Response on behalf of Watford Firefighters to the 2006/07 proposals for Watford Fire Station for the H.C.C Topic Group meeting on the 11th January 2006
(taken from Watford fact sheet, www.hertscc.gov.uk)
Introduction
The Watford FBU firefighters recognise the true potential of effective
Integrated Risk Management Planning. However this potential will only be realised where
the mix of prevention, detection and emergency intervention is optimised at both brigade
and station levels.
Proposals to ‘trade-off’ emergency response capability to part-fund centrally delivered
preventative activities demonstrates, at best, a lack of understanding of the IRMP process,
and specifically the potential of risk-based emergency intervention as the safety net for
local communities in Hertfordshire.
Attempts to reduce annual revenue budget costs through such proposals stand at odds with
a truly risk-based approach to fire & rescue service activities. Firefighters and Emergency
Fire Controls Operators are extremely concerned that a simple cost-cutting approach is
being advocated by the Authority and its professional advisors in the Year 3 IRMP.
Staff working in the front line of service delivery are clear as to the type of support they
need from the Authority to improve their effectiveness in saving lives and property across
the whole of the Hertfordshire Brigade area.
From the professional perspective of these front-line staff, the key to effective Integrated
Risk Management Planning lies in the complete integration of preventative activity and
robust emergency response capability at station level.
PLANNING EFFECTIVE EMERGENCY RESPONSE
(i) Planning Emergency Response
The 1985 standards of fire cover were developed to protect property, and did not support
the primary focus of the service – that of saving lives.
Members at this station expected Year 3 IRMP to include proposals that improved our ability
to save lives with an emergency response.
However the Authority’s Year 3 proposals actually worsen emergency response standards by arriving at a “one size fits all” set of attendance times.
This suggests that their references to the former national response standards not relating to
our ability to save lives were mere rhetoric aimed at placating the public.
ODPM guidance to the Brigade in the spring of 2004 clearly stated that a fundamental part
of planning fire service emergency cover under the IRMP process is the determination of
what emergency response is required to different types of emergency incidents.
The ODPM informed the Authority that it should first identify the various types of emergency
incident that it could routinely expect to attend, (termed ‘Planning Scenarios’) and then plan
the necessary emergency response for these Planning Scenarios. The Authority would also
have to provide evidence that their planned responses are both safe and appropriate, and
such evidence would only be generated as a result of carrying out detailed risk and task
analyses of the planning scenarios.
Responsibility for the safety and effectiveness of the planned responses lies with
Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue Authority, however it appears that either:
the Authority does not understand, or
z
z
the Authority has deliberately chosen to ignore, or
z
the Authority has not been informed by its professional advisors
of the requirement placed on it to undertake risk-based and evidenced response planning
as part of the IRMP process.
(ii) Saving Lives with an Emergency Response
Although decisions on emergency attendance times for incidents are now a matter for
Hertfordshire Fire Authority under the IRMP process, guidance to the Brigade from the ODPM
in the spring of 2004 advised the Authority that they ‘may want to consider’ setting an
emergency attendance time to all dwelling fires of 8 minutes.
When giving this advice the ODPM was well aware of the results of the national research
into fatality rates at fires being linked to the length of time it takes the fire & rescue service
to attend.
Effective Community Risk Management requires the correct balance to be struck between
the three pillars of Prevention, Protection and Intervention. We believe that before any
changes are implemented in the area of intervention, the outcomes of
additional activity in the areas of preventative and protective activity must clearly
demonstrate proven and sustainable long-term benefits to the communities that we serve.
At this point it is worth re-stating the definition of ‘risk management’. The Institute of Risk
Management states;
“The identification, measurement, control and financing of risks which
threaten the existence, the assets, the earnings or the personnel of an
organisation or the services it provides”
We agree with the Fire Authority that the community in Hertfordshire are provided with an
efficient and effective fire and rescue service. However, the instigation of an IRMP has
offered the Fire Authority an opportunity to greatly improve on this, and further improve the
safety of the communities that it serves. However it does appear that the proposals have
missed this golden opportunity. As a consequence if implemented it would result in diluting
the service currently being provided leaving communities and fire-fighters exposed to a
greater risk. We are of the opinion that this document does not represent a true Integrated
Risk Management Plan but constitutes a review of existing services and reports into fire cover based on best value.
ODPM guidance states:
“We believe that it is in the public interest to progress the introduction of IRMP’s as
quickly as possible to enable early improvements in community safety to be
delivered. But we recognised that there is a balance to be struck between this and
the risk that rushed or inadequately prepared plans may fail to improve public
safety.”
Contrary to guidance by the ODPM the process of producing the document has not been
open and transparent, resulting in a document that is misleading, hampering the
consultation process and hence leaving a question mark over the validity of the document.
Taking into account that this is a draft IRMP document it is hoped that our comments are
taken into account following the consultation process, this could result in alternative options
which may satisfy some objectives, i.e. alternative staffing models that are available which
in turn may satisfy the areas of concern in other proposals, but obviously taking into
account the working time directives. Our commitment and expertise could then be used for
the benefit of the Hertfordshire Community.
Watford Profile
Watford is a growing town with a population of almost 80,000. It has some of the busiest roadways, M25, M1, A41 on its doorstep and the roads which run through its communities are often heavily congested, day and night. The population moving along these road networks within a day in our area can reach the equivalent of the city of Birmingham.
20.9% of its population are from black and minority ethnic groups, the largest percentage of any town in Hertfordshire.
Watford has identified areas of social and economic deprivation. (Doc 1)
The population continues to expand, many living in dense areas of affordable housing including high rise and multi occupancy dwellings. Much proposed new build is on Brownfield sites, encouraging even more high rise dwellings.
The town has Hertfordshire’s premier shopping centre, The Harlequin, attracting thousands from across the region. Also a dense High Street consisting of many shops and Department Stores of which some are listed buildings. A listed theatre is in the centre with the County’s highest profile football stadium, also the home to a senior rugby team and often used as for pop concerts. Watford General Hospital is close by, with plans to make it the primary A&E unit for the district. Many areas of light /medium industry surround Watford. Large areas of office buildings attract vast numbers of people from outside the area.
The upper high street is an area of many bars and clubs, open well into the early hours of the morning, which attract tens of thousands of visitors, especially on a weekend night. This within a relatively small area making it a high life risk.
The rail network within Watford is divided between:
· 25000v AC Overhead Line. This carries the high speed West Coast main line, local passenger services and a large number of industrial, chemical and nuclear freight movements.
· London Underground 4th rail 750v DC system
· Railtrack 3rd rail 650v DC service. Watford High Street to London.
Attendance Times
The proposed new standards do nothing to improve on the old, outdated and flawed 1985 Standards of Fire Cover times. In reality nothing is been proposed that will improve “real” attendance times in the Watford area.
The impact of the proposals to reduce night time fire cover will infact lead to an inferior set of attendance times for the community of Watford. Currently two appliances respond to emergency incidents in the Watford area on average within six to seven minutes (with the exception of South Oxhey) 24 hrs per day. Reducing night time fire cover will mean only one appliance will maintain this average, with the second appliance having an additional two to three minute lag.
THIS IS NOT AN OVERALL NET IMPROVEMENT IN REAL ATTENDANCE TIMES
The Hertfordshire Fire Authority (HFA) has already received information demonstrating the link between attendance times and fatality rates (ENTEC Uk Ltd on behalf of HMO 1997 and 1999).
When the HFA interprets the ENTEC findings, it should note that it measured time, not in the length of time it took the Fire Service to reach the incident, but in the following manner………….
“There is quite a clear correlation between an individual’s chance of survival in a fire and the length of time that is taken for fire fighting media to be applied to that fire.” (Section 7.3 Response time fatality rate relationships for dwelling fires Home Office Entec Uk Ltd 1999)
To put it simply. The time taken for fire fighting media to be applied to a dwelling fire in Watford, next year, at night, will be longer with the one appliance arriving in the initial attendance with four or five firefighters than it currently is with the arrival of two fire engines with nine firefighters.
Isochrones
We believe the data used to support attendance times for the Watford area to be fundamentally flawed. We find little historical evidence to support the Isochrones used in the Watford Fact Sheet provided in the appendix to the Safety Plan. To the contrary, data examined in previous HMI reports quite clearly states that a 10 minute attendance time for all of Watford is not achievable. The County Council has been made aware by the HMI that the Fire Station in Whippendell Road can not cover South Oxhey in 10 minutes. Watford FBU have examined the HMI reports going back to 1992 and know the HMI informed the HFA in its 1994 report that Watford could no longer meet its recommended attendance times.
Whilst the Professional advisors to the Fire Authority (FA) will use call data to demonstrate that a 10 minute attendance time to South Oxhey can and has been met, this represents just a small snapshot of calls gathered within the last 2 years compared to the 11 years of evidence the HFA has on record. As well as the HMI reports, it used to be practice in the Watford area to produce a written report for each occasion attendance times were not met. Local managers will confirm that attendance times of 10 minutes were not met to South Oxhey, day and night on numerous occasions going back to early 1990`s. The last presentation made by a senior HFRS officer to the Watford community was to the Watford Rural Parish, on the 7th December 2005 at 1930 hrs by DCO Mark Yates. Assurances were made to this meeting that, indeed, an attendance time of 10 minutes is possible and is the norm. If the Fire Authority chooses to ignore the historical evidence which contrasts this claim, it should note that since that presentation date, up to and including the topic group meeting on the 11th January 2006 the HFRS has failed to meet a 10 minute attendance time to South Oxhey no fewer than 12 occasions, day and night ( doc 2).
We believe it is not prudent to rely on the data used to support claims referring to attendance times contained within the Draft Community Safety fact sheets. They contrast dramatically to the historical evidence and are not robust enough to stand up to the simplest of scrutiny.
Fire Cover
Professional advisors to the HFA refer to areas of overlapping fire stations and an over provision of fire cover in the Watford area. Isochrones demonstrating this are contained within the Fact Sheet of the Draft Community Safety Plan. As this uses the same flawed data referred to above, we do not feel this is robust enough to stand up to scrutiny.
Fire cover in this area is backed up from wholetime stations at Rickmansworth and Garston with additional support from part time stations at Bushey and Kings Langley. The HFA was prudent in its current allocation of resources in this area, ensuring that sufficient resources were made available proportionate to the risk and historical activity levels.
The same can not be said of the current proposals. We do not feel that the proposals represent an adequate risk based fire cover for the Watford communities. They will be a retrograde step in fire cover.
No mention is made of the unavailability of part time crews due to their family and main employer commitments. Indeed there is an assumption throughout the Draft Community Safety Plan that all appliances are available all the time. Evidence does not support that. There are times when the appliances at Kings Langley and Bushey are not available, a fact acknowledged by the FA in references to historical problems within the Retained Service. The HFA should not assume the same challenges are not faced at Kings Langley and Bushey.
Activity Levels
The proposals to reduce fire cover at night due to lower activity levels fail to recognise the increased risk the Watford community faces from a higher level of dwelling fires at night than during the day. As this plan claims to be a risk based plan no mention of this fact can be found in any of the IRMP`s past and present and in draft stage. Why does the Authority wish to reduce fire cover at a time that our community is at greater risk of death and serious injury (doc 3)? Of the 24 deaths in Hertfordshire referred to in the Draft Plan, 14 of these occurred during our night shift. The last fatality in the Watford area happened at 0100hrs.