As Minister with responsibility for fire services and fire safety national policy, I have recently adopted and published “Keeping Communities Safe” (KCS) as the national policy document . KCS sets the future direction of fire services in a way that aligns fire services and fire safety in Ireland with international good practice.
The KCS policy document was prepared by my Department’s National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management through a collaborative approach between central and local government, involving expert input by Chief Fire Officers and fire services personnel. The development process also included stakeholder consultation and engagement by the National Directorate with relevant technical organisations to ensure the best fit between up-to-date thinking and Ireland’s needs. This document sets out the overall approach, the methods and the techniques to achieve the objective of keeping communities safe from fire. The National Directorate takes account of international research to inform its work. However international research of itself cannot provide a fire safety model for Ireland. It is necessary to take information, mindful of its context, and use it in preparing a best fit for Ireland’s needs, issues, circumstances, objectives and possibilities. The international literature used to inform the overall approach, as well as the detail of several sections, is referenced in the text and listed in Appendix D of the Document.
The National Directorate also had the benefit of oversight and expert support from Strathclyde Fire and Rescue service. Strathclyde Fire and Rescue are highly regarded internationally for the quality of their fire service, and the impact of changes on improved safety outcomes. They also provide services to half of Scotland’s population ranging from its largest city, Glasgow, to isolated rural communities, and therefore is a particularly good fit with Ireland’s national demographics. KCS sets out a holistic, systems approach to achieving the objective of keeping communities safe from fire. The systems approach to safety management is recognised internationally and is applied in many spheres. The Risk Management approach of the type used in KCS is generally seen to involve five stages including identifying hazards and evaluating the risks these hazards pose, mitigating those risks by trying to reduce the probability of the event and/ or its consequences if it does occur, planning and preparing to deal with the risk, responding to an event, and reviewing events with a view to learning for the future.
The “Keeping Communities Safe” document includes core standards and guidance for fire authorities which they will implement in delivering their statutory functions. It is supported by a series of subject-specific documents dealing with fire service training, safety management systems for fire services, preparation of statutory ‘Section 26’ Plans and guidance on a risk indexing method for individual buildings which also set out core processes and standards for fire service work. A further series of documents titled ‘Good Practice Notes’ (GPNs), describing the approach taken to specific issues by individual fire authorities, endorsed at national level, aims to achieve consistent good practice and cross-authority learning. Together with the main policy document, the full suite of documents comprises a comprehensive Framework for Fire Safety in Ireland.
