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For the NOL team it was an end to the project to deliver an operational learning system for the Fire and Rescue Service, but the beginning of business as usual. Being able to share both the successes and the challenges of projects is welcomed at the research event. The NOL project’s aim was to produce a national operational learning system that receives local learning and pulls out the national lessons that need to be shared by all. That sounds simple, but through the pilot stage of the project, the team found that the barrier failure analysis method at the heart of the system was too complex for occasional users. Learning from this, the team simplified and streamlined the data entry and with the help of the newly devised Good Practice Guide focused users on looking carefully on the characteristics of national learning instead. A newly formed secretariat within the CPO took care of the analysis and provided the National Operational Learning User Group with everything they needed to take a view on the learning to determine what action should be taken. The NOL team was highly aware of the words of Coroner Nigel Meadows who wrote to the Secretary of State in 2016 after the inquest into the death of firefighter Stephen Hunt from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service. Mr Meadows said the Fire and Rescue Service had to learn from incidents and share it. The NOL system is partly a response to his call for change and as the Grenfell Inquiry continues its painstaking work, it may find this new system a helpful enabler for whatever recommendations Sir Michael Moore Bick may make in the future.
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FIRE Correspondent Catherine Levin reports from the research event which took place at West Midlands Fire Service headquarters on November 13
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his year’s conference attracted speakers focusing on a diverse range of topics. As usual the speakers came from universities and fire and rescue services with an interest in fire related research. Starting with a lesson in chemistry from Professor Anna Stec, the conference was privileged to have such a knowledgeable expert in attendance. Anna Stec is Professor of Fire Chemistry and Toxicity at the University of Central Lancashire. In September, she was appointed as one of the 14 expert witnesses providing technical advice to the Grenfell Inquiry. Her remit is “to determine the fire derived toxicants and related deposits present in the Tower and their origin”. At the conference, Professor Stec did not talk about her role as an expert witness. Nor did she speak about the news reports that came out in October about her findings from analysing the soil samples from the area around the Grenfell Tower site. Instead, she looked at exposure to fire smoke and its impact on people’s health and environment. Anna is embarking on a three-year project with the Fire Brigades Union on chronic toxicity and how it affects the health of firefighters, so this will provide the opportunity for further work in this field. It is unfortunate that it took the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower on June 14, 2017 to make Professor Stec’s research interests topical. For the research event she provided a technically challenging but nevertheless important and timely delve into fire chemistry and why we should all know a bit more about it.
Learning from Incidents Another of this year’s papers provides a useful addition to the post Grenfell response – the subject of learning from incidents. This was the third outing for the National Operational Learning (NOL) project team. The NOL team is based in the National Fire Chiefs Council Central Programme Office and was formerly part of the National Operational Guidance Programme. One of the great things about the research event is that it gives researchers the opportunity to come along at different stages of projects, sharing early, interim and final findings. 50 | January 2019 | www.fire–magazine.com
Health and Wellbeing for Female Firefighters One of the sights etched on people’s minds as they remember the Grenfell Tower fire is the physical exhaustion that showed on the face of every firefighter who attended that day. The iconic picture of firefighters resting en masse, seen from the passing District Line train, peppered Twitter time lines and has been used time after time as the events of that night are recalled. The physiological impact of firefighting is a long established field of research and at the research event PhD researcher Emily Watkins from the University of Brighton presented her findings regarding the health and wellbeing issues female firefighters experience as part of their working practices. Emily carried out an international survey of female firefighters. Eght hundred and forty four responded from 14 different countries. Her preliminary findings revealed that more than half of respondents would like further guidance on fitness and training, particularly strength training. Looking at the cohort from the UK and Ireland, Emily found that two thirds of respondents are concerned about the menopause and how it will affect them in the working environment. Only a small percentage, less than ten per cent, were confident they could fulfil their roles up to the retirement age of 60. There are some interesting consequences of these numbers. As the policy push continues to bring in more female firefighters, it is more important than ever to provide a supportive environment that reflects the needs of women as they progress through to retirement age. Work on the impact of menopause on female firefighters
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This year’s FIRE Magazine/Gore Research Excellence Award winners and sponsors: FIRE Editor Andrew Lynch, Katarzyna Lakoma (best poster), Emily Watkins (best presentation), Peter Murphy (best poster) and Gore’s Suzanne Prince
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Policy Challenges In the lead up to the results of the first round of inspections of fire and rescue services for many years, Professor Murphy provided a whistle stop tour through the history of inspection and made some interesting comparisons with inspection in other areas of the public sector. He questioned the independence of HMICFRS in terms of its funding, the approval of its inspection programme and its reporting lines. By reporting directly to the Home Office and not Parliament or an independent body, Professor Murphy concluded: “The approach is inadequate, sub-optimal, too narrow in scope and failed to take into account good practice and lessons learnt from existing and previous inspection regimes”. On a separate but related policy, Dr Eckersley has been delving into the consultation documents that Police and Crime Commissioners have published as part of a push to take on governance of fire and rescue services. In an amusing session, Dr Eckersley chose a story telling technique to set out the conclusions of his analysis, speaking of the villains, heroes and morals of the case for change. It is encouraging that academia is analysing this policy area and providing some external scrutiny on a process that is still very new and not widely reported beyond the narrow confines of the affected areas.
people to come along and share. It has a wonderful history and is a very inclusive event, but it needs more submissions and more attendees: it should be growing. One way in which the research event could grow is by making some stronger connections. The Fire Services Research and Training Trust has been revitalised and is encouraging applications through a concerted publicity campaign. Making a presentation at the research event a condition of a grant would be a fantastic way of seeing what research is being funded, how it is progressing and its final findings. The National Fire Chiefs Council is funding a research and development hub. While the team running the hub are not necessarily doing the research themselves, they are influencing and shaping the research need and outputs and that would be valuable to hear about at the research event. Separately in the NFCC, the Executive Leadership Programme supports those seeking progression. Is there a chance to learn about leadership challenges for the leaders of the future? Sharing some of this would be fascinating and provide insight for others to learn from. There are many universities carrying out research in fire related fields and many PhD candidates who would value the opportunity to share their findings and build a community of like minds. Could the research councils be consulted on how we can access those whom they fund and build a case for sharing their research at this event? The Institution of Fire Engineers provides support for the research event. It has candidates going through the process of certification using its own qualifications. Learning about the work going on in fire and rescue services fire engineering departments would be a great addition to the event. These are just a few ideas but it all takes time and resource to put into place. The research event organising team do a great job with support from the IFE, FIRE magazine and Gore, but there is so much more potential, it may be time for a reboot to make it even better.
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will become increasingly important as more women complete their operational careers. It may be seen as a taboo subject and any barriers to discussing it should be removed given the high levels of concern raised here in Emily’s survey. Retaining fitness at all stages of life is important and it is good to see that Emily also shared her findings at the NFCC FireFit conference at the end of November (Anna Stec also spoke at the same conference). And, of course, getting the Fitness Principles into the Fire and Rescue National Framework for England is also a major step forward. ‘Fire and rescue authorities have an important role in helping to ensure their firefighters remain fit and are supported in remaining in employment. Each fire and rescue authority must comply with the fitness principles set out at Annex C’. As a result of her work, Emily received the FIRE Magazine/Gore Research Excellence Award 2018 for best presentation (see photo right). The award for best poster went to Professor Peter Murphy, Dr Peter Eckersley and Kirsten Greenhalgh for ‘A comparative appraisal of recent and proposed changes to the fire and rescue services in England and Scotland’. This was one of a crop of contributions by Nottingham Trent University to the Research Event.
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FIRE Comment: Fire Related Research Reboot In addition to the papers detailed here, the research event included a wide range of other topics covering evacuation methodologies, situational awareness, fire safety compliance, resilience to name but a few. Previous reviews of research events in years gone by have noted how eclectic the programme is and it remains the case. There is so much fire-related research going on across the UK that could be brought together to share with researchers and others and yet the research event is not enticing enough
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