Fire Safety Risk Assessment - News

A Knowsley tower block played host to a major training exercise when the Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service (MFRS) led an exercise to test their response, in the case of a major high-rise fire incident. MFRS’ fire safety training exercise Around 80 emergency service staff, eight fire engines, two support vehicles, and an aerial platform ladder vehicle descended on the unoccupied Gaywood Green, on Broad Lane, in Kirkby, United Kingdom, on Thursday, July 22, 2021, as part of the fire saf...

The National Fire Protection Association® (NFPA®) has announced the official launch of CRAIG 1300™, an innovative community risk assessment (CRA) dashboard powered by mySidewalk, a pioneering technology company. CRAIG 1300 helps fire departments and safety officials collect community data, enabling them to identify, assess and share local demographic, geographic and economic needs. “NFPA is excited to partner with mySidewalk to deliver CRAIG 1300 - a critical community too...

Ahead of World Drowning Prevention Day (July 25th), the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) has launched a new water incident dashboard to help Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) gather information on incidents in their area. It uses live data from the Water Incident Database (WAID) which records vital information from agencies such as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). Community safety...

Fire detection solutions from GFE have been chosen to protect AVA General, a prestigious new commercial shopping complex in Tehran, Iran’s capital city. Opened in 2020, AVA General is one of the largest and most sophisticated dedicated commercial and office complexes in Tehran. AVA General Spanning 50,000 square meters, it is home to 360 commercial outlets for well-known brands from across the building supplies sector and complementary industries.  It also houses 40 commercial off...

Artificial intelligence is set to supercharge the way safety advice is delivered to the public, following the launch of a new service by fire officers in South Yorkshire. South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service has launched a brand new system that allows local residents to get a virtual fire safety check from the comfort of their own homes. All people have to do is text a number from their mobile phones, or scan a QR code, and they will be asked a series of questions on things such as smoke a...

Two members of the Hardstaff Barriers transport team have been recognized for their commitment to fleet safety and efficiency. Wes Baker, Fleet, and Operational Support Manager, and Natalie Wright, Fleet, and Logistics Coordinator, have both been awarded Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS) Practitioner Status. 10 intensive workshops As manufacturer and supplier of concrete and steel safety barriers, Hardstaff supported the pair as they completed 10 intensive workshops focusing on fleet s...

Verint Systems (Verint), the globally renowned customer engagement company, has that it has won an AI Breakthrough Award for excellence and innovation in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Verint Intelligent Virtual Assistant Professional (IVA Pro) Package is the winner of the ‘Best Virtual Agent Solution’ award. Earning its fourth consecutive AI Breakthrough Award, the company previously won ‘Best AI-based Solution for Customer Service’ award in 2020, ‘Best Chatbot Sol...

Arlington County, VA Local 2800 is formally requesting that Arlington County Manager, Mark Schwartz allow Local 2800 to be recognized as the exclusive bargaining unit for the county’s fire and EMS personnel. “This is an historic time for Arlington,” said Arlington County, VA Local 2800 President, Brian Lynch, adding “Until the new collective bargaining law was passed, Virginia firefighters were denied a seat at the table, on critical safety issues for firefighters and th...

Sutphen Corporation, the largest family-owned fire apparatus manufacturer in the nation, announces the launch of the Sutphen tractor drawn aerial. Adding to Sutphen’s expansive family of aerials, the 131-year-old, family-owned business offers its renown mid-mount design, its leading rear-mount design and, now, its new tractor drawn aerial design. “Sutphen is proud to introduce our new TDA into our product mix, allowing us to welcome more fire departments into the Sutphen family,&...

Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) is urging smokers to light up outside to reduce the risk of fire in homes across the county. Despite the number of people smoking in the UK falling, Kent is seeing a continuous trend in the number of property fires linked to smoking – with fire crews tackling the equivalent of one smoking-related fire every single week. 'Smoke Outside, Feel Safer Inside' campaign Most often these types of fires start when smokers light up and then fall asleep or get d...

When TFT introduced the Extend-A-Gun telescoping waterway series, it revolutionized the way monitors could be utilized on fire apparatus. Extend-A-Guns allow deck mounted monitors to easily raise from a stowed position to operate above apparatus obstructions like cab roofs, lighting, hose reels, or generators. The manual and RC version of Extend-A-Gun can be found on fire trucks around the globe. TFT is adding to the series with the new Extend-A-Gun VP. The VP’s deploy and stow operations...

Houston, TX Local 341 (Houston Fire Department) President, Marty Lancton is back on the job, after an independent arbitrator ruled the city had violated his rights and had no cause or authority to indefinitely suspend him in January. Houston Fire's President re-instated The independent arbitrator went even further and ordered the immediate reinstatement to his special assignment, working full time as the Local 341 President and ruled he must be welcomed back with full back pay and benefits. &...

Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service (MFRS) is warning of the dangers of open water, following the tragic death of a young man in Crosby. Fire crews were called to Crosby beach, at around 7.24 pm, on Tuesday, July 20, 2021, following reports that five people were in difficulty in the water. Two fire engines, the search and rescue team and the rescue boat, Marine Fire One, were sent to the scene. Crosby beach rescue operation Crews assisted the RNLI and Coastguard with recovering the people fr...

UKAS is delighted to announce that Lorraine Turner, UKAS Accreditation Director, has been appointed as a Member of the newly formed Interim Industry Competence Committee (IICC). The formation of the IICC coincides with the recent announcement of the Building Safety Bill in Parliament by Robert Jenrick MP, Secretary of State for Housing. The Bill outlines a program of actions aimed at preventing a recurrence of the problems that contributed to the Grenfell Tower fire. Foremost amongst these meas...

Yorkshire Firefighters, a new BBC Two series commissioned by BBC England, will light up viewers’ television screens in summer. This unique four-part series takes viewers onto the frontline with the men and women keeping their communities safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a rare chance to go behind the scenes with this inspirational band of West Yorkshire firefighters. real-life emergencies Filmed using the latest technology, viewers will be brought closer than ever before to...

Anglia Fire Protection is looking at electrical fires and how to reduce the risk of them occurring in homes. One of the most common causes of fire in the home is electrical goods. From white goods to faulty chargers, electrical items are the number 4 risk of fire in the home. Here are some top tips to help reduce that risk. Anglia Fire Protection offers key pointers on how to avoid electrical fires at homes: Residents should make sure that all electrical appliances have a British or Europea...

Yesterday, England moved to the final stage of easing the Covid-19 restrictions. Thankfully, many business premises are already back up and running following the gradual lifting of the restrictions since February. But with many employees still working from home and homeworking becoming more readily accepted by employers, many offices and business premises will remain unoccupied – despite yesterday’s announcement. Vehicle-Borne attacks Vacant properties are an easy target for squat...

Shoes are a necessity. They have a very important purpose to serve in daily life: provide comfort to feet, while protecting them from outside elements, especially while working amidst hazardous working conditions. And those flashy sports shoes or the casual pair of short or long boots can’t offer the required features.  Safety shoes Safety shoes are specially designed to protect the wearer’s feet from all kinds of workplace hazards '25% of disability applications worldwide a...

Online supermarket - Ocado has suffered another robot fire at one of its fulfilment centers, impacting deliveries across south east England. The fire on 16 July was caused by three robots colliding on the grid that controls the fulfilment of shopping orders at the technology firm. Fifteen fire engines The fulfilment centre processes over 150,000 orders a week for the joint venture between Ocado and Marks and Spencer. More than 1,000 robots move around the grid, collecting food from crates and...

Dame Judith Hackitt commented in her report, Building a Safer Future – Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety (May 2018) that there is a, “lack of a coherent approach to competence levels and experience required - or professional qualifications where these may be necessary – and how these qualifications and experience should be evidenced so that they are clearly understood by all those operating within the system.” It was also noted in the same report...

As much as Hollywood makes out how dangerous working on an oil rig can be, it’s surprisingly true. Major Hollywood films, such as Deepwater Horizon, tell the events of the dangers that can happen while working on oil rigs, which are situated in the middle of the ocean. Furthermore, without the correct training provided or the workwear, many oil rig workers’ lives can be at risk, when carrying out their tasks. In this article, Granite Workwear looks at the type of workwear that is re...

Fire and rescue services received money from the Housing Ministry to pay for work to review risks on residential buildings higher than 18 meters. The £6 million grant helped services like South Yorkshire to employ specialist staff to identify and review buildings in their area. South Yorkshire received £126,000 from the grant as part of the Building Risk Review program. Initially, fire and rescue services focused on identifying buildings with ACM cladding. The current phase of work...

The Association for Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP) has refreshed its branding to promote a cleaner and more simple design and to improve readability and consistency, as well as offering a more modern and versatile logo. New logo features  While maintaining the ASFP’s iconic flames motif, the new logo features the flames emerging from the ASFP name. The font has also been updated to improve legibility and ensure readers quickly gain a clear understanding of the logo with a single...

After a few years of painstaking R&D, Jo Bird announces the launch of the first IP66 rated cabinet. The Firebird range was already setting the standard with the excellent IP56 rating but following the principles of Kaizen, the R&D team was not prepared to rest on their laurels. The prototype cabinets have gone through extensive testing for both dust and water ingress which was carried out by the TUV Sud testing house. JB80 fire hose cabinet The JB80 fire hose cabinet is designed to co...

High-rise buildings on an inspection list are not inherently unsafe say fire officers, as they report good progress in their mission to visit every high-rise residential block in South Yorkshire. South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) has published the list of high-rise residential buildings forming part of its ‘Building Risk Review’ project.  The list includes buildings identified by the central government plus extra buildings identified by the SYFR- which made the deci...

The Welsh Government announced it will fund fire safety surveys for residential buildings over 11 meters to identify fire safety defects and measures to make them safe. building remediation Minister for Climate Change, Julie James confirmed the costs would come from the Welsh Building Safety Fund. She said, “It is critically important that we are able to understand the true scale of the problem in order to properly address it.” Leaseholders have not borne the costs of remediating...

De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited announced that the company is working with Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC), a business unit of Pratt & Whitney, to integrate hybrid-electric technology into a De Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 flight demonstrator. The flight demonstrator will include an advanced electric motor and controller from Collins Aerospace. As announced by P&WC, the hybrid-electric propulsion technology and flight demonstrator program is part of a CAD 163M investment, s...

Merseyside Fire & Rescue Authority (MFRA), part of the Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service (MFRS), has begun a 12-week consultation on proposed changes, to emergency response cover in Aintree and Croxteth, following initial approval to create a new superstation and training center. The consultation will run from 15th July to 7th October 2021. Integrated Risk Management Plan The plans were outlined in a recent consultation on the innovative Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) for 2021-2...

While installing a fire alarm system in the building, the question, however, is which approach should one take? Should one go with the simple conventional fire alarm system? Or the more intelligent addressable fire alarm system? In this article, Protec discusses the pros and cons of both types of systems in the hope of assisting with the best method for one and their project. Conventional Fire Alarm System Let’s start with the simplest of the two systems. A conventional fire alarm system...

The new PP-250 can be used as a stand-alone paging amplifier or to add 250-Watts of power to existing paging systems. “The PP-250 amp is an economical paging solution both financially and for its small footprint. A lot of power is packed into that small chassis,” said Paul Speltz, Senior Engineer, Viking Electronics. Paging amplifier The PP-250 is a rack-mounted paging amplifier that provides 250 Watts of paging power. The unit is compatible with both 25V and 70V paging speakers....