Fire and Rescue Service Integrated Risk Management - Essay Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Risk Assessment Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 2 Methods of risk assessment 3  Steps in risk assessment 5 Fire risk assessment 6 Fire safety in the Community 9 Fire prevention 9 Fire protection 11 Fire response 12 Conclusion 12 Bibliography 13 Introduction Risk assessment is the process of inspecting the things at the work place that may cause harm to those around them. The main objective of carrying out the inspection is to assess whether the concerned individual has taken the necessary safety measures or need to take more measures to prevent the occurrence of the harm. A risk is the impact of uncertainty on both positive and negative objectives. It is unexpected result form the set aims that may cause undesired results. Workers, students living together and family members have the right to be safeguarded from any harm that may result due to failure of taking the necessary risk control measures. Occurrence of accidents and health problems caused by risk potential materials can mess up lives, properties and businesses. It is therefore a legal requirement for one to assess the potential risks at the work place so that the necessary risk control measures can be put in place (Kemshall & Pritchard, 1996). On the other hand, risk management is the identification, assessment and orderly arrangement of risks, and the use of economical resources to reduce, observe and control the likeliness of the occurrence of the undesired effects, or to increase the recognition of opportunities for risk occurrence. Methods of risk assessment The value of the identified potential risk is done quantitatively or qualitatively. Quantitative risk assessment is where the single loss expectancy of an asset is calculated (SLE). This is the value of loss that can occur following one security incident. Another value that is calculated is the annualized rate of occurrence of the risk to a certain asset. This is an estimate data to consider the chances of the threat to succeed in exploiting a susceptibility of the asset. From the data obtained from the two values, annualized loss expectancy is calculated. This is the calculation of a single loss expectancy, times the annualized rate occurrence. In other words, it is the value that an organization may lose on an asset following the occurrence of the risks, threats on the asset and its vulnerability. This helps in justification of the financial costs of implementing safety measures to protect the asset from the risk. Quantitative risk assessment therefore entails the assessment of those variables that can be measured. Qualitative risk assessment is the method of calculating relative value. This is done by use of questionnaires and mutual workshops consisting of people from various groups in organizations such as business asset owners and users, information technology managers and member of staff, information security experts among others. The questionnaires that are used are collect information concerning threats, vulnerabilities and the control measures. Threats are the things that are likely to go wrong or attack the organization system for example fraud or fire. Vulnerability is determined by the things that make an organization more prone to threats or things that may make the threat to have serious impacts. For example presence of flammable materials where there is a risk of fire. Controls are the prevention measures that reduce the chances of occurrence of attacks by the threats, reduce the vulnerability, and reduce the impact of the attack to the asset. When the security experts hold the workshops, they also come up with other control measures that may curb the chances of risk occurrences and also approximate the costs that may be incurred incase the threat occurs (Newman & Strojan 1998).  Steps in risk assessment The first step in risk assessment is the identification of the hazards, then decision on who or what may be harmed if the hazard occurs, evaluation of the possible risks and the necessary precautions, recording the findings and implementing them and lastly reviewing the effectiveness and accuracy of the assessment doing the necessary updates (National Research Council (U.S.) 2000). In hazard identification, one needs to view the possible means by which people could get harmed by the risk. It is important for one to move round the vulnerable place and see all the potential causes of harm. The employees or other people who work or live in the area of interest should also be consulted on their views on the possible hazards. Other sources of information on hazard identification should also be consulted to gain more information on the matter. Long term hazards should not be forgotten since in many cases they are under looked. Deciding who might be harmed by the hazards will help one to manage the risks. This includes identifying how the particular people may get harmed, and also the vulnerability of special people such as the old and the expectant mothers. Evaluating the risks and precautions is important in deciding the step to take on dealing with the hazards. Law states that everything that is reasonably practical should be done to protect those who are at risk of being harmed. The findings should then be recorded and implemented. This means that the results of the assessment are being put into practice. The results of assessment should be shared with all people in the work place or the area being assessed. This will improve on their understanding of the potential risks and will be able to cooperate in the risk management process. The reviewing process should identify the methods that are not working and should be replaced. As time goes, more hazards may arise and this calls for the need to update the risk assessment and management process (Duah 2003). Fire risk assessment Hazards identification in fire risk assessment includes any thing that has the possibility of starting a fire. These are things such as uncovered flames, heaters, cookers or hot air dryers. The other hazard can be anything that can catch the fire and burn. For example, when wastes are piled in a place that has the potential of burning, they increase the chances of more burning (LaGoy 1998). Textiles and other flammable materials can also increase the rate of burning. Presence of oxygen or sources of oxygen in a work place or a living room is also a serious fire hazard. This is because it increases burning and can cause an increase in the impact of the fire. Oxygen also increases the intensity of a burning fire. People who are usually at risk of fire are those who work close to the identified hazards, those working alone or in isolated rooms, disabled, the children and the elderly. After the fire hazards have been identified, the other step is to evaluate and see how to minimize or remove the hazards. This involves eliminating or minimizing the possible sources of fire/ ignition. To achieve this, it is necessary for one to look for a smoking policy that gives directions and requirements for minimizing the placement of smoking materials in area where they can cause fore outbreak. One should also try to reduce the uses of naked flames in most of the areas in the facility. There should be a central heating place where the flames and the heating materials are located. Any thing that has been identified as flammable should be kept far away form the identified fire sources. All combustible materials should be kept away form the lights, or form electrical materials (Health and Safety Executive 2003). The other thing that one should do in minimizing the hazards is to eliminate or reduce the sources of fuel that are kept in the room. Fuel sources are very well known by the owner of the building. One knows the amount of stock that is kept in the premises. If they are not in use, it is necessary to reduce the amount kept in one place and de fetched in smaller quantities when in need for usage. If flammable materials must be kept in the premises, they should in small amounts and kept in special storage rooms. The combustible waste materials should also not be kept in the premises; they should be disposed once they are not in use. However, if the combustible materials are pert of the buildings, an alternative should be sought or they can be treated with flame retardant applications. The last thing is to remove or reduce the sources of oxygen form the premises. Free movement of air in the premises is very important to everyone. It is therefore necessary for one to ensure that the fire doors are well maintained and people do not lodge them open. If they have to be left open, the door holders should then be connected to a fire alarm system so that they can automatically close themselves in cases of fire. All the doors and windows should be left closed at night and this should be made a part of premise closing procedure at the end of the day. If oxygen cylinders have to be kept in the premise, they should be kept in a well ventilated place and should be ensured that they are not leaking. Employees or customers who smoke should have a smoking zone that is not within the premises. Other things to be considered include overcrowding, easy escape routes, proper maintenance of the fire equipments and provision of good fire safety measures such as fire fighting equipments for example the hose reel and fire extinguishers (Pancella 2005). Fire safety refers to measures that should be taken in order to curb or reduce the chances of of fire occurrences that may lead to death, accidents or property damage. Fire safety also entails alerting those in the areas of fire occurrences when a threat happens, enabling those affected by the fire hazard to come out and also to reduce the damage that occurs in case of fire events. The fire code also referred to as the fire prevention code is a model code that is approved by the state and local authorities and imposed by the fire prevention administrators in the municipal fire offices. It is an outline of guidelines explaining the minimum conditions to prevent fire outbreaks, explosions caused by handling of dangerous equipments and materials. The main aim of the fire code is to help in fire prevention, ensuring that people are trained and offered the equipments for fire prevention and also ensuring that the initial plan and design of the building premises is in compliance with the building code it outlines. Fire code also states the requirements for inspection and maintenance of fire security devices (Hughes & Ferrett 2009. Fire safety in the Community Fire & Rescue Service Integrated Risk Management plan states the guidelines to fire risk management that entails the fire prevention, protection and response at the community level. Fire safety it the community level involves mainly methods of mitigating the occurrences of fire events. These are prevention, protection and response to fire incidences (London Fire Brigade 2009). Fire prevention Fire prevention measures in the homes and at the community levels include following the maximum number of house occupants within a particular building. These well help minimize fires which are caused by congestion an overloading of power appliances. Materials that may be associated with fire hazards and are in use should also be properly stored to avoid their chances of causing fires. Things that are flammable should also not be stored in areas close to fire appliances. Owners of buildings should ensure that the occupants of their building are well trained on fire safety measures so as to prevent obvious mistakes such as leaving fire doors open. People living in areas that are prone to bushfires should remove leaves and dry grasses form their compounds. This is because in cases of bushfires, dry grass and leaves may increase the rate at which the fire spreads and may spread to wider areas. During the cold seasons, people in the old areas should be careful when using heaters or open fires and electric blankets. These are likely to cause fire and have been a major cause of fire in the winter affected areas. In the homes, the major causes of fires are the cooking equipments. Cooking appliances should be kept clean and dry after they have had spills. This is because the spilt foods may catch fire when the appliance is lit. Flammable objects such as the dish towels and pot holders should be kept some feet away from open fire cookers such as the stove and the gas cookers. Stoves, fire places and chimneys and other heating equipments that use solid fuels should be regularly inspected to ensure that they are in good condition. This is important because most f these equipments explode regularly when used for long times (Lancaster Fire and Rescue Service 2009). Fire protection This is the process of mitigating the undesired fire impacts. Fire protection measures includes life safety and property protection, fire detection and alarm systems, smoke control system sand portable fire extinguishers. Life protection measures aims at providing an acceptable safety level to people inhabiting all structures as it is a legal requirement. Property protection measures aims at minimizing the damage that may be caused to properties. Damage to life and to property go hand in hand and should be well looked at in any building facility. Fire detectives and alarms are important means for signaling the occupants of premises when there is a fire threat. This informs them of the necessary time to evacuate the premises before the fire explodes. This device is more important in large storey buildings where fire may start in one part of the building and fail to be noticed in other parts. Smoke control systems are devices that that prevent smoke from filling in the exit ways of buildings when fire breaks out. Ventilation can also help to regulate the amount of smoke in any premises. Portable fire extinguishers should be provided to each of the premise occupants to help in cases of small fires. The occupants should be first trained on how to use the fire extinguishers and the hose reels before they are issued to them (Kandola, Rasbash & Ramachandran 2004). Fire response This involves the duration that is taken after the fire outbreaks and the putting of process. It is very important for all community facilities are located close to fire rescue services that may offer immediate assistance incase for a fire hazard. The municipal fire departments should also ensure that they have well equipped fire rescue services that may be available all the times to offer the necessary assistance. Fire response in most cases is the function of the fire rescue services but the members of the community and owners of buildings should have their own measures that may be used while awaiting the rescue services. Conclusion Risk assessment is very important in every day lives. This is because it helps to mitigate risks which could have otherwise led to great losses of property and loss of lives. Fire safety is very important and should be well observed at all levels of life. This is because many deaths have occurred following fire hazards and have left most properties damaged. Training on risk management should be done at all levels to increase awareness on the potential causes of risks and the ways to prevent, protect and respond to them. This should be done especially at the community levels since most people at the community levels are not aware of the fire hazards and the methods to prevent them. It is also very important in schools because of the many flammable types of equipment that are used in different studies. It is therefore very important to be bale to identify risks in all places at all times. Bibliography Kemshall, H., & Pritchard J., 1996, Good practice in risk assessment and risk management, Volume 1. Kingsley Publishers, Boston. LaGoy, P., 1998, Risk assessment: principles and applications for hazardous waste and related sites. William Andrew, New York. Newman, M., & Strojan C., 1998, Risk assessment: logic and measurement, Heinemann Library, London. National Research Council (U.S.), 2000, Issues in risk assessment, National academic press, New York. Duah, K., 2003, Hazardous waste risk assessment, CRC press, Austria. London Fire Brigade, 2009, London Safety Plan 2008-2011. SAGE, London. Lancaster Fire and Rescue Service, 2009, Community Safety Strategy, Macmillan, London. Health and Safety Executive, 2003, Five steps to risk assessment, Bloomsbury Publishing, London. Pancella, P., 2005, Fire Safety, Heinemann Library, London. Hughes, P., & Ferrett, P., 2009, Introduction to Health and Safety at Work, Butterworth-Heinemann, Birmingham. Kandola, B., Rasbash, D., & Ramachandran, D., 2004, Evaluation of fire safety, Wiley and Sons, New York. Read More