Skip to main content
IOSH Magazine: Safety, Health and Wellbeing in the world of work - return to the homepage IOSH Magaazine logo
  • Visit IOSH Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit @ioshmagazine on Twitter
  • Visit IOSH Magazine on LinkedIn
Non-verbal communication
How to build trust
March/April 2023 issue

Main navigation

  • Home
    • Browse previous issues
    • Member accolades
    • Member tributes
  • Health
    • Mental health and wellbeing
      • Bullying
      • Drugs and alcohol
      • Mental health
      • Stress
      • Wellbeing
    • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
      • Ergonomics
      • Manual handling
      • Vibration
    • Occupational cancer
      • Asbestos
      • Hazardous substances
      • Radiation
  • Safety
    • Incident management
      • Chemicals
      • Electricity
      • Fire
      • First aid
      • Slips and trips
    • Non-health related fatalities
      • Road safety
      • Work at height
    • Risk management
      • Confined spaces
      • Disability
      • Legionella
      • Lifting operations
      • Lone workers
      • Noise
      • Personal protective equipment
      • Violence at work
      • Work equipment
      • Workplace transport
  • Management
    • Human factors
      • Accident reduction
      • Behavioural safety
      • Control of contractors
      • Migrant workers
      • Older workers
      • Reporting
      • Safe systems of work
      • Sickness absence
      • Young workers
    • Leadership and management
      • Employee involvement
      • Management systems
    • Management standards
      • ISO 45001
      • ISO 45003
    • Planning
      • Assurance
      • Compliance
      • Emergency planning
      • Insurance
    • Rehabilitation
      • Personal injury
      • Return to work
    • Strategy
      • Corporate governance
      • Performance/results
      • Regulation/enforcement
      • Reputation
    • Sustainability
      • Human capital and Vision Zero
  • Skills
    • Communication
    • Personal performance
      • Achieving Fellowship
      • Career development
      • Competencies
      • Personal development
      • Professional skills
      • Qualifications
    • Stakeholder management
    • Working with others
      • Leadership
      • Future Leaders
  • Jobs
  • Covid-19
  • Knowledge Bank
    • Back to basics
    • Book club
    • Infographics
    • Podcast
    • Reports
    • Webinars
    • Videos
  • Products & Services
  • Management
    • Human factors
      • Sickness absence
      • Accident reduction
      • Behavioural safety
      • Control of contractors
      • Migrant workers
      • Older workers
      • Reporting
      • Safe systems of work
      • Young workers
    • Leadership and management
      • Employee involvement
      • Leadership
      • Management systems
    • Management standards
      • ISO 45001
      • ISO 45003
    • Planning
      • Assurance
      • Compliance
      • Emergency planning
      • Insurance
    • Strategy
      • Corporate governance
      • Performance/results
      • Regulation/enforcement
      • Reputation
    • Sustainability
      • Human capital and Vision Zero
  • Health
    • COVID-19
    • Mental health and wellbeing
      • Bullying
      • Drugs and alcohol
      • Mental health
      • Stress
      • Wellbeing
    • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
      • Ergonomics
      • Manual handling
      • Vibration
    • Occupational cancer
      • Asbestos
      • Hazardous substances
      • Radiation
  • Safety
    • Incident management
      • Chemicals
      • Electricity
      • Fire
      • First aid
      • Slips and trips
    • Non-health related fatalities
      • Road safety
      • Work at height
    • Risk management
      • Confined spaces
      • Disability
      • Legionella
      • Lifting operations
      • Lone workers
      • Noise
      • Personal protective equipment
      • Violence at work
      • Work equipment
      • Workplace transport
  • Skills
    • Communication
    • Personal performance
      • Career development
      • Competencies
      • Personal development
      • Qualifications
      • Professional skills
      • Achieving Fellowship
    • Stakeholder management
    • Working with others
      • Leadership
      • Future Leaders
  • Transport and logistics
  • Third sector
  • Retail
  • Mining and quarrying
  • Rail
  • Rehabilitation
    • Personal injury
    • Return to work
  • Utilities
  • Manufacturing and engineering
  • Construction
  • Sector: IOSH Branch
    • Sector: Northern Ireland
    • Sector: Midland
    • Sector: Merseyside
    • Sector: Manchester and North West Districts
    • Sector: Ireland East
    • Sector: Ireland
    • Sector: Edinburgh
    • Sector: Desmond-South Munster
    • Sector: Qatar
    • Sector: Oman
    • Singapore
    • Sector: South Coast
    • Sector: South Wales
    • Sector: Thames Valley
    • Sector: Tyne and Wear
    • Sector: UAE
    • Sector: West of Scotland
    • Sector: Yorkshire
  • Healthcare
  • Sector: Fire
  • Sector: Financial/general services
  • Sector: Energy
  • Education
  • Sector: Communications and media
  • Chemicals
  • Sector: Central government
  • Catering and leisure
  • Agriculture and forestry
  • Sector: Local government
  • Sector: IOSH Group
    • Sector: Financial Services
    • Sector: Sports Grounds and Events
    • Rural industries
    • Sector: railway
    • Public Services
    • Sector: Offshore
    • Sector: Hazardous Industries
    • Sector: Food and Drink
    • Sector: Fire Risk Management
    • Education
    • Construction
    • Sector: Aviation and Aerospace
Quick links:
  • Home
  • Categories
  • Topics
  • Safety
  • Incident management
  • Fire
Regulation/enforcement
Sector: Local government
Transport and logistics
News

Fire service safety audits drop 42% in seven years

Open-access content Friday 4th January 2019
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

Fire service safety audits drop 42% in seven years

A report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), found that, in the 12 months to 31 March 2018, fire and rescue services conducted 49,423 audits. In the 12 months to 31 March 2011 the comparable figure was 84,575.

The report, which sets out the HMICFRS' first tranche of inspections, covers 14 of the 45 fire and rescue services in England. The remaining fire and rescue services will be inspected this year before a final report with recommendations is due in December.

From the initial inspections, the HMICFRS has warned about reduction in public protection, which it attributes to long-term underinvestment. In many services inspected, budget reductions had disproportionately affected protection teams. The inspectorate said that eight of the 14 services inspected needed to improve levels of fire safety protection. Avon fire and rescue service fell below the standard expected.

Many of the protection teams interviewed cited a lack of staff and resources. "Some fire and rescue services we inspected told us they are struggling to recruit, train and retain staff with the specialist skills they need to carry out the more complex technical work," the report says.

The HMICFRS also found evidence that some services were planning their inspection activity based on staff availability to carry out the work rather than the level of public risk. "Too often, protection teams aren't equipped to carry out the level of work needed," it said.

Another significant finding was that many saw formal enforcement as a last resort. Although they recognised they had the powers to prosecute building owners if all other work to ensure fire safety compliance failed, some had not used their prosecution powers for over two years.

Most also said they had moved from enforcement to focusing on engaging with businesses to increase compliance. This shift in focus was attributed to the government's advice on better regulation, published in the Regulators' Code in April 2014.

However, the report, the first independent inspection of the fire and rescue sector in 12 years, warned that, "if fire and rescue services choose to focus only on engagement, they will struggle to keep up the skills and competence they need to use the full range of enforcement powers."

Most of the services inspected were found to have a good understanding of local risk, for example, they had identified the locations of high-risk premises such as waste plants and chemical factories.

However, the inspectorate found that the quality, quantity and timeliness of the information in each service's integrated risk management plan, which outlines how the service will allocate resources to meet the risks it identifies, varied significantly. The report called on fire and rescue services to improve the way they model and predict risk and how they explain these risks to the public.

The intelligence that fire and rescue services collect on high-risk sites is essential for fighting fires and carrying out rescues safely. Although the report found that, generally, this information was well collected and made available to operational crews who respond to emergencies on mobile data terminals (MDTs), some services needed to pass on the information more quickly. In some cases, MDTs did not always work, and, in other cases, the correct information wasn't being made available to response teams quickly enough.

The HMICFRS, which took over statutory responsibility for regulating fire and rescue services in England and Wales in July 2017, plans to release another summary when it publishes the second tranche of inspection findings later this year. It will publish its first "State of Fire" report in December, together with another summary covering the final tranche of inspections. The final reports will include recommendations on how to improve the fire and rescue service nationally.

You may also be interested in...

Image credit: ©Wayne Tippetts/REX/Shutterstock

 Government to toughen fire regulation in light of Hackitt review recommendations

Thursday 20th December 2018
Housing minister James Brokenshire confirmed on 18 December that the government will implement all the recommendations made by Hackitt in her Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, published in May 2018.The new regime will mandate named dutyholders for fire safety compliance at the design, construction and occupation stages of residential buildings of 10 storeys or more.
Open-access content
Image credit: ©iStock/pixone

 UK government invests £26.6m in robots for confined spaces and work at height

Thursday 3rd January 2019
Fourteen projects have been awarded £19.6m from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF), to develop machines for maintenance and inspection work in environments such as pressure vessels, offshore wind farms and end-of-life nuclear facilities. The projects will develop a mixture of ground-based, airborne and underwater devices.
Open-access content
Image credit: ©iStock/georgeclerk

 Government’s plan to safeguard workers’ rights after Brexit is 'cynical', says GMB

Friday 11th January 2019
Prime minister Theresa May is said to be considering supporting the amendment which would enshrine protection of the rights and standards relating to health and safety and employment, as well as the environment. It would also allow MPs a vote on whether to adopt EU protections if they are strengthened in the future.  The move is an attempt to gain support from Labour Brexiteers ahead of Tuesday's "meaningful vote" on the withdrawal agreement. The bill could be voted down by more than 430 MPs, with only 206 ready to support it.
Open-access content
South Lakeland DC.

 Council weighs in with smaller recycling boxes to minimise MSDs

Monday 14th January 2019
The south Cumbrian council says it is phasing out 55-litre boxes, which are used for paper, card and glass, and will supply 44-litre containers when households request replacements for damaged or broken boxes. The local authority has said the switch to lighter bins is designed to limit the risk of back injuries to its kerbside teams who operate an alternate weekly collection.
Open-access content
18.01.19_latest_news_roof_truss

 Council’s CDM regs violation led to falling roof trusses

Friday 18th January 2019
Darlington Borough Council was fined £28,000 after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found it had not properly monitored work activities at the building site on Allington Way.The council's failure to ensure the safe storage of trusses was a contributing factor to the accident, the HSE said, along with its failure to manage the volume of materials on site. Vehicle operations had not been planned or managed, and housekeeping was poor.
Open-access content
David Duckenfield | Image credit: ©Bruce Adams / Associated Newspapers/REX/Shutterstock

 Match commander’s failings led to 95 Liverpool fans’ deaths, Hillsborough trial hears

Tuesday 22nd January 2019
The former South Yorkshire police chief David Duckenfield, 74, who denies the gross negligence manslaughter of the fans crushed to death at Sheffield Wednesday Football Club's ground, had demonstrated "extraordinary bad failings", according to Richard Matthews QC, acting for the prosecution.
Open-access content

Latest from News

web-morrison-shutterstock_1205515750.png

  Morrisons’ £3.5m fine is ‘a warning to all employers’, says council

Friday 24th March 2023
Morrisons supermarket has been fined £3.5 million for failing to ensure the health and safety of an epileptic employee who died after falling from a shop stairway.
Open-access content
jfc

 IOSH launches new five-year strategy

Tuesday 21st March 2023
IOSH launches its new five-year strategy this spring. It will build and act on the reshaped purpose and ambition gained during WORK 2022, which ran from 2017 to 2022.
Open-access content
web_Cranes-on-construction-site_credit_iStock-1352083784.jpg

 Risk & Compliance software provider collaborates with HSE and Costain to improve risk management on worksites

Friday 17th March 2023
A Belfast-based Risk & Compliance software provider has been collaborating with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and construction giant Costain as part of an ongoing project to unlock artificial intelligence’s (AI) potential in improving the management of risks on worksites.
Open-access content

Latest from Sector: Local government

Image credit: web_wrist_shutterstock_135034739.

 Council fined £100k over seven HAVS injuries

Friday 13th September 2019
Dacorum Borough Council has been fined £100,000 for failing to protect its employees from hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) after seven cases were reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) over a single year.
Open-access content
Image credit: web_traffic-warden_iStock-139960986.

 Union launches guide to protect gig economy workers

Friday 13th September 2019
The public service union Unison has published a new guide for its health and safety representatives to explain how the gig economy has affected its members and what support they can provide.
Open-access content
Image credit: web_nz_shutterstock_513260500

 MSDs causing more than a quarter of DALYs lost in NZ

Wednesday 21st August 2019
Musculoskeletal harm now accounts for 27 per cent of all work-related disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost in New Zealand, according to a report from the country’s health and safety regulator, WorkSafe. A DALY is defined by the World Health Organization as one lost “healthy” life year.
Open-access content

Latest from Transport and logistics

United-Pallet-Network-pic2.jpg

 Life-changing one tonne load fall results in £95,000 fine

Monday 13th March 2023
We spoke to Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Andrew Johnson about a case where a one-tonne pallet of glass fell on a United Pallet Network (UK) Limited’s employee, causing life-changing injuries.
Open-access content
fgc

 Siemens to pay £1.4m for train technician’s fatal crush

Tuesday 7th March 2023
Siemens Plc has pleaded guilty to breaching s 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act after a self-employed contractor died at its Train Care Facility in west London.
Open-access content
web_Eddie-stobard-lorry_credit_iStock-668832174.png

 Logistics giant Eddie Stobart’s £133k fine for exposing port staff to asbestos

Friday 2nd December 2022
Eddie Stobart has been fined £133,000 for a number of failures that resulted in staff at its rail and container freight port in Widnes, Cheshire being exposed to asbestos.
Open-access content

Latest from Regulation/enforcement

web--scales-iStock-184986045.png

 A reasonable balance to strike

Friday 24th March 2023
Safety interventions should be practicable and cost-effective, but too much of an imbalance towards safety does not make economic sense for employers, argues Geoff Vaughan, who suggests ‘gross disproportion’ provides a practical limit.
Open-access content
web_Jeremy-hunt-holding-dispatch-box_credit_Fred-Duval_shutterstock_2275701011.png

 Spring budget and occupational health

Friday 17th March 2023
Richard Jones CFIOSH, comments on the occupational health aspects of the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's first budget statement.
Open-access content
web_Big-ben-at-sunrise_credit_iStock-547499548.png

 Health and safety regulations at risk under draft law

Monday 13th March 2023
A proposed new law aims to revoke EU-derived legislation, including life-saving protections, by December 2023, unless specifically kept or replaced – Richard Jones CFIOSH explains how OSH practitioners can get involved.
Open-access content

Latest from Fire

web_Firefighters-walk-to-their-vehicle_credit_Tupungato_shutterstock_1062933506.png

 Terminal cancer cases in Grenfell firefighters

Friday 20th January 2023
National media reports have revealed that up to a dozen Grenfell firefighters have been diagnosed with terminal cancer
Open-access content
yg

 Appeal success for food firm over ‘excessive’ fine

Tuesday 1st November 2022
Court of Appeal reduces Dub Catering’s £120,000 penalty for firm’s breaches of fire safety law.
Open-access content
web_Fire-extinguisher-in-use_credit_iStock-1327086620.png

 HSE publishes revised construction fire safety guidance

Thursday 1st September 2022
The GB Health and Safety Executive has recently published a revised version of its fire safety in construction (HSG168) document. 
Open-access content
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Senior Health and Safety Manager

Reading
Up to £65000.00 per annum + Great Car Allowance & Benefits
Reference
5452983

Regional Health and Safety Advisor

Northampton
Up to £53000 per annum + Travel & Excellent Benefits
Reference
5452982

Global Health, Safety and Environment Director

Up to £150000 per annum + Excellent Benefits
Reference
5452980
See all jobs »

Sign up for regular e-alerts

Receive the latest news and features, free to your inbox

Sign up

Subscribe to IOSH magazine

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
IOSH Covers
​
FOLLOW US
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube
CONTACT US
Contact us
Tel +44 (0)20 7880 6200
​

IOSH

About IOSH
Become a member
IOSH Events
MyIOSH

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to IOSH magazine
Write for IOSH magazine

IOSH Magazine

Health
Safety
Management
Skills
IOSH Jobs

© 2023 IOSH • IOSH is not responsible for the content of external sites

ioshmagazine.com and IOSH Magazine are published by Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ