Quality and Standards of Fire and Rescue Services - Humberside - Case Study Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Quality & Standards - Humberside Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Table of Contents Title : Quality & Standards - Humberside 1 Table of Contents 2 Abstract 2 Introduction 4 Methodology 5 Quality Assurance system at Humberside FRS 5 Humberside FRS Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) 6 Quality Assurance in Humberside FRS 8 Appropriateness of the ISO standards quality assurance post government change 11 Application of the recommended QA systems to Humberside FRS 12 Conclusion 13 Bibliography 14 Abstract In the United Kingdom, fire and rescue services have a statutory duty to meet the safety needs of the members of the community. Among them is the Humberside fire and rescue service which offers fire and rescue services to the area of the former county of Humberside. Being under the funding of the government though the fire authority, the fire and rescue services are required to prepare an integrated risk management plan. The Humberside FRS has a risk management plan which states all its objectives which are geared towards meeting the needs of the community. Quality assurance system has also been considered an important factor in meeting the needs of the community and in helping the FRS to comply with the government regulations. ISI standards has been recommended as the best quality assurance system since it will also enable the organization maintain international standards as well as facing the challenges post government change. Introduction Fire and rescues services in the UK have undergone various changes since the beginning of the 21st Century. Theses changes have been contributed to by the devolution of the government’s central powers that resulted to changes in legislation. Generally, emergency response services in UK are offered by the fire and rescue services (FRS) that are governed and funded by the fire authority. FRS are fire fighting bodies at the operational level, separate from the fire and rescue authority which is the administrative body made of councilors and civilians who runs the fire and rescue services. Since July 2010, the government of UK declared that it will change the method of Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) and cut the local government inspections of the fire and rescue services as from October 2010. The Comprehensive Area Assessment was an assessment mode by the government that assesses how well the local services are performing. Comprehensive Area Assessment was a replacement to the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) in April 2009. The two assessment processes were directed by the National Audit Commission after carrying out the Independent Review of the Fire Service also known as the Bin report (GB Parliament: House of Commons, 2006). CPA was also an assessment method that reported on how well a council was performing overall as compared to other councils in England. This collected together opinions from auditors, other inspectorates, and inspectors of environments and cultural services. On the other hand, the CAA was an external assessment of the appropriateness of the performance of the local public services. CAA used to asses how well the local services are serving the members of communities. Local services under this include the police, the councils, health services and the dire and rescue services. Its emphasis was on the quality of life that the residents led and the ability of the combined efforts of these services to achieve and progress towards the long term goals. It also gave the best practices, innovative ideas and could deal with barriers to improvement. The changes in the government therefore require the fire and rescue services to take up new quality assurance systems (National Audit Office 2009). Methodology This report is written with information obtained from the website of Humberside fire and rescue service. The Integrated risk management plan of the organization has been studied and analyzed as well as their quality assurance system. Information concerning the response of the FRS to the community needs has also been considered as well as the strategic objectives of the organization. Recommendations on the best quality assurance system following the government changes of July 2010 have also been given. Quality Assurance system at Humberside FRS Humberside fire and rescue service is a legislative body offering fire and rescue services to the area of the former county of Humberside. Currently, the organization is made up of many authorities in areas such as Kingston upon Hull, North and North East Lincolnshire in England. The government changes of July 2010 have prompted the organization to change its strategic plans and the quality assurance system so that it can be able to adapt to the changes. Quality assurance (QA) is the process of systematically monitoring and evaluating various aspects in an organization to ensure that maximum standards of quality are being achieved in the production process (Allocco 2006). The main role of the Humberside fire and rescue service is to ensure that community they work for is safe to live, work within and even to visit. The organization therefore works hard to ensure that the services it offers to the community are of high quality. To achieve this quality, Humberside FRS has acquired some of the best operational response standards available in UK. Humberside FRS offers advice to the members of the community on how to remain safe and free from fire injuries. The organization works hard to ensure that the members of the community do not suffer death and injuries caused by fire and other dangerous substances. They have a well dedicated Community Protection Team that supervises various programmes and activities in the community they serve including offering safety advice in schools and also conducting home safety checks. Humberside FRS Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) Integrated Risk Management Plan is mainly developed to save lives and reduce injury to the environment and to property. It results from the assessment of all risks to the members of community, their environment and their property therefore developing a long term plan that will enable the fire and rescue service respond better to the identified needs in the community. This plan takes into account the economic, environmental and cultural aspects of the community. All the fire and rescue services in UK are required to prepare integrated risk management plans that are different from the outdate plan of standards that was developed in 1947. The plan of 1947 did not take into account so many aspects including the real life risks, preparation for other incidences such as road accident, chemicals and people trapped in buildings. The new integrate risk management plan takes into account all possible risks of life in and develops an effective plan that will ensure safety in the community based on information that is valid and reliable. Development of an integrated risk management is a statutory duty for all the fire and rescue services in UK. The main purpose of the Humberside integrated risk management plan is to have a balanced approach that will be used by the authority in reducing risks within the community. To achieve this, the organization combines preventive, protective and emergency response based on the results of risk assessment so as to improve community safety and have an environment that is safe for the functioning of the fire fighters. The organization also takes measures that will assist the community to recover easily after experiencing an emergency incident. This measure also helps in reducing the impact of such an incidence on the lives of people, their property and the environment (Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority 2007). The first integrated risk management plan for Humberside fire and rescue service was published in March 2004 to serve for the years up to 2008. The organization has anew IRMP to start between 2011 and 2012 that is very flexible to accommodate the dynamic environment characterized by changes such as those experienced in 2010 concerning the Comprehensive Area Assessment . The objectives of this new integrated risk management plan includes to reduce the number of incidences such as those involving fires, road accidents and other emergency incidents, to reduce severity of injuries caused by such incidences, to reduce the impacts of fires commercially, economically and socially. Other objectives include maintaining a safe working environment or the organization’s fire fighters, safeguarding the environment and also adding value to the organization’s money (Humberside FRS 2010). In its strategic plan, Humberside has nine proposals that will guide them in improving their strategic programme. These proposals include having Unit Crewing for all specialist appliances to ensure availability of vehicles at all the times. To change the arrangements of such crewing, to have a more flexible operational command, to introduce small fire units and to improve the management and resourcing of operational risk management among others. Having up to date information will help the fire fighters improve on their safety while working and also enable them to deal with emergency incidences. These proposals will help the organization to meet the financial economic levels required by the government at the same time delivering quality services to the members of the community (The Fire Brigade Unit 2008). Quality Assurance in Humberside FRS Quality assurance system is a means of formal management system that is used by organizations to strengthen the management process and other aspects in an organization. The main aim of quality assurance system is to improve on the working standards and to ensure that various departments carry out their duties in a consistent manner. A quality assurance system also outlines the expectations of an organization and any other requirement. Considering the key strategic objectives stated in the Humberside FRS strategic risk management plan, the most appropriate quality assurance system that can be used is the ISO standards. ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standards are set following a defined process that is made up of various pre-defined stages so as to come up with a consensus that will fit the entire industry. These standards apply to various fields such as industries, academics, consumer and the government organizations. The ISO have various advantages over other quality assurance systems and can therefore be effective for use I Humberside FRS. One of the main advantages of these standards is that they are generic. Generic means that similar standards can be applied to any type of organization regardless of the size, the product or service line, private or public enterprises or whatever sector of the business activity. According to the ISO standards, management system defines the method that may be taken up by the organization in managing its processes and all organizational activities to ensure that the objectives are met. Such objectives include meeting the quality requirements of the customers, meetings the environmental objectives and also working in compliance with the government regulations. The regulations affecting the fire and rescue services are stated in the Fire and Rescue Service National Framework document 2008-2011. This framework is a document stating the government objectives directed towards the fire and rescue services. The document states clearly the government expectations for the fire and rescue services, the expected roles of the fire authorities and the extent to which the government can support the fire and rescue services. Also stated are the outcomes that the government expects to see being delivered to the community by the FR authorities and regional management boards in all their duties (Department for Communities and Local Government 2008). Generally, this document acts as the basis for all the problems being experienced at the community level and also by the fire and rescue services. This is enabled by the flexibility allowed by the government to the fire and rescue services. The government allows the FRS to be flexible in all their activities so that they can meet the needs of the community in the most effective manner. The heart of the government is in the needs of the community and can therefore offer all what is required to see that they are met. Other legislations include the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 which ranges various organizations into categories and defines how they must work together to fight major threats and terrorism. The other one is the Fire and Rescue Act 2004 which sets out the legal framework for the fire and rescue services (National Audit Office 2008). The “Shewhart cycle” is a cycle stated in the ISO standards that may de sued in achieving quality in giving services. The cycle has three sections, Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA). Planning means setting out the objectives and making a plan on how these objectives will be achieved. Do means implementing the plans. That is, doing what has been planned. Check means measuring the results to see whether the objectives have been met as required. Act means correcting whatever has not worked. One looks at what has not been achieved and makes improvement plans for better results next time. Appropriateness of the ISO standards quality assurance post government change The process of ISO certification enables an organization to independently analyze its current internal processes and this will enable it to implement production processes that are more efficient and cost effective. This is because ISO certification helps in reduction of wastes, redundancy among the workers and bad impact of the organization to the environment. With such guidelines, the organization will be able to reduce some of its operating costs and also legal issues. This is because the working framework that is set by the ISO standards enables consideration of aspects such as the legal requirements of the Fire and Rescue Service National Framework document 2008-2011. ISO certification also ensures that the organization adhere to the international standards. When a company is ISO certified, the government and the business partners gain confidence that the organization is complying with the international standards. These standards also help in enhancing the image and reputation of the organization. An organization that has a good reputation is well trusted and is not always subjected to public scrutiny. It is therefore an indication that the organization complies with all that is required by the government, the consumers and other business organizations. The government changes of July 2010 were an abolishment of the comprehensive area assessment that used to oversee how well the local councils are meeting the needs of the community. With these changes, the fire and rescue services will experience competition from other public agencies and will also suffer the impact of globalization. Therefore, the organization has to work towards maintaining quality in all the services and strict compliance with the government regulations. However, the Humberside Fire and Rescue Service has an integrated risk management plan that takes into account all these requirements. This coupled with the ISO standards as the quality assurance system, Humberside FRS will be able to overcome that challenges following the changes. The organization will also be bale to deliver services adequately to the members of community without the government assessment offered under the comprehensive area assessment. Application of the recommended QA systems to Humberside FRS The first IRMP for the Humberside fire and rescue service was published in March 2004 to serve the period between 2004 and 2008. This integrated risk management plan lacked flexibility and was therefore not able to meet all the community needs at that time and also some of the objectives of the organization. However, things are changing with the increased impact of globalization and this is affecting even the fire and rescue services. Globalization is calling for increased level of technology to enable the organization meet the working challenges and also to gear its objectives internationally. Therefore, everything is expected to be done following the international standards. The quality assurance system that I have recommended to the Humberside fire and rescue service will enable the organization to meet the challenges of globalization. The ISO standards will enable the fire and rescue service to work according to internationally defined standards and procedures and this will enable them in meeting the needs of the community. The community needs are also changing with globalization. For example, in the businesses, people are engaging in more risky ventures and therefore needs better safety advice. ISO standards will therefore enable the Humberside FRS to respond well to global needs in the community. The government regulations are also becoming tighter and stricter requiring the fire and rescue services to revise their policies. The ISO standards will enable the fire and rescue services to have policies that better meet these regulations. Conclusion Fire and rescue services in UK function under various government regulations which are set to ensure that the needs of the community are met. Therefore, in all its activities, the fire and rescue services must ensure that priority is given to the community needs. This includes in designing the integrated risk management plan which states the objectives of the organization. An effective quality assurance system, is also required that will enable the organization to function within the regulations and also to maintain quality standards in all the activities. In the case of Humberside fire and rescue service, I recommend that they apply the ISO standards for the quality assurance system. This system will help the organization maintain international standards and this will be effective in meeting all the working challenges. Bibliography Department for Communities and Local Government, 2008, Fire and Rescue Service National Framework 2008-11, Communities and Local Government, London. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority, 2007, Integrated Risk Management Plan 2007-2010, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority, Swinton, Manchester. The Fire Brigade Unit, 2008, In the Line of Duty: Firefighter deaths in the UK since 1978, College Hill press, Kingston upon Hull. Humberside FRS, 2010, Integrated Risk Management Plan 2011-2010, Humberside FRS, Kingston upon Hull. National Audit Office, 2009, New Dimension: Enhancing the fire and rescue services capacity to emergencies, Edward Elgar, UK. GB Parliament: House of Commons, 2006, Communities and Local Government Fire and Rescue Service: Fourth Report of Session 2005-06, The Stationery Office, London. Allocco, M, 2006, Assurance technologies: principles and practices: A product, process, and system safety perspective, John Wiley & Sons, New York. National Audit Office, 2008, New Dimension: Enhancing the Fire and Rescue Services Capacity to Respond to Terrorist and Other Large-scale Incidents, The Stationery Office, London. Read More