Kevin Butcher, ACFO, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service
12.10.09
Preparing UK fire and rescue services for gruelling inspections by the Health and Safety Executive provided the key theme for the UKFS Tactical Command Trainer National Workshop held in early October at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service’s training headquarters. Organised by VectorCommand, hosted by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and attended by fire service trainers from throughout the UK who use the Tactical Command Trainer for simulation-based training, the National Workshop is run every two years to support best practice in fire incident command training (supplemented by regional workshops in the intervening year). Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2009, VectorCommand now supports almost all UK fire services with the Tactical Command Trainer (and its Team Trainer extension for incident-wide simulations).
The forthcoming programme of Health and Safety Executive inspections will be a key driver for all aspects of UK fire service safety in coming years, presenting a major threat to services which do not have appropriate procedures and policies in place. With a successful Health and Safety inspection undertaken and reported on during 2009 (the first in the UK under the new inspection regime), Hampshire FRS’s senior officers were happy to share their experiences, suggestions and lessons learned from what was an extremely testing process.
Jenny Morris, Health and Safety Executive
According to Jenny Morris (left) from the Health and Safety Executive, speaking at the National Workshop, Health and Safety inspections for the UK fire service concentrate on several key issues:
1. Training and competency in core fire fighter skills, including breathing apparatus and associated procedures and compartment behaviour training;
2. Competence for incident command;
3. Provision of risk-critical information.
The inspection methodology outlined includes the examination of key relevant documents such as policy statements, risk assessments, guidance documents and minutes from health and safety committee meetings. Staff are also seen for formal interviews or during the inspection of sample localities and work activities. The areas of particular interest to the HSE are the ways in which FRS’s develop, implement and monitor the appropriate safety-critical systems.
It is not good enough just to have relevant policies and documentation in place, however; using ‘triangulation’ and detailed evidence gathering, Health and Safety Executive inspectors drill down to obtain firm evidence that policy is being translated into solid practice and is understood and embedded in the service’s daily operations at all levels.
Assistant Chief Fire Officer Kevin Butcher (top left) and Command School/BA School Station Manager Mark Raven from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service outlined how high prioritisation was given to incident command training and assessment from the highest levels of brigade management (including funding the Command School and an active training and assessment programme). This meant that their service was well prepared when the Health and Safety Executive inspection took place (in fact, the service had felt so confident in its policies and procedures that it had volunteered for the first HSE inspection within the UK fire service). The regular use of VectorCommand’s Tactical Command Trainer incident command training simulator over many years, for both training and assessment at all levels of seniority, was acknowledged by Mark Raven as being a key contributor to the successful preparation for, and completion of, the Health and Safety inspection.
(L to R) Hampshire FRS Command and BA School Station Manager Mark Raven, Ian Raybold and Ty Whitlock
As a result of senior management having made command and operational training a high priority throughout the service for many years, and these policies being followed actively in day-to-day operations, there were no recommendations for improvements in incident command contained within the final inspection report, though there were some for core skills training which the service had been aware of and had strategies for improving. The most feared outcomes of Health and Safety Executive scrutiny of an organisation’s policies and procedures are prosecution and enforcement notices.
One key feature of Hampshire FRS’s incident command policy which contributed to its success with the inspection was the empowering of the Command School staff by senior managers. Command School staff (right, Command School/BA School Station Manager Mark Raven, Ian Raybold and Ty Whitlock) have been given the power to assess commanders at all levels, and to take commanders ‘off the run’ if in their opinion a commander’s incident command skills are not up to standard for the appropriate command level. This is a decision that is not taken lightly, and is the result of a considered judgement by groups of incident command staff, not individuals. Where command deficiencies have been identified then additional training can be provided to correct command weaknesses and refresh knowledge, all based on the UKFS Incident Command System (ICS) and using the Tactical Command Trainer.
Other sessions held during the National Workshop covered: A Systems Approach to Training (assessing what is required for an organisation’s training programme and devising a systematic programme for delivering clear, consistent training outcomes); Making the best use of the Educational Tools feature within the Tactical Command Trainer; and Designing and Resourcing Training Programmes, with Hampshire FRS staff describing their approach and materials. There were also surgeries for Tactical Command Trainer facilitators and a demonstration of the Team Trainer system extension, which allows incident and sector commanders to manage a large simulated fire ground working together across different sectors.
