preventing • protecting • responding

Staffordshire

preventing • protecting • responding

Staffordshire

preventing • protecting • responding

Staffordshirepreventing • protecting • responding

Staffordshire

Home Safety and Community Wellbeing Strategy 2014-2017

2

3Contents

Introduction Page 4

Where do we want to get to Page 6

Not just fire safety Page 7

Fire Protection Page 8

Understanding who is at risk Page 9

Our Commitment Page 10

Appendices Page 14

1. Background Page 14

2. Political Environment Page 19

3. Financial Environment Page 20

4. Technological Environment Page 21

5. Legislation Page 21

6. Environmental Impact Page 22

7. Consultation Page 22

8. Bibliography Page 23

4

Our Vision To make Staffordshire the safest place to be.

2014 has seen the introduction of a new

Corporate Safety Plan (CSP) for Staffordshire

Fire and Rescue Service. The Home Safety and

Community Wellbeing Strategy will support the

Principles of the CSP to ensure the Service:

•Understandsthecurrentandemergingrisks

faced by our communities and our firefighters.

•Recognisesandunderstandsvulnerabilityinour

communities, identifying current and emerging

riskstoourorganisationandpreparesour

Firefighters for the emergencies they may face.

•Workstogetherwithourcommunities

to improve quality of life.

•Raisesawarenessaboutfiresafetywith

our communities, helping them to

understandtheriskstheyface.

•Reducesfiresandmitigatesagainstthe

negative economic impact of fire.

•Contributestothewiderissueswhich

effect community safety and wellbeing.

•Worksinpartnershiptodelivera

high quality public service.

•Transformsandimprovesourbusinessand

workforcethroughevaluationandlearning.

In addition this strategy will support the Prevent,

Protect and Road Safety Strategy, The Older

Person’s Strategy, Equality & Inclusion Strategy

and the Children and Young Person’s Strategy.

The ultimate aim of this strategy is to improve

thesafetyofpeoplefromtheriskoffireintheir

home by Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service

workingtotacklethecausesoffiresinthehome

and by refining every aspect of our prevention

work,fromidentifyingrisks,workingwithpartner

agencies and learning from outcomes.

We are going far beyond our traditional role to

takeearlyinterventionstoimprovethehealthand

wellbeing of our communities and contribute to

the common health issues associated with age,

smoking,mentalandphysicalhealthandalcohol

consumption,allofwhichmakepeoplemore

vulnerabletotheriskoffireanditsconsequences.

This three–year strategy is an ambitious but

realistic plan. It will be a live document which

will evolve to meet any new challenges and help

tomakeStaffordshirethesafestplacetobe.

Introduction

People do not have to die in fires in their homes. Evidence taken from the reviews

of each fatal fire in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire has shown that in every fire

death that has occurred, there has been an aspect that made it preventable.

5

PurposeThis strategy provides the purpose,

direction and ambition for making

people as safe, healthy and independent

as possible in their homes throughout

Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.

The strategy reflects our Leadership

MessageandOurCulturalFrameworkand

demonstrates how Staffordshire Fire & Rescue

Servicewillreduceriskinthehome.

The main focus of the strategy is to prevent fire

deaths and injuries. Its development will enable us

toworkingreatercollaborationwithourpartners

inordertoreducetheriskspresentinthehomes

of the most vulnerable people. Vulnerable means

different things to different people. In this context,

our definition of vulnerable is; “a person who is at an

increasedriskfromfire”.Thisvulnerabilitymaybe

asaresultofage,smoking,alcohol,physicalmobility

or mental health issues. The strategy outlines many

changes in the way we will deliver home safety. It

is the culmination of these marginal improvements

which will have a significant impact on improving

our business to ensure that our communities are

as safe from fire in their own homes as possible.

It is the responsibility of all response, prevention

and protection staff and volunteers to support the

delivery of this strategy. Importantly, the strategy

willgivedirectiontoourstafftoworkcloserwith

members of the community as citizens in order

to prevent fires occurring in the first place.

Wewanttosupportourcommunitiesintaking

greater responsibility for their own safety through

education and this will be achieved through the

implementation of more detailed policies and

procedural guidance along with training and greater

co-production in developing our home safety focus.

ScopeThe strategy outlines our commitment to:

•Reducingrisksfromhazardsinthehome.

•Gatheringandutilisinginformationtodecide

where, how and to whom we deliver our

HomeFireRiskChecks(HFRCs).

•Howwewillprioritiseourresourcestoensure

that the most vulnerable are targeted for support

across effective partnership arrangements.

•Howwewilldeliverourservicesdifferentlyin

the future to support the health and wellbeing

ofcommunitiesandindividuals,intermsofrisk

associated with long term health conditions, lifestyle

factors and behaviours, to reduce the demand

on our own and our partner’s resources.

•Engagingwithourcitizenstoco-producehome

safety initiatives and to deliver prevention

messages as advocates to their own families

and friends. This includes helping people to be

more informed and able to help themselves.

•Campaigningtomakeitalegalrequirement

foralllandlordstohaveworkingsmoke

alarms in their properties.

6

OuraimistoengagewithStoke-on-Trent

and Staffordshire’s communities to inform

and educate people about how to reduce

theriskoffiresandotheremergencies.

We also want to ensure that our home safety

workdeliversthegreatestpublicvalue,ensuring

that resources are managed efficiently to

improve the way we use public money and

to measure the positive impact on the people

ofStoke-on-TrentandStaffordshire.

If successful, the outcomes will be:

•Lessemergencycalloutsbothforthefire

and rescue service and other partner services

by having less accidental dwelling fires.

•Fewerdeathsandinjuriesfromfires.

•Lesspropertydamageandeconomicloss.

•Lessdamagetotheenvironment.

• Individualsrecoveringmoreeffectively

from incidents.

• Improvedhealthandqualityoflifeforcommunities.

• Improveduseofvolunteersaidingservicedelivery.

Where do we want to get to?

The vision of Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service is to make Staffordshire

the safest place to be, our Corporate Safety Plan sets out our commitment

to making communities safer with a significant focus on prevention.

Central to this strategy is delivering an HFRC that

isriskbasedandtargetedtomeettheneedsof

the most vulnerable. It will be integrated with our

partner agencies to promote a multi-agency approach

tohomesafetyandtacklingthemostupstream

causesofvulnerabilitytofire.Arisk-basedrevisit

approach and referral process based on the needs

of the individual will further support our role in a

sustainable approach and ensure that each HFRC

concentrates on identifying the best way to reduce

theriskfromfirebasedonindividualriskfactors.

EvaluationThis strategy will continue to be reviewed

on an annual basis to ensure that:

• ItmeetstheaimsandobjectivesofourCorporate

Safety Plan.

• Itdeliversagainsttheobjectivesandprovides

public value.

•Themeasuresusedareappropriatetoensurethat

organisationally we are continually improving.

7

As we are committed to improving the quality of life for the people of Stoke-on-Trent and

Staffordshire we have begun to expand the advice and support that we offer to include not only

fire safety advice but other advice centred on the wider safety, health and wellbeing agenda.

Not just fire safety

This reflects our ambition to contribute to safety

inabroadersenseaswellastacklingthecauses

of fires. Our core business is still fire prevention

– but we can contribute so much more to

the wider health and wellbeing agenda.

Lets’ Work Together is a creative and innovative

approach to the delivery of public services to

vulnerable members of our community. This

integratedworkingisanidealopportunityfor

jointreferralsandaholisticriskassessmentfor

all partners doing home visits. This approach has

been a spring board for us becoming part of a

multi–agency referral system to focus upon getting

support to vulnerable individuals and communities.

Weareundertakingtrainingforcarers,andother

individuals, who have regular face-to-face contact

with older people, and people receiving care

provided in the community, to provide them with

theskillstoidentifypeoplewhomaybeatriskfrom

fire and refer them to us so that a HFRC can be

arranged. This came as a result of our fatal fire review

structure which identifies ways in which we can

improvemultiagencyfiresafetyknowledgeandhas

resulted in establishing partnerships with paid carers

that can provide direct contact with older people

andwillassistinanimprovementinthetakeupof

HomeFireRiskChecks(OliveBranchreferrals).

We are directly supporting the efforts of local

authorities, the police, health and voluntary

sector organisations to examine ways in which

agencies can better assist individuals, families

andcommunitiesto“livetheirliveswell”.

TheLocalityWorkingProjectinStoke-on-Trentis

usingasystemsthinkingapproachtounderstand

thecurrentwayofworkingandusethefindingsto

developnewwaysofworkingbothfromasingle

agency to a partnership perspective. The focus of

the project is to find an approach that is able to meet

citizen demand at the point of presentation, preventing

needs from escalating into a more complex set of

circumstances or crisis, thus reducing the amount of

unresolved and repeat demand coming into services.

8

The protection function includes

two main aspects:

•Theprovisionofphysicalsafetysystemssuch

assmokedetectors,assistivetechnology,

sprinklersandotherfiresuppressionsystems.

•Afiresafetyenforcementroleinpublicand

commercial buildings.

Our focus on home safety is not only limited

to private domestic dwellings, but other

premises which people call home, either

permanently or on a temporary basis.

These premises include but are not limited to;

•Residentialcarehomes.

•Bed&Breakfasts.

•Hotels.

•Houseinmultipleoccupation(HIMO).

•Shelteredaccommodation.

•Holidaylettings.

•Prisons.

Fire Protection

Prevention is very much about education, risk awareness and individual

behaviour. Protection focuses on the specific measures and the responsibilities

of owners and occupiers of premises where we work, live and socialise.

WearecommittedtomakingsureStaffordshire

is the safest place to be, therefore all sleeping

accommodation which falls under the Fire Safety

Orderwillberiskassessedand,ifnecessary,an

audit will be carried out to ensure people are safe in

the event of a fire. A recent project to audit all the

residentialcarehomeswithinStoke-on-Trentand

Staffordshire has shown our commitment to the more

vulnerable members of society in residential care.

Workingwithcareproviderswehaverecommended

thefittingofresidentialsprinklersystemsand

following our recommendations a number of

systems have been fitted throughout the County.

We investigate most property fires with our team of

investigators, they determine cause and origin and

this information is circulated to our prevent, protect

and response teams to ensure lessons are learnt to

ensureasimilarincidentisunlikelytotakeplacein

the future. We also pass this information to external

organisationsifacountrywideriskisidentified.

9

We recognise that fire is a consequence of many other factors being

addressed by partner agencies and therefore collaboration is essential

to deliver efficient and effective services to our communities.

Understanding who is at risk

TheServicerecognisesthelinksbetweenprotected

characteristics,riskandpartnerships.Weunderstand

that isolation and disengagement, either suffered

by an individual and/or community, can result in

an increased vulnerability particularly when the

factors are accompanied by age, mental ill health,

disability, ethnicity, language barriers, cultural/religious

variances and sexuality are then further impeded by

lowsocio-economicstatus.Wewillworktowards

agreaterunderstandingofthesecumulativerisksby

ensuring that we collect the appropriate data sets

in order to analyse trends, pay considerations to

horizon scanning and plan and evaluate effectively.

We have various methodologies for collecting

and analysing information in relation to our

community profile with the overarching profiling

system Acorn, a geo-demographic segmentation

oftheUK’spopulation.Thisinformationisfed

backtoServiceDeliveryGroupstohelptarget

HomeFireRiskCheckstovulnerablegroups.

Other ways in which we collect and gather

information is via our critical friends and partners.

It is further evidenced in our fatal fire matrix and

the multi-agency case conference to share learning

which is consolidated following fatal fires. We

haveadevelopingMentalHealthandDementia

Strategy along with the input of other fire and

rescue services and clinicians. This will be supported

by a data sharing memorandum of understanding

with Staffordshire Health and Social Care.

WehavesigneduptoE-CinsandPatchwork

software databases in order to share data

and intelligence regarding vulnerabilities, with

partners,tomakesurethatweareworking

more effectively with partner agencies who

can help to resolve issues more effectively.

Currently our statistics tell us that the people

mostatriskofdyinginafireareolder

people and therefore a comprehensive

Strategy for Ageing Safely complements the

Service’s plans for home safety delivery.

10 Our Commitment

• Improvingourabilitytodeliversafetytothe

community in a wider sense maximising the

potential of Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service to

engage with and educate service users. We want

people to be healthy and independent in their own

homes as well as being safe from fire. This may

also mean that in the future, subject to funding

arrangements, additional safety equipment such

as carbon monoxide detectors being provided.

•Ensuringthatourtechnicians,volunteers,

operational staff and other agencies that deliver

HFRC’shavethenecessaryknowledge,skillsand

training to allow a consistently high standard of

service including training and awareness related

to safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.

This will require a clear commitment to the

introduction of a prevention training process.

•ShiftingthebulkofHFRCdeliveryfromour

operational staff to the dedicated roles of

technicians, volunteers, partners and commissioned

services in order to ensure that the delivery

of HFRC’s is as efficient as possible.

•Applyingarisk-basedapproachtodeliveryfocused

uponreducingtheriskofthosemostvulnerable

tofiretofocusourunderstandingofrisk.

•Continuingtocampaignatlocalandnationallevels

tomakeitalegalrequirementforalllandlordsto

haveworkingsmokealarmsintheirproperties.

•Placingagreateremphasisonevaluating

and learning from our experiences by:

• Howmuchriskhavewereduced

for each householder.

• What percentage of our interventions are

focused upon vulnerable householders.

• What the timescale and lifespan

of our interventions is.

• Learning from near misses, injuries and

fatal fire reviews - multi agency.

• Coroner regulation 28 letters and

findingsthroughouttheUK.

• Fire investigation outcomes.

• Measuring quality over quantity and ensuring

that our programme is sustainable.

11

•Ensuringthatourservicesareequitableand

reasonablewhilstproportionatetotherisk.

Everyonewhoasksforadvicewillbeprovided

with a level of assistance that will be tailored to the

levelofriskandwerecognisethatsomepeople

arebetterplacedtolookaftertheirownsafety.

Thosewiththeabilitytotakeresponsibilityfor

their own safety should do so. The services we

offer may range from a home visit with equipment

provided and ongoing support, to telephone

advice and signposting to a website, or the

provision of other appropriate advice. In essence,

wewanttomakesurethatappropriatesupport

is given to those in our communities who are

abletotakeresponsibilityfortheirownsafety.

•Developingaprocesswherebyourcontact

center staff can complete an assessment of an

individual’s needs and consequently offer the

appropriate advice or support to the public.

• Implementingare-visitprocedurebasedupon

therisktotheperson.Thismaymeanour

staff and volunteers doing follow up visits.

•Supportingtheuseoftechnologyinmakingpeople

safer in their own home. This may include greater

jointworkingwithassistivetechnologyproviders

in achieving a safer outcomes for an individual.

•Ensuringsmokedetectionprovidedor

recommended uses optical sensors in all but

exceptional circumstances as they safely detect

a broader range of fires in comparison to

thecheaperIonisationsmokedetectors.

•Ensuringthatourdataandintelligencegathering

processes comply with information sharing

protocols and are used as efficiently as possible

in targeting resources to deliver home safety.

•Promotingamulti-agencyapproachtosolving

long term demands such as alcohol, social

deprivation, ageing, mental ill health, and

smoking.Wealsorecognisetheimpactthat

accident prevention can benefit the community

•Supportingotherorganisationstodeliver

HFRCs as part of a more generalist role by

provision of training, guidance and equipment.

• Improvingourpartnerreferraltrainingforinitiatives

suchasLet’sWorkTogetherandOliveBranch.

•Advisingonprotectivemeasuressuchasassistive

technologyincludingsprinklersystems.Wewilllook

to fund, along with either partners or homeowners,

sprinklersystemsorportablesuppressionsystems

forthosepeoplewhoareatasevereriskfromfire.

12 Our Commitment

•Workingwithprivateandsociallandlordsto

encouragethemtotakeresponsibilityforthe

safety of their tenants by installing domestic

suppression systems and detection equipment.

•PreparingthecommunitiesofStoke-on-Trentand

Staffordshire to be safer in their homes explicitly

wheretheriskmaybeasaresultofalearning

difficulty, physical, sensory or mental health illness

meaningthatindividualsmaybeatahigherrisk

from fire in their home or a specific area of the

community where an emergency response may

takelongerduetoaisolationand/ordifficultterrain.

Otherconsiderationsmaybewhenitislikelythat

thereisanincreaseinriskduetoadverseweather

patterns such as during cold winter periods.

•Helpingpeopletorecoverfromtheirexperience

of fire by improving the level of post incident

activity, with support of community safety

officers and volunteer community advocates

to support people in their time of need.

•UtilisingourCommunicationandEngagement

Strategy to support the delivery of our home safety

objectives.Wewilltakeamulti-channelapproach

to the promotion of home safety services from

ourselves and our partners along with behavioural

change campaigns targeted directly at residents.

On-going communication with homeowners

about home safety will continue after the point

of initial enquiry and intervention to create and

maintain a closer and on-going relationship.

•DeliveringsafetythroughtheuseofCommunity

FireStationfacilities;Stoke-on-Trentand

Staffordshire’s Community Fire Stations have

facilities free for partners and community groups to

use. It not only gives people that contribute to their

local community a place to meet, but also supports

homesafety.Groupshavefreeandreadilyavailable

accesstofiresafetyinformation;beitatalkfrom

their community safety officer, an education tour of

the fire station or up to date displays advertising the

latestsafetycampaigns.Usersofthefacilitieshave

reported an increased understanding of fire safety in

the home and can also help us to understand how

to get our messages across in a way that has the

most positive impact. Through Safer Communities

CIC the partnership between Staffordshire Fire

andRescueService,FireSupportandGroundwork

WestMidlands,wearecommittedtoworking

together to develop and support initiatives that will

helpStoke-on-TrentandStaffordshiretobesafer.

The vision of the CIC is to create active citizenship

(someonewhotakesaroleinthecommunity

for the benefit of that community). Our CIC will

maintain this core principle at the heart of its vision

tomakesurethatitcansupportlocalinitiatives

or contribute to a wider safety agenda to enable

the community to embrace this ownership.

13

•Supportingpeopleandpropertiesthathave

beenidentifiedasbeingatriskfromfiredueto

intelligence around threats of arson and recognising

the relationship with hate crime and domestic

violence. We will fit equipment to reduce the

chanceofanyarsonattackandworkalongside

partners to provide appropriate support and advice.

•Supportinginterventionprogrammesthrough

ourchildrenandyoungperson’sworktoeducate

peopletoreduceandminimisefireriskaswell

asworkingwithlocalsupportteamstoaddress

individuals who are identified as fire setters.

•Ensuringthattheservicehasanappropriate

level of awareness to enable our staff to

effectively deal with any safeguarding issues

involving both vulnerable adults and children.

•Utilisingformalandinformalcontactroutesto

engage with people who refuse our services to

deliver home safety messages. We appreciate

that not everyone will want to engage or act on

our advice given. If this arises we will be clear to

communicate our moral and statutory duties to

advise people and, where appropriate, outline

topeople,familyorcarerstheperceivedrisk

and their own responsibilities to be accountable

fortherisk.Wewillbeclearabouthuman

rights and its relationship with individual rights

and wider societal impact. For example Right

to Respect for Private and Family Life.

Article 8 of the European Convention

on Human Rights provides that:

1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private

and family life, his home and his correspondence.

2. There shall be no interference by a public authority

with the exercise of this right except such as is

in accordance with the law and is necessary in

a democratic society in the interests of national

security, public safety or the economic wellbeing of

the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime,

for the protection of health or morals, or for the

protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

Wewillseektoachievecontinuousimprovement

by conducting customer satisfaction surveys,

qualityassurancechecksandregularengagement

to learn from our activities. This will support a

largerevaluationwhichwilltakeintoaccounta

social return on investment and the public value

that we deliver as a result of our home safety

activities with the ultimate aim of assuring that we

are providing the highest possible quality service.

14

1. Background Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service has statutory responsibilities and a

moral obligation to undertake a wider community safety role.

We recognise that the best way to protect people

from fire is not by just responding to incidents, but

preventing fires from occurring in the first place;

and when they do occur, ensuring that people have

the best chance of escaping without sustaining any

harmandreducingtherisktoourfirefighters.

From 2006 - 2013 there have been 42 people

whohavediedinStoke-on-TrentandStaffordshire

as a result of an accidental fire in the home. Each

of these deaths has prompted a response from the

Service, and other relevant partner organisations,

toreducethelikelihoodoffuturefiredeathsby

improving the services that are delivered.

This review process has demonstrated our

commitment to improve how we protect the

communityofStoke-on-TrentandStaffordshire

with initiatives that are supported by evidence

of achieving sustainable results. We have also

learnt that the circumstances behind each fire

death often involve a complex range of issues

thatcontributedtotheincident,thusmakingthe

challenge to prevent fires deaths more difficult

from traditional approaches to community safety.

In 2013, Facing The Future was published by Sir

KenKnightwhichidentifiedthatthemosteffective

way to save lives is to prevent fires from occurring,

targeting those areas and people who are most at

risk.Thisisconsistentwithourethosofprevention

being better and ultimately more cost effective than

response.ItalsoevidencedthatacrosstheUnited

Kingdomfortheperiod2004-2008,whenfireand

rescue services began to complete home fire safety

visits, there had been a 57% fall in accidental dwelling

fire deaths, 888 less non-fatal casualties and 13,670

fewer fires. This has delivered an economic value

ofbetween£926m-£1,943macrosstheUK.This

is a return on investment of 1.37% and 1.78%.

Thereare450,014domesticpropertiesinStoke-

on-Trent and Staffordshire and since 2004 we have

investedover£240,000peryearinsmokealarm

products and delivered approximately 207,773 Home

FireRiskChecks.Thisapproachhasresultedina

significant reduction in dwelling fire numbers by 15%

and importantly a reduction in the number of deaths

and injuries by 60% when comparing 2004 to 2012.

Appendices

15

Severity of domestic fires has also significantly

been reduced through improvements in home

safety our interventions. As well as reducing the

economiccostoffires,thisworkhasallowed

ustodeliverdifferentactivitiesinordertomake

people safer in their own homes and reduce

the Service’s overall cost to the public

The average costs to the community of fires per

annuminStoke-on-TrentandStaffordshirebased

upon 10 years of statistics is estimated at £76,625,000

(seefigure1.0below)whichtakesintoaccount:

•humancosts.

• lossofearnings.

• losstotheeconomy,propertydamageand

response costs.

These are approximate costs and have been

derivedfrom“Theeconomiccostoffire”document

2004CommunitiesandLocalGovernment(CLG)

and the Martin report 2011. Figures are cross

referenced within a 10 year statistical analysis of

domesticfiresinStoke-on-TrentandStaffordshire.

It is very difficult to define exactly how many incidents

we have actually prevented alone, as there are a

multitude of crosscutting interventions delivered by a

range of partners all aimed at reducing the occurrence

of incidents within a locality; however the figures

demonstrate the financial cost of domestic fires to the

communitiesofStoke-on-TrentandStaffordshire.

16

Figure 1.0 Costs of incidents (cost of Fires taken from CLG 2004 report and Martin report 2011)

Serious = any fire with fatality, casualty or rescue or where total damage is not limited to the item ignited.

Minor = All fires limited where the total damage is limited the first item ignited and there are no fatalities,

casualties or rescues.

Appendices

Figure 1.0

Event Average cost in £ per event

Average annual occurrence

inStoke-on-Trentand

Staffordshire (based

on 10 year data)

Estimated total cost of

domestic fires in pounds

inStoke-on-Trentand

Staffordshire per yearFatal fire 1,630,000 5 £8,150,000

Serious fire 155,000 429 £66,495,000Minor fire 12,000 165 £1,980,000

Total £76,625,000

Inordertoreducethecostoffiretoourcommunities,wewillbespendingapproximately£3minundertaking

HFRC’s for the financial year 2013/14.

17

Figure 1.1 shows a clear reduction in both numbers of accidental dwelling fires and deaths and

injuries along with the number of HFRC’s delivered. In the last year it is important to note that

65% of all of the fires within the home were confined to the item that caught fire first.

Figure1.1NumberofAccidentalDwellingFires(ADF)andthenumberoffireDeathsandInjuriesindomestic

fires(D&I)matchedagainstthenumberofcompletedHomeFireRiskChecks(HFRCs)from2003to2012.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13

2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13

Figure 1.1

Completed Home Fire

RiskChecks(HFRCs)

Number of Accidental

DwellingFires(ADF)

DeathsandInjuriesin

domesticfires(D&I)

18 Appendices

Duringtheearlystagesofourpreventionwork

weprovidedfreeHFRC’sandfreeriskreduction

equipment to everyone who has requested it

regardless of whether they were a homeowner living

in a wealthy area or a tenant in a socially deprived

area. As the Service evolved through obtaining data

from partner organisations, we began to focus upon

the most vulnerable as well as using operational crew’s

localknowledgetargetingtheirownriskprofiles

within their station areas. This was supplemented

by the employment of a number of dedicated

HFRC Technicians, some of which specialised in

supporting people with sensory impairments. An

0800 contact centre was created to administer the

HFRC service. This has resulted in us being able to

ensure that our resources have been focussed on

people with a degree of specific vulnerability to fire.

Accessing some individuals and communities

has proved a challenge and actually instigating

changesinlifestylesandattitudetomakethem

safer from fire has proved difficult. In addition to

localknowledgegainedfromrespondingtofires,

we have learnt from in-depth reviews of serious

fires that the root causes of fires are complex and

people involved in fires in the home predominately

fall into one or more of the following categories:

•OlderPeople.

•Peoplewithmobilityorseverephysical,

sensory or acute disabilities, learning difficulties

and/or mental ill health problems.

•Peoplewhosmoke.

•Peoplewholivealone.

•Peoplewhouseillicitand/orprescriptiondrugs

and/or alcohol.

•Peoplewhosuffersocio-economicdeprivation.

We have also learnt that the most common causes

offiresinthehomewithinStoke-on-Trentand

Staffordshirearefromcooking,faultyelectrical

appliancesorsmoking.

Wehavealwaysworkedwithotheragenciessuch

as local authorities, social care and health, health

providers and the police. This has allowed us to learn

thatthecontributoryriskfactorsassociatedwithfire

are also contributing to the demand on other public

sector service providers. We have learnt that as

individual organisations it is not the most effective or

efficient way to try and resolve these issues in isolation.

19

2. Political Environment We recognise the political changes around

Localism and Big Society which shift a

greater responsibility on public services to

meet the needs of their local communities.

We have embraced the Fire Services National

Framework2012andoutlineditscommitmentto

prevention within our Corporate Safety Plan. We are

committedtoworkingcloserwithallpublicservices

to ensure that the community benefits from the best

available services in the most efficient manner.

We are actively campaigning, along with full CFOA, to

makeitalegalrequirementforalllandlordstohave

workingsmokeandcarbonmonoxidealarmsinstalled.

20 Appendices

3. Financial Environment We have been part of the number of public

sector organisations that have in recent

years had a substantial reduction in its

funding from Central Government.

SincetheLocalGovernmentFinanceSettlement

announcementmadeinParliamentinDecember

2012,wenowknowwewillseesignificant

reduction in our funding (from £44.8m in

2012-13 down to £39.8m in 2015-16).

These reductions are broadly in line with

the assumptions that underpin our business

transformation programme but the challenge

is to improve our service delivery by reviewing

how we will deliver our prevention services in a

more cohesive, cost effective and targeted way.

As we respond to these challenges, and

workdifferently,itisimportantthatthe

Home Safety and Community Wellbeing

Strategy complements any future changes to

operational crewing and response models.

Our Private Finance Initiative programme has

ensured that local Community Fire Stations are

used to facilitate interaction between our staff and

the public and that the facilities are used for the

benefit of the community. Enhancing community

engagement was one of the drivers behind our

programme to renew and refurbish its estate. The

Service has 15 community fire stations with facilities

including meeting rooms, IT suites and gyms available

forcommunityuse.Breakoutareaswithposters,

notice boards and visual display screens are used to

convey community safety messages for prevention.

UseofCommunityFireStationsbyexternalbodies

for activities supporting safety, health and wellbeing

consistently exceeds initial expectations and the

Service is continually improving its level of engagement

with Community Fire Station user groups.

21

4. Technological environmentWe are committed to ensuring that

advancements in technology are used

to improve safety in the home.

5. LegislationThe Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004

places a wide range of statutory duties and

powers on SFRS with section 6(1) specific to

promoting fire safety and advice on request.

Improvementsinsmokedetectionequipment,

specialist systems for people with sensory impairments

and the installation of domestic suppressions systems

andsprinklersaresomewaysinwhichwekeep

peoplesafeintheirhomes.Itisimportanttomake

sure that our services and equipment are provided

inatargetedway,basedonrisk,needandthe

abilitytotakeresponsibilityforone’sownsafety.

The effective use of communication technology such

a social media, applications and web-based software

and efficient recording systems has also improved

the delivery of home safety for our communities.

Wearealsokeentousetechnologytohelpour

communities help themselves by using promoting

home safety in more advanced method than before.

Other relevant legislation includes:

•EqualityAct2010

•RegulatoryReform(FireSafety)Order2005

•LocalismAct2011

•CivilContingenciesAct2004

•HealthandSafetyatWorkAct1974

22

6. Environmental ImpactChanging weather patterns can

cause problems to communities and

individuals in the form of isolation.

7. Consultation

The need to heat the home and the exposure

toincreasedrisktohealthfromagreater

use of portable or solid fuel appliances. All

ofthesefactorsincreasetheriskoffire.

We need to react to extreme weather periods such

as flooding, cold winters and droughts which have

the potential to isolate some individuals, and for

some an inability to adequately heat their homes,

resultinginanincreasedriskoffirefromportable

orsolidfuelappliancesaswellasriskfromother

health detriments. We recognise the need to do all

we can to ensure that members of the community

canadequatelypreparetotakeresponsibility

for their own safety when access to emergency

services may be limited by environmental factors.

•Staffsurveyscompletedin2013.

•Workshopcompletedin2013.

•Staffengagementprogramme-

July and August 2013.

•CorporateSafetyPlanConsultation2013.

•AgeconsultingservicesNovember2013.

•FireAuthorityMembers(Scrutinyand

Performance Committee) February 2014.

Appendices

23

•Ageingsafely.

•CFOA–HomeSafetyStrategy2013-2016.

•DomesticSuppressionStrategy.

•EngagementthroughStoke-on-Trentand

Staffordshire’s Community Fire stations.

•FacingtheFuture:Findingsfromthe

review of efficiencies and operations in

fire and rescue authorities in England.

•HFRCpolicy.

•Hittingthepoorestplaceshardest–The

local and regional impact of welfare reform

–ChristinnaBeattyandSteveFothergill,

Centre for Regional Economic Research,

SheffieldHallamUniversity,April2013.

•Measuringpublicvalues.

•Postfireactivitypolicy.

•ProtectionStrategy2013-2017.

•PreventandProtectstrategy.

•SafeasStaffordshire2003–Astudyofaccidental

domestic property fires in Staffordshire

–PeteClarkeandAngelaLeigh.

•TheCorporateSafetyplan2014-2017.

•Thepublichealthoutcomesframework2009.

The Royals society for the Prevention of Accidents

Bigbookofaccidentprevention2011.

8. Bibliography

For a FREE Home Fire Risk Check Contact

0800 0241 999www.staffordshirefire.gov.uk

8594

05/

2014

ServiceHeadquarters,Pirehill,Stone,StaffordshireST150BS

Telephone: 08451 22 11 55 Fax: 01785 898395

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Find us on Twitter @staffsfire

See what you can find www.staffordshire.gov.uk

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