Integrated Risk Management and the risk analysis that underpins it, is a fundamental function of West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS). It informs the planning and allocation of resources across our 3 key areas of prevention, protection and response.
We have access to a wealth of information describing the characteristics of people who live and work within our area. We also collect data from external agencies such as the other fire and rescue services, the Highways Agency, local authorities and the Environment Agency.
Our analysis is used to gain an informed view of the risk present across a number of categories:
One key source of information that we use in our risk analysis of the local communities, is the previous history of the demand for our emergency response services, and the number, type and duration of incidents that we have been called upon to deal with in the past.
Experience has shown us that past demand and performance provides a very valuable and reliable indicator of likely demand in the future, helping us to predict where and when we are likely to need to respond. This is a useful approach in helping us to plan our resource needs for the future, in terms of our need for:-
As part of this function we review the number and location of our fire engines, other specialist vehicles and fire stations. This involves not only looking at the number of incidents we have been called on to deal with in the past but also the scale and nature of events that we may have to respond to in the future, both in the West Midlands and further afield.
But there is only so much we can assume, based on past history. Firstly, we need to examine current trends in fires and other incidents, so that we get a good feel for which direction things are going in - for example are we experiencing an increase in road accidents in certain areas or at certain periods of the day? Are we seeing a persistent decrease in vehicle fires caused by arson?
Secondly, we also need to plan for those events that only happen very rarely, or may never have occurred so far- things such as major catastrophes. Although we have only limited information on such events happening in the past, we need to assess how we are able to respond effectively and efficiently to give us the assurance that we have robust plans and procedures in place to deal with such an event.
The changing nature of our role in society and the changes taking place in local communities, all have to be taken into account, so that we know we are able to provide an efficient and first class service both now and in the future, taking account of evolutionary changes such as:-
Another factor to build into the equation, is the impact of climate change, now and in the future. We are already experiencing severe weather events that are without precedent- such as the tornado that struck Birmingham and the serious flooding incidents that have occurred across parts of West Midlands in recent years.
To ensure that we have the right equipment and skills to deal with such things, we have acquired more specialist equipment and we have dedicated teams who are able to support the right kind of early intervention to incident so of this type and on this scale.
We also plan to ensure that we could respond effectively to deliberate acts of terrorism that have the potential to impact on large numbers of people and involve a significant, multi-agency rescue and recovery mission.
To balance our resources in the right way, we also look closely at the massive success we have already achieved in reducing the number of incidents that we are called on to respond to. We have invested a great deal of staff time into education and the drive to influence people’s behaviour in a positive way, to drive down the number of deaths and injuries from fires or road accidents and to encourage higher standards of safety management in the workplace.
It is far more effective to prevent harm, than to simply respond after the event, and we are constantly seeking ways to focus our effort on reducing the numbers of not just fires, but also traffic incidents, false alarms or lift rescues. Much of this work requires an investment in developing partnerships with our colleagues across the public sector, as well as in private enterprise and the third sector.
Ultimately, much of our work in managing community risk involves smarter working and the reliance on accurate assessment and interpretation of data from a range of sources, and we have developed effective information systems and links with other data providers, to support our work in this way.
