Dozens of care home managers have attended a fire service safety seminar, at South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue’s Sheffield training centre.

The seminar gave care providers tips on the steps they can take to avoid falling foul of fire safety law. This includes carrying out a fire risk assessment, which is essential for ensuring the safety of those being cared for. Other measures include proper maintenance of fire detection systems and ensuring escape routes are adequate.

Speakers at the event also discussed how sprinkler systems can be installed to provide added protection to premises and those they house.

Technical Fire Safety Manager Amy Jenkinson, said: “Vulnerable people, including older people, as well as those with mental health problems and those with mobility issues, are amongst the people most at risk from fire. But we were concerned by how many premises- which should be places where people feel safe- are failing to meet some basic fire safety standards. So it was pleasing that a good number of people in associated with residential care facilities attended this event to learn more about fire safety.

“Prosecutions taken under fire safety legislation are always a last resort and we would much rather work with care providers to ensure good safety standards are met. Educating businesses about their obligations is always our first approach, which is why we put on this event, so care home managers can pick up advice and so they know what to expect when one of our inspectors visits their premises.

SYFR revealed last month that enforcement action had been taken against 14 residential care or nursing homes since 2013 under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. This included working with owners to ensure adequate fire safety measures were put in place.

Care homes are monitored by the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of all health and social care services in England.

Read more about fire safety laws for businesses

The fire service is calling on South Yorkshire’s drivers to mark a major national awareness week by making the county’s highways injury free.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue and its partners will be spelling out road dangers at four events across the county to mark UK Road Safety Week (June 8-15), coordinated by the Chief Fire Officers’ Association (CFOA).

Every day around 10 injury collisions are recorded on South Yorkshire’s roads. By educating motorists, cyclists and pedestrians about common causes of road injuries such as speeding, drink driving and distraction, members of the South Yorkshire Safer Roads Partnership aim to bring that figure down.

Several road safety events and demonstrations are taking place across the county, including:

• Monday 8th June – Asda Aldwarke Lane,  Rotherham
• Tuesday 9th June – Asda Old Mill Lane, Barnsley
• Wednesday 10th June – Morrisons Hillsborough, Sheffield
• Thursday 11th June – Lakeside Shopping centre, Doncaster

The events will feature a Subaru Impreza, used by the fire service to give advice to young drivers, who make up the majority of deaths and injuries on the region’s roads.

The advice that the fire service will be giving to road users includes:

Think speed – the risk of killing a pedestrian is four times higher at 40mph, than 30mph

Keep your distance – leave at least a two second gap between you and the car in front

Don’t drink and drive – just one drink can affect your response times as a driver.

Distractions– never use a mobile phone when driving, only use a hands free kit

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue’s Gary Bruce, said: “Safe driving is mostly common sense. So we’re asking people to drive at the appropriate speed, leave a decent gap between you and the vehicle in front and never, ever drink and drive. Not just during this week, but every single day.”

Click for more information about staying safe on the roads.

Or drivers can refresh their knowledge of the Highway Code with a quick  fire service quiz here

Fire officers are staging a safety seminar for care home managers, after revealing they’ve taken enforcement action against a dozen homes in South Yorkshire.

Enforcement action has been taken against 14 residential care or nursing homes since 2013 under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.The action varied from the partial closure of buildings, to forcing owners to put adequate fire safety measures in place.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue says there are some basic things that care providers can do to avoid falling foul of fire safety law. This includes carrying out a fire risk assessment, which is essential for ensuring the safety of those being cared for. Other measures include proper maintenance of fire detection systems and ensuring escape routes are adequate.

Technical Fire Safety Manager Amy Jenkinson, said: “Older people, as well as those with mental health problems and those with mobility issues, are amongst the people most at risk from fire. But we are concerned by how many premises- which should be places where people feel safe- are failing to meet some basic fire safety standards.

“Prosecutions under fire safety legislation are always a last resort and we would much rather work with care providers to ensure good safety standards are met. That’s why we are putting on this event, so care home managers can pick up advice on and so they know what to expect when one of our inspectors visits their premises.

Care homes are monitored by the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of all health and social care services in England.

The seminar will take place on Wednesday 3 June from 9.30am to 2pm at South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue’s Sheffield training centre on Beaver Hill Road, Handsworth and will include refreshments. To book, contact khinchliffe@syfire.gov.uk

What: Free fire safety seminar for care homes
When: Wednesday 3 June, 9.30am to 2pm
Where: South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue, Training & Development Centre, Beaver Hill Road, Handsworth, Sheffield, S13 9QA

A free event will help care home managers to avoid their premises becoming one of more than 10,000 UK businesses which suffer a serious fire every year.

The South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue seminar will focus on how residential care homes can improve fire safety measures through the use of suppression systems, plus the steps managers should take to ensure their business can continue to operate in the event of a critical incident occurring on their site.

Presentations will also cover:

• What will happen when your premises is audited under the Regulatory (Fire Safety) Order 2005
• Benefits of sprinkler and other fire suppression systems, including local case studies
• An overview of South Yorkshire Fire Authority’s Stronger Safer Community Reserve fund
• Case studies from Sheffield Housing and Sheffield Council on resilience at residential care homes under their management
• Business continuity planning

Lunch and refreshments will also be provided.

Places at this event are strictly limited so please contact us today to secure your place.

To book, email khinchliffe@syfire.gov.uk.

Please note that places are limited to two people per premises. Further details and a full agenda will be sent to you once your place has been secured.

A major national conference seeking to address the issue of gender balance in the UK fire and rescue service has been held in Sheffield.

More than 90 delegates from nearly 30 different organisations met at South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue’s Handsworth training centre for the event, hailed as the most important gender focussed event ever to have been held within the fire sector.

Keynote speakers included the Chief Executive of Kent Fire & Rescue, Ann Millington, and Becci Bryant, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Staffordshire Fire & Rescue.

New research was also presented by researchers from the organisation Women To Work about the potential barriers experienced by women in the fire and rescue service, as well as possible solutions.

The findings were based on research carried out with employees at South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue, placing SYFR at the forefront of addressing women’s development issues within the UK fire sector.

Sector leading research

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue’s Chief Fire Officer James Courtney, speaking at the event, said: “In my role as Chief Fire Officer I am rightly proud of much of the work we do in South Yorkshire- work that has helped make our communities safer than they have been at any time in my organisation’s history.

“But as someone who cares deeply about continuously improving and pushing myself and this organisation forward, I also try hard to be aware of our own challenges. We know that the issue of gender balance is a challenge for all fire and rescue services, which is what makes this event so important, providing an opportunity for real and lasting change.

“That’s why we opened ourselves up to the research. We hope that by opening our organisation up to this level of academic rigour and external scrutiny we can place South Yorkshire at the forefront of tackling gender balance within the fire and rescue service.”

Barriers and solutions

The research revealed the main barriers to gender balance in the fire and rescue service being the culture of an organisation. Although women are now an established part of the workforce, the pace of changes to organisational culture has often been much slower.

Other barriers cited included policies at work, including those relating to childcare and maternity leave, and promotion processes, where male colleagues often benefit from a certain level of informal networking and mentoring in a way which is not always open to women.

Women’s confidence and sense of self worth was also seen as a barrier, with many choosing not to put themselves forward for promotion even though they had all of the necessary competencies.

But research participants also came up with a long list of solutions to some of these issues, including more flexible working patterns, development programmes and mentoring schemes, a review of current promotion processes and developing managers to recognise talent beyond traditional command and control traits.

Benefits of a diverse fire service

Becci Bryant, Deputy Chief Executive at Staffordshire Fire & Rescue, spoke about the important contribution a diverse workforce and make to a fire and rescue service

“I strongly believe that effective leadership today requires a combination of skills that are viewed as traditionally feminine and those seen as gender neutral. Research shows that many skills needed for successful leadership today are often perceived as traditional female attributes.

“People who are collaborative, empathetic, loyal and selfless were shown to be more successful than those deemed proud, resilient or independent. I do think that we women are up for a good challenge and we are not afraid of making mistakes, I certainly know I have made plenty but that is how we learn and grow as individuals and as leaders.

“I do think that women have a fantastic range of interpersonal skills, which allow us to see beyond the immediately obvious and explore other avenues especially when it comes to working with other people.

“As we move forward in the challenges we face we cannot act as an island, we have to be collaborative and be prepared to work with others as well as admitting we don’t actually have the answers because the challenges we face are unique to ones we have experienced before,” said Becci.

Good leadership

In her keynote address, Chief Executive Ann Millington of Kent Fire & Rescue spoke about the important role senior managers play in promoting a diverse workforce and how perceptions of what makes a ‘strong leaders’ have dramatically changed in the last century.

“Leadership models have changed from a position as little as 75 years ago where physical size- first shorter leaders, then taller ones- was seen as being vital to strong leadership, which seems almost incredible to us now.

“Then, ‘traits’ like charisma, strength and authority became important- traits which are pretty difficult to define and ultimately poor indicators of what makes a good leader.

“Finally, we have arrived at a position where authentic leadership is being championed, with the ability to be yourself and be who you are at work now a much stronger indicator of good leadership”, said Ann.