Strategies to Improve Community Safety - Case Study Example

Community Safety Student’s Name Institution Instructor Course Date of Submission Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 2 2.8 Protect in place 8 1.0 Introduction Incidents of fire can be hostile to our lives and can lead to loss of crucial properties as well as causing injuries and fatalities. Fatalities associated with fire have been reported globally, thus, there is need to put security measures to avoid such fatal incidents. This paper is specifically aimed at analyzing incidents of fire and their implications in an area called Merseyside. The analysis will be in a position to identify the societal risks which are associated with incidents of fire in this area. Recommendations focusing on the strategies which should be put in place to reduce incidents of fire will also be analyzed. Merseyside has experienced numerous types of fire incidents as indicated by the report provided by the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service. Examples of incident types of fire which occur in Merseyside include: single dwelling house fires, false alarm calls, secondary fires, RTA & Extractions, other building fires, other fires and other special services[WMR09]. These incidents have been following a downward trend every year but their level of occurrence is still high and requires some intervention. They occur at different proportions with secondary fires reading the scale each year. According to the survey which was carried out in between the year 2005 to 2008 by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service secondary fires (39.7%) was the most common incident type they had to attend to, followed by false alarms (30.3%)[WMR09]. The following charts show breakdown of incidents in Merseyside by incident type: Source: Clarke, W. R., 2009. Analysis of the Last Four Years Incident Data by Station Areas in Merseyside (2004/05-2007/08), Liverpool: Unpublished. The statistics of this survey revealed so many details concerning the incidents occurrence in Merseyside. July, October and November were identified as the peak months for incidents. The peak hour which the incidents were constantly occurring was found to be between 20:00hrs and 21:00hrs. Liverpool City Centre was identified as one of the major hotspot for false alarm calls and special services incidents whereas hotspots for secondary fires and primary fires incidents were found to concentrate on North Liverpool, in particular towards Anfield and Everton. The areas in Merseyside which normally saw the greatest amount of incidents are City Centre, St Helens and Croxteth[WMR09]. 2.0 Strategies to improve community safety Community safety is very important and should be improved in areas such as the City Centre, St Helens and Croxteth which receives a lot of fire incidents yearly. Improving community safety in these areas will ensure that the community is in a position to contribute positively to the economy growth process without any interference. People’s behavior in most of the cases contributes to fatalities associated with incidents of fire. Therefore, effective strategies should be put into place to change people’s behavior in relation to safety from fire. Changing people’s attitudes and behavior towards fire is one of the strategic measures to improving fire safety. When someone is well-informed, he/she will be in a position to follow fire-safe practices, select fire-safe houses and react properly when an incident of fire occurs. Another key issue that impacts the people’s behavior in case of a fire breakout is the design of the building. Strategies should be put in place to ensure that buildings are designed according to what people will actually do in case of an emergency. The following are some of the strategies which will enhance community fire safety in Merseyside area: 2.1 Installing smoke detectors Installing smoke detectors in buildings will help in reducing false alarms calls incidents because a fire alarm will only alert people when it receives a signal from the smoke detector. In this case, a smoke detector cannot send a signal to the fire alarm having not detected some smoke which is a sign of fire. Installing smoke detectors devices will therefore have a direct impact in reducing false alarm calls. In this context, smoke detectors will be in a position to control single dwelling house fires and other building fires as any presence of smoke will be reported in time through the alert of the smoke detector. The alert will induce a quick response from the fire rescue authorities who will contain the fire at early stage preventing it spread. 2.2 Fire inspection Fire inspection is another strategy which can help in preventing fire incidents. Although Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service is carrying out a number of fire safety check in Merseyside area, a lot need to be done so as to come with a concise solution concerning fire incidents. A thorough fire inspection within Merseyside will assist in reducing the number of dwelling fires, injuries and fatalities. The free Home Fire Safety Check should be supported and encouraged to be carried out regularly. The following chart shows the total number of home fire safety checks performed by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service between 2004/05 and 2007/08. Source: Clarke, W. R., 2009. Analysis of the Last Four Years Incident Data by Station Areas in Merseyside (2004/05-2007/08), Liverpool: Unpublished. 2.3 Fitting buildings with fire doors All building in this area should be fitted with fire doors to control fatalities associated with single dwelling house fires and other building fires. Fire doors are very useful because they help in stopping the spread of smoke and fire for a considerable amount of time which can allow an individual to escape. However, fire doors can only control the spread of fire and smoke when they are closed. This means that they should be fitted using a mechanism which will allow self-closer of the doors. Fire doors can also help in preventing false alarm calls incidents by connecting them to a fire alarm. It is possible to connect a fire door to a fire alarm through an electromagnetic hold open device. 2.4 Provide service & maintain Fire Extinguishers Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service should service and maintain fire extinguishers fitted in the buildings regularly to ensure that they are always functional and can help to put off fire. This will help community members to be able to handle small fires on their own. If fire extinguishers are not well maintain they might not function in times of emergencies. Servicing and maintaining them regularly guarantee that they will function in case of fire. 2.5 Installing automatic fire sprinklers Automatic fire sprinklers systems can help save lives. They are capable of putting of fire by discharging water to sections under fire. Installing automatic fire sprinklers in buildings located in areas where building fires are much reported will be helpful. Automatic fire sprinklers systems are very reliable because they react so quickly whenever they detect a fire onslaught. A combination of automatic fire sprinkler system and other fire warning systems in residences and buildings can assist in reducing fatalities, injuries and property damage by about 50 %[Art03]. 2.6 Natural behavior Generally, whenever people are alerted for an emergency, they do not respond accordingly. When people sense an onset of fire or smell smoke they normally ignore such situations and continue with their tasks. Sometimes people move towards the source of smoke which means that they are placing themselves in greater danger since they are moving towards the fire. It is also assumed that an alarm will cause people to react immediately but this not always the case which sometimes results to fatalities. It is always advisable to respond immediately to a fire alarm and run for your dear life in a direction away from the source of the fire. Although considered natural, the behavior of running towards the source of the fire should be discouraged because it sometimes results to unnecessary loss of lives. 2.7 Fire alarm vs. voice communication system Relying on fire alarm to alert people so that they can evacuate is not a reliable way because a large number of test alarms, false alarms or punk alarms in many buildings have affected the reliability of this signal as clue of fire breakout. Emergence of smoke or a burning smell sometimes causes people to investigate the cause instead of alerting others to evacuate. In this context, the best method of initiating a quick response to a fire breakout would be to use a voice communication system[Art03]. A voice communication system will not misdirect people and will give clear directions to people who are at risk and they will be in a position to react immediately. While giving directions using the voice communication systems, it is advisable to eliminate any interruptions such as high music which might affect the transmission of the alert message. A voice communication system is effective compared to the fire alarm because it will get more attention than the fire alarm, thus causing people to react to the emergency. 2.8 Protect in place Another human behavior which should be encouraged in areas with high-rise buildings is the “protect in place”. This is the behavior of staying in the place you were in when a fire breaks out in high-rise building[Art03]. There is a probability of being safe in case the fire is controlled. This type of behavior is not always safe and sometimes can result to fatalities if the fire spreads out of control but it has been found to work in some places where the fire was contained in time. 2.9 Teachable moment Sometimes people may change their attitudes or behavior when a major fire tragedy occurs, but this does not last for long because people do not visualize such an event occurring again in their lives. The best thing whenever such a tragedy occurs is to use that chance as a “teachable moment”. Teaching people the importance of fire safety at such a moment will definitely have an impact on their behavior and attitudes. This will reinforce the importance of fire safety within a community. Using incidents which have occurred elsewhere to teach the community the importance of fire safety will directly improve citizen’s safety. Such teaching can be done using different ways which might include: using the media, handing out flyers, and using volunteers to communicate the message around the community. 2.10 Training/Educating people Training plays an important role in changing people’s behavior. There is a need to explain to people why and how they should change their behavior in case of fire incident. When people understand the reasons behind their behavior change, they will definitely react accordingly when time comes. Training is an effective strategy that can help change people’s behavior. The training should be interactive and engaging to make sure that the message sticks in people’s mind. Trainers should make use of demonstrations where possible, thus, ensuring a hand-in experience to the trainees/people. 3.0 Conclusion Some incidents of fire can be a source of harmful outcomes to the society if they are not well controlled. Merseyside region has been experiencing numerous incidents of fire where some have caused harmful effects although there has not been a major incidents reported. Good measures should be put in place to curb the negative results associated with fire incidents. The Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service survey statistics of the four year period are clear indication that something has to be done to curb the risks associated with incidents of fire. The 2007/08 analysis alone indicated that the Merseyside region experienced 27,092 incidents of fire with secondary fire incidents leading in the list[WMR09]. Although this was a drop of 19.4 % from what was experienced in 2004/05 which had 33,628 incidents of fire, the level of the fire incidents is still high[WMR09]. Strategies to change people’s behavior in relation to safety from fire are the key measures to control societal risks associated with incidents of fire. Some of the strategies which should be put in place to help in changing people’s behavior in relation to fire safety include training the communities, using “protect in place” concept, using “teachable moment” concept etc. The Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service should introduce new services such as using voice communication systems instead of fire alarms to eliminate false alarm calls which are a nuisance especially in the City Centre. Reference List WMR09: , (Clarke, 2009), Art03: , (Cote, 2003), Read More