Project Assessment about Fire Investigation - Research Proposal Example

Running Head: Research Project Name: University: Course: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 The respondent group to the questionnaire in the pilot testing phase 5 Overall Total 7 Human resource management 11 Conclusion 12 Introduction Fire investigation is the act of rooting out the main causes of fire outbreak. Fire accidents are the most dangerous type of accidents (Carter, 2006)). In most countries, fire accidents seem to arise from either known causes or unknown causes. Almost ten percent of most destruction is caused by fire. The marks left behind after fire outbreak especially in properties and human body are astonishing and to the entire community. This research will therefore venture on a whole topic of fire investigation. Research Questions 1. Are fire-trained personnel better at dealing with fire hazards than untrained workers in case of emergencies from an owner’s perspective? 2. Are cameras a reliable source of conducting fire investigation? 3. What is the optimum investment in fire protection for a certain type of building? OVERVIEW OF AND RATIONALE FOR RESEARCH DESIGN The goal of this research is to explore and analyze the above questions and to investigate the extent of congruency between the beliefs among safety experts and implementations being carried out by building owners. Accordingly, this research falls in the category of 'non-experimental quantitative descriptive study'. Non-experimental quantitative descriptive designs are usually used with research in which quantitative independent variables (e.g. intelligence, aptitude, motivation, etc.) cannot be manipulated, either because it is impossible to manipulate them or because it would be unethical to do so. Hence known as non experimental studies. The study is quantitative because one of the goals is to assess the safety practices by building owners with comparison to what is being expected by the law. The study is descriptive because the overriding aim of it is to "provide an accurate description or picture of the status or characteristics of a situation or phenomenon" (Ward, 2006). The most common method of collecting data in such research is the 'cross-sectional' method where data are collected at "a single point in time or during a single relatively brief time period" (Ward, 2006). DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS Of the most important and useful quantitative and qualitative data collection instruments are questionnaires. Although there are many types of questionnaires, identifying the appropriate type usually depends, to a far extent, on the purpose(s) of it. In this study, the BALLI inventory which is a five-point Likert-type questionnaire was most suitable for the purpose of (1) collecting quantitative data regarding the building owner’s beliefs towards trained staff and their competence in regard to dealing with fire hazards and consequently, (2) providing descriptive data to find appropriate answers to the three Research Questions (i.e. Are fire-trained personnel better at dealing with fire hazards than untrained workers in case of emergencies from an owner’s perspective?2. Are cameras a reliable source of conducting fire investigation? 3. What is the optimum investment in fire protection for a certain type of building? Another rationale for adopting this kind of scales lies in the high reliability of scores they provide and the variety of data they produce especially when they are appropriately developed and administered (Ward, 2006). Format of the BALLI Questionnaire The main purpose of the BALLI questionnaire was to collect such quantitative data as those concerned with building owners and their beliefs about training and usage of cameras in fire investigations. For this purpose, Horwitz's BALLI questionnaire (1985) was adopted by the researcher. The questionnaire consists of a set of questions divided into five major areas: (1) fire handling aptitude, (2) the difficulty of learning, (3) the nature of training (4) learning and communication strategies, and (5) motivations and expectations (Ward, 2006). Moreover, it is a five-point Likert scale that requires (EFL) building owners to reflect their beliefs about by choosing among five options: 'I strongly agree', ‘I agree’, ‘neither agree nor disagree’, ‘I disagree’ and ‘I strongly disagree’. To suit the study goals and setting, some modifications were made to the BALLI. For example, some items were modified to be in a 'multiple-choice' format rather than an 'agreement' one. They were also added to the questionnaire as independent questions. Another modification was slightly made for use in United Kingdom. This, consequently, added to the validity of the data obtained as they were supposed to be basically attributed to pre assumed notions (i.e. the data will not be affected by such internal validity threats as instrumentation, administration or sample maturation). At the final stage, the questionnaire was of one part. It included a brief introduction about the questionnaire, its goal and the items. 3.1.1.1. Piloting of the Likert-type Questionnaire The aim of piloting a survey instrument, in general, is to obtain adequate feedback about how the instrument works and whether it meets the objective(s) it has been designed for. In this study, piloting the questionnaire, also, aimed to assess whether the directions and items were comprehensible to the respondents in order to make suitable alternations and refine the final version of the questionnaire. Therefore, the questionnaire was pilot tested on 46 participants divided categorically into three groups (6 building owners, 20 Fire trainers and 20 fire investigators), all of whom, except the building owners, were randomly selected. Each group of respondents included an equal number of males and females (i.e. a male and female) to avoid gender bias. The building owners were selected using convenience sampling. This group included fire investigators, trainers and officers from the fire regulatory body in charge of implementing the laws. Table (3.1.) maps out such groups in detail. The six building owners and the trainers were requested to read the directions and items of the questionnaire carefully, and then, respond to it giving their feedback about the extent to which the statements were homogenous, clear and comprehensible. TABLE 3.1 The respondent group to the questionnaire in the pilot testing phase RESPONDENTS Building Owners Fire Trainers Law Enforcers Male Female Male Female Male Female Governorate Question 1 1 1 4 4 4 4 Question 2 1 1 3 3 3 3 Question 3 1 1 3 3 3 3 Total 3 3 10 10 10 10 Overall Total 6 20 20 3.2. RESPONDENTS The target population of this study was comprised of the building owners, the fire investigators and the fire trainers in United Kingdom. On administering the research instrument (i.e. the BALLI), 2 basic groups of respondents were employed in the study. These groups are discussed in further detail in the following sections. Respondents to the BALLI Two main participant samples were selected at random for the purposes of the study. The first sample consisted of 300 fire trainers all across the United Kingdom. All the participants were recruited from three directorates covering the geographic spread: Central, the Eastern region, and the Western region. This sample group was of 150 male and 150 female to avoid gender bias. The second group of participants comprised 300 fire investigators from the same directorates. To avoid gender bias, the second group of participants was divided into two groups of 150 male and 150 female. The rationale for employing such a large number of participants was to add to the study-result validity; i.e. to generalize the study results. Table (3.2.) shows the distribution of such respondents in further detail. The respondent groups to the questionnaire in the actual experiment phase RESPONDENTS Fire Trainers Fire Investigators Male Female Male Female Governorate Question 1 50 50 50 50 Question 2 50 50 50 50 Question 3 50 50 50 50 Total 150 150 150 150 Overall Total 300 300 3.3. DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES Data collection began in May, 2010 and extended over June, 2010. 3.3.1. Data Collection Procedures for the Likert-Type Questionnaire In addition, they were requested to respond to two questions by choosing from three options. The 5-point scale was used to identify the agreement degree for each item that reflected investigators' and trainers' beliefs about the three questions and further notions on the competence of fire investigation and handling. To ensure confidentiality and to conform to ethical guidelines for conducting research, the questionnaires lacked any names; i.e. it was completed anonymously. Retrieving the questionnaires, the researcher analyzed them to determine investigators’ and trainers’ beliefs and the consistency between them. Results While 72% of building owners replied that they strongly believed that fire-trained personnel better at dealing with fire hazards than untrained workers in case of emergencies from an owner’s perspective? A further 18% replied that the statement was untrue and that a further 10% of the building owners reported that they had not realized any difference in their staff after undergoing training. The 18% of building owners reasoned and explained their response on the perception that tutors lack training on the methods to be applied when teaching on disaster education like fire breakdown to their staff, the teaching method of tutors therefore relies on individual interest of every teacher. On top of that, their creativity in the direction of motivating the staff was also very crucial during the training program. The presence of enthusiastic and experienced tutors who are willing and able to elaborate to the owners’ staff concerning fire breakdown was cited as very crucial in the ongoing fire safety knowledge among staff meant to be competent in handling fires. This was the major reason reported by building owners who did not believe that training was essential. This was also coupled by the lack of a recognized training institution that catered to the fire training needs of the building owners. The proposal put in place by the all the building owners was that a proposal be put in place by the fire regulatory body of hiring of an instructor who will train all the trainers. This instructor must have a wide-ranging knowledge concerning fire prevention and safety. The instructor is required to have a very high qualification in community disaster management most likely a degree, with additional of more than two years working experience within the society in fire prevention and safety programs (Dehaan , 2006) The instructor shall be in charge of developing an excellent training curriculum and will also be expected to work hard in ensuring that every trainer included in the training is followed to make sure they put into operation what they acquired during training period. All the owners were in agreement that the trainers pass through a refresher course on fire mitigation strategies in order to conform to a national standard. This was perceived as instilling better training methods as opposed to the current situation. As to the second question, the “Are cameras a reliable source of conducting fire investigation. 90% of fire investigators believed that cameras were a credible tool in fire investigations. The other ten percent of investigators believed that the cameras were not a credible tool for fire investigation as they were liable in fire damages. 90% of respondents answered that cameras not only assisted in investigation of fire incidences but also provided the facts necessary for future prevention of such cases. Cameras enabled fire investigators access manner. Reliable data and information doubled up with the ability of directing fire prevention in a timely and efficient manner. The use of technology in forensics enable fire investigators the ability to use their skills, knowledge, expertise and experience to mobilise and commit to direct initiatives and reduction strategies. A bigger majority of the respondents who included owners, trainers and law enforcers all concurred that cameras reduced the time spent on finding the root cause of fires in most buildings. Ten percent of the respondents did not agree with the fact as they believed that the evidence collected from the cameras were not credible and hence could not be used to validate the cause and result of fires. The standing point that emerged is that the quality of the camera being used in the buildings had to be of a higher quality in order to withstand the damage that could be brought out by the fire (Dehan, 2006). The last question asked was “What is the optimum investment in fire protection for a certain type of building? The answers were varied as this was in proportion to the nature and size of the building in question. Building owners came up with the technologies and the tools that have to be in place in order for them to consider that their building were safe. The answer was also different when it came to both investigators and trainers. While building owner were out to maximize profits by spending as little on their safety budget, investigators and trainers placed a big priority on the size of the investment when it came to protection against fire and other hazards. A few of the places and things that investments had to be put on was on: Communication Infrastructure According to (Burke, 2007), communication is an important factor in any building. A safe building in the United Kingdom should embrace the importance of communication in their day-to-day activities. Appropriate communication link ensures that the emergences are reported at the right time and in accurate manner. This means that the infrastructure that is in place should ensure that the individuals and groups within the building could utilize it easily. Moreover, communication infrastructure should ensure that the fire fighters and their relevant departments should be able to communicate effectively. This includes responding to emergency, exchanging information within the building offices and at the time when they are at the scene. Hence, it is important that the infrastructure that is in place utilizes the appropriate communication equipments and brings into consideration good communication skills to prevent ambiguous statements and conflict between the persons and officials of the building, staff and the community. During these modern times, technology is changing at a faster rate, which requires that communication infrastructure should change according to the changes within their scenarios. Nevertheless, the communication resources that are utilized by the building should be allocated according to the requirements of each sector. Hence, each building in the U.K should embrace the idea of modernizing their infrastructure in terms of communication infrastructure. Equipment and Appliances Equipment and appliances aid the way and success that the duties are accomplished. Utilizing the appropriate equipment and appliances will increase the efficiency of the accomplished tasks. Thus, utilization of these equipment and appliances ensure that they have accorded the most support at the time of occurrence of the incidents. Nevertheless, the equipments that are used should be applicable in the tasks that they accomplish. In most buildings, the commonly used equipment include PPE, breathing equipments, machineries e.g. water sprinklers and other accessories such has hose reels and axes. Hence, allocation of these resources to the different sections of each building will maximise its efficiency. All the respondents understood the importance of equipment and appliances and have continually ensured that there are appropriate measures that guarantee the success of the equipments that are used and measures that ensure that the equipment and appliances are in optimal condition whenever required. Moreover, ensuring that the equipments are continuously upgraded and meets the requirement of the current world will ensure that successful accomplishment of prevention, responding and recovering from emergences is most championed (Burke, 2007). Human resource management The respondents also mentioned that resources should also be invested in fire rescue services. Part of the investment should be on managers who offer logistics and operational support for instance training; fire protection, operational risk management and contingency planning. Part of the safety team should comprise of staff with experience and competence in occupational health and safety, finance tasks, human resources, administration support, fleet management, property management and information technology. Investment in safety human resource staff has been shown to go a long way in determining the safety level of the building. Recommendations Following the research, the need of a clear cut policy on how protection is to be implemented on building in the UK. The policy should also encompass the nature, size and locality of the building in question. After every fire incident, engineer develops new strategies that will ensure fire incidents are decreased. Some of the solution that they factor into consideration is the designing of building factoring fire retardant materials. These materials prevents spread of fires while at the same time cannot provide enough fuel to start or continue fires. The second approach that is employed is structural design changes in that the initial design of the building is designed into that has natural ventilation, pillars and support of the building strategically located. The third approach that can be employed is incorporating appropriate fire detection and extinguishing means. Fire and smoke detections provide early means of detecting fire allowing appropriates measures to be formulated and implemented. Fire extinguisher agents such as automatic sprinklers ensure that fires can be extinguished easily (Furness & Muckett, 2007). Conclusion Fire investigators have important responsibilities that have to be fulfilled. In his book (Daeid, 2004) states that fire investigators employ different strategies in ensuring that fires can be reduced or eliminated. These strategies include educating, collaborating with the communities. Moreover, mechanics and behaviours of fires allow appropriate means and strategies that ensure impact of fire can be mitigated. The role of a fire investigator is numerous but the most common are determining the cause of fire and taking evident. Flame and smoke can be used by fire-fighters to strategise on extinguishing fire while at the same time approaching the building in a manner that the smoke will not affect the fire-fighters. The amount or size of flame determines the vulnerability of the fire. Flame and smoke are usually the first signals to show the presence of fire. Read More