be in relation with the Fire and Rescue, HSG 65 framework for managing health and safety, and will be done in the domains of policy, organising, planning and implementing, measuring and reviewing performance and auditing. The critical assessment of appropriateness of the existing output measures against the fire and rescue service national framework document 2008 – 2011, will also be done. For the purpose of evaluating actions for quality enhancement of the services, the improvements from the year 2004 till 2009 will be independently discussed for evaluating the progress and improvements made by the authority. 2. VALIDITY AND BENEFITS OF INTEGRATED RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN In this section, the validity and benefits of the Fire and Rescue Service Integrated Risk Management Plan for Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service will be critically assessed against Fire and Rescue, HSG 65 framework for managing health and safety. 2.1 Policy: In Shropshire Fire and Rescue Authority, since the introduction of Integrated Risk Management Planning in 2004, the idea of countywide risk management has been avidly practiced. The foundation of their policy is a complete and detailed review of risk, faced by the people of county, and the application of risk reduction methods accordingly(Action plans, 2009). Valuing the lives of people is their primary consideration. Being affiliated with National Framework, it devotedly follows the legal requirements provided by it. In order to access the progress of Shropshire and Wrekin Fire Authority, the evaluation of its existing policy and its implementation is very important. The driving policy of the department is working extensively to continue its vision and ambitions. This effort from part of the Authority has succeeded to demonstrate enduring benefits to the communities, which they serve. Each year, a tri-annual Strategy is reviewed. This strategy is developed by bringing in record all the changes brought by the local, regional and national agencies, e.g., Local Area Agreements, National Framework documents, etc. 2.2 Organising The Shropshire Fire Authority organises an appropriate hierarchical structure, to set up and sustain the organization and control of health and safety in the organization. The Assistant Chief Fire Officer heads the Performance Improvement Directorate formed by three teams, working collaboratively to fulfil their functions. 2.2.1 Capacity building: Shropshire and Wrekin Fire Authority aims to improve the capacity of its organization by applying measures such as estimating the existing resources to meet demand and maintaining best service in all conditions. 2.2.2 Effective internal and external Communications: The efficient communication of needed information, within the organization, as well as externally, is important to promote effective cooperation of people, for improved health and safety. This is done internally, by developing and maintaining a hierarchy of organizations and groups, for information flow within the organization. Starting from political Governance and leadership, through strategic functions, directorates to the service support and delivery functions, the communication is effectively maintained, the information is delivered accordingly. The Shropshire and Wrekin Fire Authority is also working to develop managers and leaders, to improve its competence. These people have been working consistently to improve their performance in all areas. 2.3 Planning and Implementing 2.3.1 Annual Action Plan: In order to better sustain and advance the health and safety; Shropshire and Wrekin Fire Authority produces an annual IRMP Action Plan. This plan is developed by means of consensus with suitable stakeholders, and includes the improvements that can be applied in the upcoming year, to satisfy the ambitions stated in its IRMP (Action plans, 2009). 2.3.2 Effective prioritization of activities: The Fire and Rescue Service responds to incidents other then fires, such as road traffic collisions, by prioritizing the activities on the basis on risk assessment. This prioritization is aimed to ensure a balance of resources and effort proportionate to the risk profile. 2.3.3 Appropriate process for identification of improvements: The process used for the identification of new opportunities by the Fire Authority’s IRMP priorities is quite affective and reliable. It includes; consultation with staff groups through the Annual Strategic Planning Process, and constantly reviewing the developments made by the Fire Authorities, both within and outside the UK, to discover and learn from alternative ways of working and best practice. These reviews are designed carefully to target the diverse communities to target those groups that are highly endangered (Action plans, 2009). 2.4 Measuring Performance Measuring progress helps to monitor and observe curative actions, where areas for progress can be identified. A variety of Processes, Tools and Data, are used to perform IRM Planning by Shropshire Fire authority (Action plans, 2009). The data sources range from census and demographic data; data from Local Authority partners, and from agencies working in similar direction. The Shropshire service utilizes variety of statistical and geographical equipments to support the management and analysis of the collected information. 2.5 Review Performance Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, despite its small scale have proven to be a trendsetter. Over the years, it has improved its performance to maximize the safety measures before the occurrence of the incident. The Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service has made this possible, by carrying out a number of reviews, & implementing where necessary major changes to service provision. This measure has greatly reduced the risk faced by the communities they serve, hence helping the service to fulfil its main goal. . The reviews effectively explore the opportunities for enhanced service delivery; better utilization of existing resources; and further identification of areas of improvement. Seeking public opinions for such matters, like the possible redevelopment/relocation of the existing fire station and headquarters in some other areas or localities, or proposals to improve the provision of Officer Cover during periods of peak activity as well as during national and regional emergencies, has proven to be a great success and motivation for constant progress of the Fire Authority. 2.6 Auditing. For the purpose of assessing the performance, The Shropshire Fire and Rescue Authority, like all other English fire fighting services, is subjected to two audits by the Audit Commission. The Audit Commission, the independent government watchdog on the quality of public services, has scored Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service as performing “Strongly” following the 2008 audits (Action plans, 2009). The report has admired the Authority in a number of areas including reducing fire risk at homes and workplaces, their contribution to a Crime Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) safer motorcycling campaign which reduced collisions and brought motorbike related road deaths down from ten in 2006/07 to zero in 2007/08. 3. APPROPRIATENESS OF THE EXISTING OUTPUT MEASURES As laid out in the document of the National Framework document 2008 - 2011, all Fire and Rescue authorities are abide to make a tri annual IRMP, which should be recurrently updated & be representative of all stakeholders, ensuring cost-effective measures as well as quality control. This document should be available for the public, to be able to understand the service’s activities. The Shropshire Fire Authority has been working continually towards accomplishing these goals, since 2004. Further evidence of compliance of Shropshire Fire and Rescue Authority’s activities with the National Framework can be seen from its efforts to deal with incidents other then fire. The National Framework seeks to meet the challenges & impacts of terrorist outbreak, climate change, etc. In accordance with this, Shropshire and Wrekin Fire Authority since 2008 provides Officer Cover Resilience to persistently react to the variety of environmental, economic and social threats, already mentioned. The National Framework implies the duty on Fire and Rescue Authorities to monitor the realization of “cross-border” integrated arrangements. Hence in compliance, the Shropshire Fire and Rescue Authority, works jointly with the key partners, such as the West Midlands Regional Management Board and the West Mercia Local Resilience Forum, to ensure better practice, within Shropshire and outside of the county. The use of Fire Service Emergency Cover toolkit (FSEC) has been strongly recommended by Fire and Rescue Service National framework. The Shropshire service has, therefore taken appropriate measures to develop and support the FSEC model, with the support from other risk assessments. Having been attained the hold of these tools; in 2004 the service persistently endeavours to spot the hazards of fire at various domestic and commercial places. 4. OUTPUTS REGARDING QUALITY ENHANCEMENT WITHIN THE ORGANISATION Shropshire Fire and Rescue Authority has been able to show commendable progress, from the time it adopted the IRMP, in 2004. The developments from 2004 till 2009 clearly show how the Service has benefitted from IRMP. The review of the services & applications, each year is a useful means of evaluating the future needs of the organization. 4.1 Summary of improvements: The improvement plans of different years, clearly indicates the incessant effort towards, achieving maximum benefit from IRMP, since its implementation in 2004. The Fire Authority established new standards, which are more focused on the risks to life, instead of on the risks to property, as previously valued (Action plans, 2009). Making small changes like the criteria for responding to fire calls and other emergency services– saved a lot of time and resources, being previously wasted on false alarms and non-fire emergency calls. This also resulted in provision of rare time to carry out training and planning actions, to further benefit the community and make them safe. 4.1.1 Improvements during 2005/06 The management structure of Brigade was upgraded to help them, meet the requirements of the Government’s National Framework document in 2005-06. Risk assessment work was undertaken County wide by employing the government supplied Fire Service Emergency Cover (FSEC) tools. The work undertaken by the authority ensured relevant data, derived from the community using such tools before taking any action. In the same context, evaluation of existing Aerial Appliance in Shropshire was carried out (Integrated Risk Management Plan, 2006/07). The review of aerial appliance identified that two permanently staffed Aerial Appliances in Shropshire represented an overprovision. The results extracted from the review, were implemented in the next year planning. 4.1.2 Improvements during 2006/07 The previous year review report of the existing Aerial appliances, helped the Service in reducing the number of Aerial Appliances, it reserved completely staffed to half. As a result the service lessened its number of fulltime fire-fighter workers, with more workers available to support Retained Duty stations through the creation of 8 Retained Support Officers. This cut back ensured availability of fire staff throughout all times of the day. The fire stations in rural areas of county also benefitted from this step, since the services of retained fire fighters were now available to them as well (Integrated Risk Management Plan, 2006/07). 4.1.3 Improvements during 2007/08 A detailed review, and full consultation, facilitated by the IRMP, was carried out regarding the shifting of fire engine previously stationed at Telford, to its south, the fire station at Tweedale. The review revealed that the proposal can surely be applied to improve the fire fighting facilities to both the Telford as well as its neighbouring communities (Integrated Risk Management Plan, 2007/08). Hence the Service took the accompanied action and reduced the time required to handle incidents in Telford area and hence increasing the efficiency of the service. The IRMP also helped the service to evaluate some pilot or short term studies or reviews to be completed within a small time frame. These valued results saved a lot of resources that could have wasted without IRMP, by providing effective tools like Small Fires Unit—12 month pilot study. 4.1.4 Improvements during 2008/09 In order to seek fastest possible fire responding facilities, for Shrewsbury, the service consulted the relevant stakeholders, regarding the division of reserves of station to locations north and south of Shrewsbury (Integrated Risk Management Plan, 2008/09). This review was carried out in partnership with Shropshire Ambulance Service. The review was analysed with the available IRMP risk assessment tools, and displayed that there is no need of splitting the Shrewsbury’s fire engines in two locations. 5. CONCLUSION The IRMP approach has truly enabled the Shropshire Fire and Rescue Authority, to provide better services to the communities of Shropshire. The people of the county, living in rural as well as urban areas are benefitting from the Authority’ services and have seen a significant improvements throughout the last decade, in diverse areas of emergency and crisis. The consistent performance shown by the Authority, in compliance with document of National Framework 2008-2011 and the Fire and Rescue, HSG 65 framework, is truly exemplary for other authorities. Collaboration among elected members, staff, partners and the public have been the corner stone for their achievements. The improvements through different years clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of adopting and implementing the plan in helping the authority to achieve its prime goal. Hence it can be said that the Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service is rightly proud of their achievements thus far through employing the IRMP process. REFERENCES A Guide to Measuring Health & Safety Performance, Dec.2001. 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