London Safety Plan - Article Example

Running Header: London Safety Plan Surname: First Names: Student Number: Institution: Course Number: Course Name: Assignment Due Date: Title Essay London Safety Policy Source: 1. Fire and Rescue Service National Framework 2008–11 2. London Safety Plan 2010/2013 Introduction In many years fire related risks have been a major cause of worry for many residents in the United Kingdom and more especially in London. This is because of the increased number of fire related accidents which occur in the country year in year out. The role of the Fire and Rescue Service National Framework is to clearly define the government responsibility in fighting fire related risks and the available services. The national policy outlines the role of the Fire and Rescue Service, the role of the local government and what is the government’s role in helping the key stakeholders contain the occurrences of fire both in residential places and commercial centers. The primary objective of this article is to critically evaluate the risk management processes and the role of the national policy in managing the offenders and reducing fire related risks. This will be done in comparison with the London Safety Plan which is the enactment of the local government in implementing the national policy on fire and rescue service. Risk management processes The risk management process starts with the national government which sets the rules that must be followed in implementing the Fire Safety and Rescue Services. The government policy is found on Fire and Rescue Service Act of 2004. The Act provides the statutory authority and framework that should be followed by different stakeholders. The secretary of state is the one who is responsible in creating the framework that should govern the Fire and Rescue Service. Incase the secretary wants to make changes to the framework he is expected to consult the authorities and the employees in the department. Changes to the framework must be presented into parliament by the secretary for enactment and this clearly indicates how serious the framework is and how different authorities must adhere to it very strictly. The London Safety Policy starts with preparation for emergency incidents. As a strategy, in London alone there are more than 113 fire stations well equipped with 271 fire fighting engines. This is the responsibility of the authority in ensuring that adequate facilities are available to manage the risk incase it occurs. The stations are well distributed within the city to ensure that the facility accessible and can be delivered very quickly to the scene of fire. Positioning is a strategy that used by the authority in ensuring that the fleets are located within and outside the city to ensure safety for all those who live in the city. The safety management plan outlines the need to continue increasing the fire safety stations till 2024 as the management plan model provides. The safety management plan identifies the number of fire stations that are required for each part of the city. Ideally positioning strategy has shown that incidents can be well managed and their effects minimized incase they occur. Finally, the other management process that has been provided by the London Safety Policy is the one that deals with the support of those incidents that are relatively large. This is done by ensuring that fire vehicles do respond more quickly and the supply of many more fire fighters when the incident is identified to be large. This means that once the incident has been identified as large resources including vehicles, tankers and firefighters are marshaled for the common purpose. Prevention, protection and response Prevention, protection and response have been extensively discussed in the national framework. The London safety policy has taken major responsibility in making sure that prevention, protection and response measures are put in place. The primary objective of the London Safety Plan is to prevent rather than to respond. This is because the ultimate loss of the incident is likely to be much more than it would have been incase the incident had been prevented. In achieving higher level of protection measures, the authority is persistently investing in new technology. Perhaps this is to come with new ways in which areas that are prone to incidents can be identified and appropriate protection measures put in place. In order to supplement the preventive measures, the authority is encouraging the city dwellers to ensure that proper architectural and city plans are adhered to. This is because the authority is interested in ensuring that apart from investing in new technologies the buildings are also well reached by city planners. Apart from ensuring that appropriate protective measures are put in place, the plan also provides that there is need for continuous review of the current response measures. This is particularly important in identifying the likely complications various incidents are likely to present and the effectiveness of the available measures in responding to them. The role of legislation The legislation is put in place to ensure that all authorities are following the best practices that need to be used as preventive, protective and responsive measures. This so important in ensuring that fire related incidents are reduced or even done away with. The legislation is also expected to ensure high level of resilience delivery to the public. The legislation is used to ensure that different authorities are fully responsible of what happens within their localities and that they are able to implement the national government policy individually without much supervision from the secretary of state. The legislation is a key tool that ensures that appropriate controls are put in place and that there is harmonization between the government objectives and those of the authorities. In a very tight fiscal climate the legislation is expected to assist the authorities come up with most effective and efficient ways of delivering services to the public. Conformity with the national policy According to the government policy the primary objective of the national policy on Fire and Rescue Service is to ensure efficiency in service delivery and the same ensure high quality services for the people living in the country. Apparently this policy is supposed to play the role of implementers. The conformity of the London Safety Plan to the national policy is determined by the level of efficiency that has been achieved in prevention, protection and response. According to the report in 2008 by the Audit Commission aimed at investigating challenges that are opposing powers to the Improved Fire Service revealed that by use of proper systems, could see the Service save more than £ 200 million and at the same time ensure quality service delivery. The report by the Commission had applauded the London managers for having a very firm focus in developing a strategy that enable them realize some savings. This is an important feature characterizing conformity of the Plan with the national policy on Fire and Rescue Service. The London Safety Plan has also managed in many other areas in concurring with some of the national policy like in diversity and establishment of determined workforce. The safety plan has made important strides with the support of the right and skilled manpower at its disposal as per the requirement by the national policy. The equality and diversity has been taken care of as seen in the balancing of employees from both genders and from all social backgrounds. However, the London Safety Plan has not managed to meet the set standards set by the national policy of serving the densely populated city and that the facilities are not enough to serve the population. This has been seen in the shortage of fire facilities and use of secondary firearms that are faulty. Currently the fire stations are less by 21 implying the need to work harder to meet the national standards. Future action plans In order to continuously improve service deliveries the Landon Safety Plan team is interested in carrying several changes into the strategy will include: protecting Londoners, operational improvements like establishing incident support centres in different parts of London, establishment of rescue centres, establishment of incident response units, and rapid response team. The authority is planning to introduce the London Local Authority Co-Ordination Centre. This move is intended at ensuring that highly customized strategies are used for preventive, protective and responsive measures. This is possible because by introduction of different centres, it means that different cases will be managed at different places and that services are readily available whenever required by the city dwellers. Read More