South Yorkshire is the launch pad this month for a major initiative designed to improve fire safety for small and medium enterprises.

Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber of Commerce has launched the Business Fire Safety Project to reduce the impact of fires on business stability and development.

This project received funding from South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority’s Stronger Safer Communities Reserve to assist local businesses to become more engaged in fire safety awareness.

Fire Authority Chairman Councillor Jim Andrews said: “The fire service in South Yorkshire has already helped to make our communities safer than they have been at any time in our history, but it’s important those successes are replicated in a commercial context. By supporting partners like Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber, we think the Authority can make a big contribution to helping to protect businesses from fire which will in turn help to support a thriving local economy.”

Andrew Denniff, Chief Executive of the Chamber of Commerce, said: “We will be working closely with the fire service, local authorities and partners in South Yorkshire and will support businesses to become more informed and controlled in dealing with fire safety issues, helping businesses to help themselves. We’re targeting a range of businesses across South Yorkshire to continue to reduce the risk of fires in commercial and industrial settings.”

The key initiative of the project is to establish robust fire safety cultures within businesses that aim to protect employees and ensure business continuity. The project has established a specialist business support service, dedicated to increasing the uptake of fire safety advice by delivering presentations, providing guidance and business toolkits. The project will also support the adoption of in house Fire Safety Ambassadors to more effectively manage fire risks in smaller businesses who have less awareness of fire safety issues.

“Any drive to encourage more businesses to adopt improved safety practices can only serve to protect employees, business continuity and future growth,” said Andrew.

He goes on to point out that many businesses may not have fire safety at the top of their business priority list, and some are not familiar with the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. In order to foster good fire safety cultures within businesses, it is important for them to understand the Order to ensure they are compliant.

“We hope our initiative will assist the South Yorkshire Fire Authority to continue reducing fires and the risk of fires at business premises.”

Any businesses looking for advice, guidance or support surrounding fire safety can contact Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber on 01709 386200 to discuss how the project can assist.

The fire service has practiced its response to an incident at Rotherham’s AESSEAL New York stadium, testing how the football club would deal with a blaze at the ground.

Rotherham United FC welcomed various emergency services to their stadium to carry out a live training exercise, involving tackling a fire in the ground and providing first aid to casualties.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue, Yorkshire Ambulance Service and South Yorkshire Police worked with stewards to test the football club’s procedures to ensure the maximum safety of spectators should an incident like this ever occur during a game.

Station Manager Matt Gillatt said: “We know that these types of incidents are rare, but it’s imperative that the football club practice their emergency plans to make sure fans are as safe as possible.

“It also gives the different emergency services that would be called out to a situation like this a chance to refine their skills and learn more about the stadium.

“We perform a lot of realistic exercises like this so we can be certain that any response from the fire service and all of our partners would be as strong as possible. Going through plans on paper is one thing, but often the only way of really testing our decision making ability is to re-enact the incident in a live environment.

“I’m pleased to say the training was a great success and that the fans of Rotherham United FC should be reassured by the club taking their safety so seriously.”

A Rotherham United FC spokesperson said: “Rotherham United would like to thank all the parties who attended from the emergency services and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council who contributed to the exercise.

“Close liaison helps us to deliver a safe environment for people to attend football matches safe in the knowledge that we have robust procedures in place to deal with varying challenges, many of which will hopefully never occur.”

Police and fire officers have today launched a hard-hitting campaign to target the number of young people deliberately starting fires.

Dubbed ‘Connor’s story’, the campaign tells the fictional story of local teenager, Connor, who, alongside his friends, sets fire to the contents of a wheelie bin which explodes in his face leaving him disfigured with severe facial burns.

The campaign, which is a joint Suth Yorkshire Police and South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service initiative, will run until the end of the year with a focus on reducing the amount of arson incidents involving young people.

Last year, the force dealt with 681 incidents of arson- a 17% reduction on the previous year (2013- 799 crimes).

Analysis of arson related incidents over the last year (August 2014 – June 2015) showed that 80% of offenders were male with most aged between 11- 16 years.

The campaign will also be using the hashtag #ConnorsStory to promote messages on Twitter and other social media channels.

Hundreds of stickers will also be placed on wheelie bins across the county as a reminder for people to take their bin out on the morning of a collection. This follows a large proportion of fires that have been started after bins were set alight after been left out overnight for a collection the following morning.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue head of community safety Kevin Ronan, said: “Three quarters of all the fires we attend are started deliberately, which is a massive drain on our resources. Starting fires is reckless and costs lives, as even small fires like bin and rubbish fires can quickly spread, take fire engines away from more serious incidents and put you and the people you love in real danger.”

Superintendent Colin McFarlane, South Yorkshire Police’s lead officer on anti-social behaviour, said: “The aim of this campaign is to make young people and their parents sit up and realise the very real consequences associated with incidents of arson.

“I make no apology for the graphic nature of the image we are using to promote the campaign as setting fire to someone’s bin may be seen by a lot of people as not much more than a prank but this type of anti-social behaviour can have fatal and life altering consequences.

“I would hate to think that this type of thing could happen to anyone’s child and I would urge parents to continue to speak to their children about the absolute dangers of playing with fire.”

A successful scheme to improve safety education in South Yorkshire is gaining international recognition, thanks to a fire service funding grant.

The education package has been developed by Sheffield Children’s Centre working closely with children, families and carers to help form appropriate, age specific safety messages to reduce deaths and injuries.

An Early Years Practitioner Guide, Fire Safety Song Book and Heroes & Heroines story book have been developed as a result of the £20,000 grant from South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority’s Safer Sustainable Communities Reserve.

Now, a new suite of qualifications for early years practitioners is being developed after the learning package included early years groups and practitioners in the pilot phase, who are members of the Pre-School Learning Alliance, National Day Nursery Association and the Cooperative Childcare sector. The qualifications will seek to set a national standard for teaching fire and other safety messages to young children.

The project has established international links as some of the education materials have been developed with the help of young people from Mexico, who worked with children here in South Yorkshire to bring the early years story books to life through writing and illustrations.

It’s hoped that thanks to these links, and recognition from bodies like UNICEF and Equality and Human Rights UK, the resources will be adopted in Mexico and other parts of the world too.

Chrissy Meleady MBE, Chair of the Sheffield Children’s Centre Advisory Support Group, said: “Through the centre’s outreach work with children and families and services across South Yorkshire, we found that fire safety and home safety resources for early years children and their families lacked real world emphasis.

“The key safe messages were not being fostered as well as they should be for the sake of children and families, and nor were they aligned to meet regulatory requirements. We are pleased that the Centre’s innovative approach to tackling this issue has been recognised nationally and believe this collaborative work will make a real impact in improving the quality of fire safety education worldwide.”

Head of prevention and protection Steve Helps, said: “This project is a perfect example of how a relatively small funding award can quickly snowball into something which has the potential to improve the quality and range of safety education to youngsters worldwide.

“What makes the scheme truly unique is that it’s children themselves- whether here in South Yorkshire or further afield- who have been instrumental in creating resources which are appropriate for young people and their families.”

The first round Safer Sustainable Communities Reserve saw dozens of registered charities, community organisations and partner agencies come forward and apply for grants from the £2 million fund, which had been set aside from the Authority’s reserves.