Kirklees Risk Reduction Plan 2012
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2012-2013 Contents Introduction �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������4 District Policy �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������7 Organisation ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������13 Planning and Implementation ����������������������������������������������������������������������������18 Appendix A: Target Risk Indicators ��������������������������������������������������������������������24 Appendix B: Glossary of Terms for Target Risk Indicators ���������������������������������34 Appendix C: Glossary ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������36 Page 3 Introduction District Commander Keith Robinson The Kirklees District sits in the south west area of West Yorkshire and is regarded as one of the larger districts in England and Wales. It has a growing population that presently sits at 404,000 and covers an area of 157 square miles. The area is a contrast between remote rural areas and moorland to town centres. It includes a major motorway (M62) and rail network, together with risks such as the Standedge tunnel, three major hospitals and seven large chemical sites. All of the above factors create a wide variety of risk profiles that we must monitor carefully via the District and Local Area Risk Reduction Teams. Much of the effectiveness of the District’s community safety strategy lies in the links which we maintain with our Local Authority and our other partners both statutory and voluntary. The focus of the 2012/13 District Risk Reduction Plan (DRRP) will again be to reduce risk across the District, with a focus on supporting the IRMP process in particular across Huddersfield, Batley and Dewsbury Fire Stations. The 2011/12 DRRP presented challenges which we have addressed, highlighting the continued need to work effectively with partners across the district, highlighting the risk to both individuals and property. The proposals set out in the IRMP will include the merger of Dewsbury and Batley Fire Stations, with a new fire station being built at Batley Carr. In addition to that a Combined Aerial Ladder Platform will be introduced at Huddersfield Fire Station; the time scales on these are still to be confirmed. Our ambition is “Making West Yorkshire Safer” and our aim is “to provide an excellent fire and rescue service, working in partnership to reduce death, injury, economic loss and contribute to community well-being.” The District Commander’s strategy for delivering the DRRP is to achieve more with the same or less resource, specifically targeting projected activity and utilising a combination of Prevention, Protection and Response. Therefore, if risk is to be minimised, this can only be achieved by releasing resources (Operations, Page 4 Prevention, Arson Task Force and Fire Protection) from lower risk station areas to those of a higher risk. All risk reduction activity in a Local Area will be coordinated by the Lead Station Commander and Deputy. They will identify and plan the effective deployment of available resources against the individual station priorities. In order that operational cover is not compromised, only the District Management Team will approve any changes in operational cover that may affect the district. To further reduce risk, movement of operational resource should be kept to the most appropriate times according to the activity curve and meet the response planning assumptions. However, across the district, all the whole-time stations have a specialism, namely: • Cleckheaton Fire Station has unique response challenges to meet, due to its front line appliance, technical rescue capability, training and testing of equipment, including Urban Search and Rescue. • Huddersfield Fire Station responds with the Aerial Ladder Platform. • Dewsbury Fire Station has the Incident Response Unit (IRU) and national resilience capability. • Batley Fire Station has the Command Unit. All these specialisms have an impact on the successful delivery of the DRRP. As a result, the contribution to the DRRP and the respective Local Area Risk Reduction Team (LARRT) from these stations will be monitored closely by the district team. Therefore, cross-district collaboration may have to be considered, however due to the proposals set out in the IRMP, it is envisaged that should direct support be needed, the surrounding stations namely, Brighouse, Elland, Morley, and Ossett, may not be the most appropriate to use. Within our Service Plan we have set four strategic priorities for 2011-15 to deliver our ambition. These priorities assist us to set objectives to manage performance and direct resources where they are most needed. Page 5 These are to: Deliver a proactive fire prevention and protection programme Deliver a professional and resilient emergency response service Provide a safe, competent and diverse workforce. Provide effective and ethical governance and achieve value for money in managing resources. K Robinson District Commander Page 6 District Policy The Kirklees DRRP directly underpins the strategy set out in the Service Plan 2011-2015 and is produced as a working document to achieve the priorities set for the district of Kirklees by the Service Delivery Board (SDB). District Priorities Within Kirklees, Huddersfield and Dewsbury Fire Stations have been identified as “Priority One”, with Batley Fire Station as a “Priority Two”. The SDB have determined the following priorities for 2012/13:- • Huddersfield is likely to remain very high risk area. • Dewsbury is likely to reduce from high risk to medium risk area. • Batley is likely to reduce from medium risk to low risk area. • Seven stations in the District are to maintain their current risk profile. • Kirklees district staff (Operations & Prevention) will complete 7700 Home Fire Safety Checks (HFSCs). • Kirklees district staff will complete 960 Fire Protection and 709 Safety Critical Risk Information inspections. In addition at the discretion of the District Commander, a further 54 Fire Protection and 225 Safety Critical Risk Information inspections may be undertaken. • Due to the on-going trial of the Automatic Fire Alarm Policy we will review both the AFA and malicious calls received in Kirklees. Page 7 Risk reduction hierarchy In order to achieve these priorities and reduce risk across the Kirklees District, this plan is aligned to WYFRS’ risk reduction philosophy. The four elements below provide a focus for our activity, known as the risk reduction hierarchy. Fire Prevention Fire Protection Operational Response Resilience Risk based service delivery strategy Kirklees District staff will employ a focused risk based approach to service delivery. We will focus our resources towards vulnerable people and high risk premises. Our staff will work in the areas of highest risk, and to achieve this we will balance our resources accordingly. Fire Prevention – Fire safety in the home We work closely with our partner agencies to identify the most vulnerable people within the district. Page 8 We will carry out 7700 Home Fire Safety Checks and if required, we will fit free smoke detectors for vulnerable people to ensure they have an early warning in the event of a fire. We will operate the following hierarchy for completion of HFSCs: • Vulnerable individuals and groups identified through partner agencies. • Priority risk areas and households identified by lifestyle type • Hot Strikes after a fire • Direct calls requesting a HFSC for vulnerable individuals and household • Hot Line referrals for vulnerable individuals and households • Advice on request Kirklees Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) “Kirklees Partnership” has set four priorities for the district: • Enhance life chances for young people • Lead Kirklees out of recession • Support older people to be healthy, active and included • Provide effective and productive services WYFRS is also a statutory partner of the Local Authority Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) called RESPECT. The Kirklees Arson Task Force sits on this group. RESPECT has five priorities: • Dealing with anti-social behaviour (ASB) • Reducing domestic violence • Reduction in re-offending • Reducing drugs and alcohol abuse • Involving and empowering communities Staff in the Kirklees District will deliver the outcomes set by the SDB and contribute to the priorities set by “Kirklees Partnership”, the district LSP. Page 9 Fire Protection – Fire safety in the workplace The district will complete 960 Fire Protection Inspections, in addition to 708 Safety Critical Risk Inspections which will reduce the risk to fire-fighters in the community; these inspections are detailed in the individual Station Risk Indicators. These will be conducted, on a risk-assessed basis, at premises throughout the district to ensure that adequate fire safety measures and arrangements are in place. Were required we will provide advice on how to protect life and property in the event of a fire. Specialist officers will cover the most complex and the highest life-risk premises such as hospitals, whereas district based crews will focus their inspections on the following premises types: • Residential care homes • Heritage sites • Multi-occupied buildings • Warehouses and storage In order to improve our response and operational effectiveness should an incident occur, we will also gather vital firefighting information during these visits,