Quality and Standards Cumbria Fire and Rescue Services - Report Example

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Services Name Course Name Instructor’s Name Date Abstract This report seeks to assess the validity and benefits of key quality assurance systems of Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service. It reviews the current Integrated Risk Management Plan and considers how this plan has enabled the service to achieve its targets. However, the current change in the government and political direction in the United Kingdom calls for the abolishment of the Comprehensive Area Assessments and local government inspections. Therefore, the report evaluates the appropriateness of the available quality management systems and provides recommendations that will be incorporated in the quality assurance system that will be initiated in the post government change. Table of Contents Abstract ii Table of Contents iii 1.0 Introduction 1 2.0 Background history 1 3.0 Validity and benefits of quality assurance systems 2 4.0 Appropriateness of Quality Assurance systems 3 5.0 Validity and benefits of the quality assurance systems suggested 6 6.0 Review of the application of the recommended Quality Assurance systems 8 7.0 Conclusion 10 8.0 References 11 1.0 Introduction Cumbria Fire and Rescue service is among the oldest fire services in England. To meet its objectives, the Cumbria Fire and rescue service has integrated a comprehensive quality assurance plan management to enhance its services and meet the people’s expectations. Together with the government’s legislations, the fire department has collaborated with other stakeholders to ensure that safety is assured to the people of Cumbria. 2.0 Background history Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service is the legal fire and rescue service for the entire Cumbria County in England. It has approximately thirty-eight fire stations, with its headquarters based in central Cockermouth. The history of Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service dates back to 1947, when this fire service was established. Prior to its establishment, there was the National Fire Service, which managed emergency fire cases in the county (Arthur, 2003). However, it is also important to note that before the establishment of the National Fire Service, there were several independent services that were provided by volunteers in cities, towns and villages in the country. It started its operations in 1974 after the reorganization of the local government (Steven, 1997). It incorporated Westmoreland Fire Service, Cumberland Fire Services, Carlisle and Barrow Fire Services and parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire. Today, Cumbria is ranked as the second largest County in the United Kingdom. Cumbria Fire and Rescue Authority have a strategy to expand on the contemporary prevention initiatives and raise safety awareness to the communities. In addition to creating awareness, the authority responds to risks emanating from fire, terrorist incidents, natural disasters, road traffic collisions, and other threatening situations (Mike, 2006). 3.0 Validity and benefits of quality assurance systems Quality is defined as the extent to which groups of inherent characteristics fulfill the expectation or need that has been outlined as obligatory (Hoyle, 2007). It basically entails conformance with the requirements to ensure customer satisfaction. The Fire and Rescue Act of 2004, in conjunction with the Fire and Rescue Service National Framework, compels a duty on all Fire and Rescue Service Authorities to establish Integrated Risk Management Plans that will help reduce susceptibility to fires and other emergencies in their areas. In turn, the Integrated Risk Management Plans have to set out targets in accordance with the strategies of the authorities, in the context of their legal duties to ensure constant improvement and attainment of best value. This is aimed at improving the safety of all segments of the community. Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service have been undergoing dramatic changes in the recent years. The reason behind this is to make the county a safe place to live and work, and promote opportunity and better quality of life for all its residents as well as its visitors. There have been constant investments in the training of the workforce to ensure the risk of error is minimized and the safety of the community is promoted. For instance, since 2003, the number of injuries arising form accidental dwelling fires has reduced by 65% courtesy of the home safety check initiative (Com Chief Fire and Rescue Advisers Unit, 2008). In 2006, a risk management proposal was developed based on a comprehensive review, study, and evaluation of the risks in the region. This has enabled the service to focus more attention to areas that are more prone to risks. In doing so, a more comprehensive and practical community safety, response program has been achieved, and in addition, a successful intervention response system has been realized, that is appropriate to the extent of the risk. Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service is currently operating in thirty eight stations and functions for twenty four hours a day for seven days a week by fully trained and well equipped firefighters. The facilities offer exceptional learning environments for the surrounding community, where they can be taught on safety initiatives. Local groups, partner organizations, and schools can also use the fire stations to promote public safety and risk management. The benefits of quality assurance in Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service is that it helps in identifying emergency risks and directs its efforts to resolving such risks, provides a better communications structure, clarifies the services it provides to its clients and minimizes the time lost due to inefficient practices. Quality assurance also ensures higher quality service that meets the expectation of the community. According to the Audit Commission, Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service is ranked as performing adequately as per the organizational assessments (Steven, 1997). 4.0 Appropriateness of Quality Assurance systems The Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service have set out certain key strategic objectives in its current Integrated Risk Management Plan projections. These objectives are deemed to assist the organization meet its fire fighting responsibility. The organization has designed various initiatives aimed at reducing the impacts of fire and other emergencies. This allows the Rescue Service to respond in the best way therefore amplifying the availability of their resources helping to build further initiatives to better the community safety. Another objective of the Rescue Service is to release resources by minimizing the levels of activities by use of a long-term diminution in fires. They also intend to modify their focus from rejoinder to prevention both in their role and in their structure. This will be done through fully utilization of the resources and redirecting them to prevention rather than response. Other objectives include capacity building through partnerships, and corporate social responsibilities among others (The Fire and Rescue Service, 2006). In order to attain these strategic objectives set out in the IRMP projections, the Cumbria Fire and Rescue service has to meet various quality assurance systems. Quality assurance system can be defined as a formal management system used to strengthen an organization. It is linked with best outcome of any activity as it is meant to increase work quality and consistency. Management structure is one of the quality assurance systems used by the Rescue Service. This involves leaders who establish the organization’s direction. They create and maintain a favourable internal environment for the staff who becomes fully involved in attaining the organizational objectives. Application of the leadership principles will ensure that the society’s needs are met, recognition of peoples contributions, establishment of a clear organizational future, setting and attainment of challenging objectives, and provision of sufficient resources and training to people among other results. The key benefits of efficient leadership in an organization include improved communication between parties, implementation of activities in a unified way, and people will be motivated towards achieving the organization’s objectives (Great Britain: Department for Communities and Local Government, 2006). The main core roles of leadership involve to ensure that core values and core purpose is defined and preserved over time, and to ensure that operational and cultural changes are taking place as well as constant evaluation and establishment of strategies. Leadership and good management are essential to a community based Fire and Rescue Service. Involvement of people is another quality assurance principle that can be applied by the Cumbria Rescue Service in order to meet their objectives. Involvement of people includes collaborating with other organizations that can be of great benefit to the rescue service. These organizations include the government and other fire fighting companies. Involvement of people in an organization leads to sharing of knowledge and experience, discussions of issues and problems, active participation of individuals for continual improvement, increased creativity, and innovation to further the goals of the organization and people seeking opportunities to improve their knowledge, experience, and competence. The organization also focuses on continual improvement. This is evidenced by the fact that, the Rescue Service wants to focus on prevention rather than response. The benefits of continual improvement to an organization consists of: increased flexibility allowing the company to react quickly to opportunities, amplified organizations capabilities, improved actions linked with organizations strategic intentions. The application of continual improvement leads to provision of training in the tools and methods of continual improvement, establishment of goals and measures for continual improvement, making continual improvement of systems, products and processes the aim of all persons in the organization (Liston, 1999). Lastly, the Rescue service also employs the principle of system approach to management, which contributes to its efficiency and effectiveness in attaining its objectives. The key benefits to this includes: the organization is able to focus its efforts on key processes, integration of processes that will attain the needed results, and building confidence to interested parties as to efficiency and consistency of the organization. Ultimately leadership and management system is best fit for future. As stated in the National Framework document, leadership and good management is essential to a community based Fire and Rescue Service. An efficient authority will seek genuine engagement with partners, workforce, and local people in shaping services. Other factors held constant, poor leadership leads to poor provision of services. The organization survives on both internal and external sources of revenue. External sources include funds from government and other organizations while internal sources include collection and delivery, plan examination, inspection of premises, and professional consultations among others. These revenues are essential for the company if it has to continue offering its services thus it has to balance its revenues with expenses, minimize dangers and liabilities. Good management and provision of quality work will mean employing competent staff experts who will be able to deal with the dangers and liabilities the company might face. These experts should be able to identify sources of risks, analyze them, and then take suitable measures to prevent losses. 5.0 Validity and benefits of the quality assurance systems suggested Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service develop Integrated Risk management Plan that is subject to constant transformations, an initiative that is aimed at achieving total safety of the community. For instance, recent change in United Kingdom government and political direction called for the abolishment of the Comprehensive Area Assessments and cut local government inspections from October 2010. This therefore required that a new plan be developed. Furthermore, considering the change in the nature and the extent of the national, regional, and local risks affecting communities, it was necessary to review the existing legal plan and develop an emergency plan that will help tackle the emerging risks. It employed the existing strategies and priorities to come up with the current plan to enhance the provision of safety to the community. The key priorities areas this service focuses on include improvement of road safety, reduction of impacts of fire and other emergencies on the communities, improvement of respect for others, achievement of equality, and continuous improvement in order to provide a full range of community services. To achieve these priorities, Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service have come up with strategies to achieve each of the identified priorities (Great Britain: Department of Health: Estates and Facilities Division, 2006). For instance, to minimize the impacts of a fire outbreak, this service has entered into a joint project with the Lancashire and Merseyside Fire Authorities. This project intends to provide about twenty innovative and refurbished community fire stations for the region. These will allow the fire and rescue authority identify areas that are deemed to be at a greater risk and turn focus on such areas. The authority will also be able to target resources both in terms of operational response and in terms of community safety education to the identified areas. The replacement of old and outdated with the new, environmentally efficient and purpose built community fire stations has various benefits. This will enhance effectiveness and boost the morale and welfare of the workforce through provision of good working environments. It will also enable the authority to provide a wide range of safety initiatives to the community with the main aim of creating safe and secure communities. Concerning road safety, the authority seeks to lessen the number of deaths or serious injuries in road traffic collisions especially the young people. To attain equality, the authority seeks to collaborate with other organizations as well as social groups to promote economic, health and social wellbeing (Arthur, 2003). Concerning respect for others, Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service seeks to prop up the national agenda in order to minimize anti-social behaviour and deal with the escalation of violent extremism. It further seeks to improve youth work that is closely associated with children issues, particularly the safety of the child, and make a significant contribution to such issues. To attain continuous improvement, the authority aims at developing firefighter training that is tailored at operational risk. It also seeks to provide an environmental policy, which will lessen the impact of the carbon footprint. Besides these strategies, the authority also seeks to continue exploring partnerships and dual arrangements with other providers of risk emergency services. 6.0 Review of the application of the recommended Quality Assurance systems As discussed earlier, Cumbria Rescue and Fire Service have applied various quality assurance systems to ensure quality enhancement within the organization. In this case, quality is defined in terms of service provision such as fire prevention, protection, and response. The Cumbria Rescue Service has worked at reducing injuries among the affected people. In the recent times, the Spirit of Fire Awards has recognized a team of fire fighters in the Rescue Service who fought the elements to save persons in last year’s floods (Com Chief Fire and Rescue Advisers Unit, 2008). The fire fighters were also recognized due to their commitment and their work in the community. Additionally, the Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service have been chosen as being the most supportive in fire and emergency rescuing for the last one year. This can be said to be as a result of good leadership and commitment which was seen by the Cumbria’s Chief Fire Officer as a great achievement for any organization offering such services. The fire and Rescue Service has also worked at reducing fire deaths, deliberate fires and other emergencies. The Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service authorities have used their freedoms to assess risks to the community such as risks to life, heritage, the economy, and the environment, and have used their resources more efficiently in protection, prevention and in response measures. This has been achieved through partnership with the various government departments and assemblies and other organizations and inclusion of staff in decision-making, provision of guidance in operational matters and in provision of reliable services (Liston, 1999). The government has supported the Fire and Rescue Authorities through provision of funds to support the fire prevention works. This can be evidenced by the downturn trend in deaths since 1978 though there have been a drastic increase in the last five years. Evidence of operational preparedness has also been evidenced by the organization. This has been because of continuing improvement systems, which are aimed at ensuring that, the organization focuses on prevention rather than cure. This can be achieved by offering training to the officials on matters related to prevention and protection, and emergency responses, and provision of risk information incident command training. This will ensure effective response in case of an emergency (The Fire and Rescue Service, 2006). The organization has a thematic approach to assessment of equality and diversity. The strategy ensures that equality and diversity are completely incorporated in all features of the service. The strategy also sets out leadership actions, employment practice, service delivery, and accountability. Through this, the organization can be seen as employing the principle of system approach to management, which contributes to its efficiency and effectiveness in attaining its objectives. The Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service have evidenced improvement in terms of fire services provision. 7.0 Conclusion Fire and Rescue Service Authorities have a duty of developing Integrated Risks Management Plans meant to mitigate fire risks and other emergencies in their respective areas. These rescue services also have a responsibility to secure continuous improvement and attain the best value. This report has focused on Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service. The Fire and Rescue Service has benefited from using various quality assurance systems, which has assisted the organization in attaining its objectives. There has been reduction of fire related injuries, and reduction of deaths caused by fire and other emergencies. Some of the quality assurance systems employed by the organization include improved leadership and management, involvement of people; continue improvement and system approach to management. These QA systems have helped the organization in providing efficient and consistency services to the community and has evidenced improvements compared to previous years. 8.0 References Arthur E. Cote, 2003. Organizing for Fire and Rescue Services, London: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Com Chief Fire and Rescue Advisers Unit, 2008. Environmental Protection: Fire and Rescue Manual, Volume 2, Fire Service Operations, Volume 2, Oxford: The Stationery Office. Deming, W., 1986, Out of the crisis: quality, productivity and competitive position, Cambridge: Mass. Great Britain: Department for Communities and Local Government, 2006, Fire safety risk assessment: sleeping accommodation. London: The Stationery Office Great Britain: Department of Health: Estates and Facilities Division, 2006. Managing healthcare fire safety: Health technical memorandum, London: The Stationery Office. Hoyle, 2007. Quality Management Essentials. Oxford: Elsevier Oxford Liston, C., 1999. Managing Quality and Standards. Buckingham: Fine Art Publishers. Mike, D. 2006. Fire Attack: An Integrated Strategy, Oxford: Jeremy Mills Publishing. Steven S. Wilder, 1997. Risk Management in the Fire Service, London: PennWell Books. The Fire and Rescue Service, 2006. The Fire and Rescue Service: Session 2005-06. London: The Stationery Office. U.S.D Publications, 1988. International underwater systems design: IUSD, Volume 10. Sacramento: University of California. Read More