Firefighter Fatalities Campaign

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Firefighter Fatalities Campaign Briefing for FBU
members
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CLG Select Committee 22 October 2007

• Chris Wormald,
• Director General, Local Government and
  Regeneration, CLG

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• Mr Wormald
• What we did in reforming the Fire and Rescue
  Service is to move towards locally set
  priorities which were not so much focussed on
  response time. One of the results was that fire
  and rescue services moved quite a lot of resource
  from response into prevention and that saves a
  lot of lives.
• One of the salutary facts in all this is that our
  research shows that somewhere around 80 per cent
  of fire deaths have already happened at the point
  at which the fire brigade is called. The actual
  effect of response times on the death rate is
  really comparatively small.

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• Q19  John Cummings
• You have got me absolutely confused. Can Mr
  Wormald just answer this question, have we got a
  worse service now than we used to have in terms
  of responses?
•   Mr Wormald
• I am not denying that the number has gone up, it
  clearly has. What I am saying is that that does
  not equate to a worse service.

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Reducing fire deaths CLG explanation

• Our target is to reduce accidental fire-related
  deaths in the home by 20 per cent and arson by 10
  per cent by 2010.  We are currently on course
  to meet that target.
• CLG website

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Political Agenda

• Modernisation of service employee conditions
• Abolition of national standards
• Greater flexibility - IRMP
• Emphasise prevention rather than emergency
  response
• Cheaper fire service

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Developing a response

• Build on previous work (IRMP)
• Multiple strands
• Not simply a one-off campaign. Several years?
• Members
• Public
• Politicians

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Annual Conference 2008

• In May 2008 Annual Conference responded to the
  tragic series of Firefighter fatalities by
  agreeing a resolution calling for research and a
  campaign. The resolution also referred to
• Impact of IRMPs after removal of national
  standards
• National policy vacuum on operational guidance
• Operational training
• CFS at the expense of operational planning and
  emergency response
• Weight and speed of operational response
• RRO and fire safety inspections
• Investment in Firefighter safety

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What is the Firefighter Fatalities Campaign about?

• Umbrella campaign challenging this agenda which
  is undermining our service.
• Defending the professionalism and status of
  firefighters
• It is part of a nationally led campaign around
  the themes
• Invest in safety
• Safer communities
• Safer firefighters

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Research some findings

• N.B. Problems with official records
• Nine firefighters died on duty last year the
  highest since 1985-86
• Average trend was downwards during the 1970s,
  1980s and 1990s. Increases from the early 2002.
• No officially recorded firefighter deaths from
  fires from 1997 until 2002 (almost 7 years).
• 2002-2007 there have been at least 13 fire
  deaths. The worst five year period in over 30
  years.

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Invest in Safety

• Umbrella campaign with several aspects
• Real Fire Service Stats (322 rescues per week)
• Emergency Response Attendance Times
• Emergency Fire Control
• IPDS Operational Training
• IRMP Emergency Response Planning

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We are the professional voice of the Fire Service

• We campaigned for
• Foam filled furniture regulations
• Reduced ignition propensity cigarettes
• Sprinklers in Schools and domestic buildings
• We commissioned reports on
• Attacks on Firefighters
• Flooding

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Emergency response matters.
It is essential to avoid situations which could
motivate or pressurise fire-fighters to act
unsafely in the interests of saving life Review
of Standards of Emergency Cover
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Emergency response matters.
(Dwelling Fire Cover Risk Assessment ENTEC 1997)
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Invest in safety Umbrella Campaign
Define record Firefighter Fatalities
National body for safety critical guidance
operational standards
Investment in operational training
Improved National Standards for Emergency
Response Planning
Emergency Response at the heart of our emergency
service
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Why this campaign and why now?

• Enough is enough!
• Enough lives lost !
• Enough IRMP cuts !
• Enough undermining our profession !
• Learn the lessons as a fitting tribute
• Remember the dead fight for the living

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Westminster Lobby

• We shall pursue all the strands of the campaign
  but the focus for the Westminster lobby is
• A UK-wide definition for Firefighter Fatalities
• A UK-wide register to record them
• National bodies to review, agree and implement
  operational guidance as a consequence of
  Firefighter Fatalities/serious incidents

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Westminster Lobby

• Raise the campaign in every workplace
• Identify links between local issues affecting
  our Members in brigades and the national campaign
  
• Will your branch be represented?

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(No Transcript)